A black mecca, in the United States, is a city to which African Americans, particularly singles, professionals, and middle-class families, are drawn to live, due to some or all of the following factors:
superior economic opportunities for black people, often as assessed by the presence of a large black upper-middle and upper class black businesses and political activism in a city leading black educational institutions in a city a city's leading role in black history, arts, music, food, and other cultures harmonious black-white race relations in a city
New York City, in particular Harlem, was referred to as a black mecca during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and still is as of today."Further, by 1920 Harlem had gained a symbolic significance for blacks which caused it to be referred to as a "mecca" by scholars of the period" in Carolyn Jackson, "Harlem Renaissance: Pivotal Period in the Development of Afro-American Culture", Yale University.reference to the text "Harlem—the Mecca of the Negroes the country over" in Wallace Thurman's 1928 book Negro Life in New York's Harlem, in Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Harlem is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America, Little, Brown, 2011. Atlanta has also adopted the name and has been referred to as a black mecca since the 1970s, while Black Enterprise has referred to Houston as the emerging equivalent.
Atlanta
Atlanta has been widely noted as a black mecca since the 1970s."A CHAMPION FOR ATLANTA: Maynard Jackson: 'Black mecca' burgeoned under leader", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 29, 2003."the city that calls itself America's ' Black Mecca'"; in William Booth, "Atlanta Is Less Than Festive on Eve of Another 'Freaknik'", The Washington Post, April 18, 1996."'The Black Mecca' leads the nation in numbers of African American millionaires; at the same time, it leads the nation in the percentage of its children in poverty"; in Robert D. Bullard, The Black Metropolis in the Twenty-first Century: Race, Power, and Politics, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, p. 151."the city that earned a national reputation as America's 'black mecca'"; in David J. Dent, In Search of Black America: Discovering the African-American Dream, Free Press, 2001."the cornerstone upon which today's 'Black Mecca' was built"; in William Jelani Cobb, "The New South's Capital Likes to Contradict Itself", The Washington Post, July 13, 2008."And, they said, don't forget Atlanta's reputation as a black mecca"; in "Georgia second in nation for black-owned businesses", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 5, 2010."Atlanta is New Mecca for Blacks", Ebony, September 1997."Atlanta's allure as the black mecca"; in "Atlanta contest shows battered black electorate", Associated Press article on MSNBC, December 4, 2009.
In 1971, Ebony magazine called Atlanta the "black mecca of the South", because "black folks have more, live better, accomplish more and deal with whites more effectively than they do anywhere else in the South—or North"."Atlanta, black mecca of the South", Ebony, August 1971. Ebony illustrated as evidence of "mecca" status Atlanta's high black home ownership, the Atlanta University Center (the nation's largest consortium of historically black colleges (HBCUs)), Atlanta's civil rights heritage, black business ownership, black-owned restaurants, the civic leadership of the black clergy, black fraternal organizations, and black political power in City Hall, while it also acknowledged the poverty which a large percentage of Atlanta's black population endured.
In 1974, Atlanta became the first major southern city to elect a Black mayor. Since 1974, every Atlanta mayor has been Black and mostly graduates of HBCUs.
In 1983, Atlanta magazine said that Atlanta's reputation as a black mecca was "deserved because it is true" because "the metro area now has the highest proportion of middle-income African-Americans of any city in the country".Terry Williams, "Money talks: Atlanta has the highest percentage of middle-class blacks of any city in the nation", Atlanta magazine, March 2003.
A 1997 Ebony magazine article illustrated Atlanta's status as "the new mecca" (and the "land of milk and honey" for blacks) because a poll of the magazine's 100 most influential African Americans voted Atlanta overall the best city for blacks, possessed the most employment opportunities for blacks, it was American's "most diverse city", and was the city with the best schools and most affordable housing for blacks. A 2002 article in the same magazine reconfirmed Atlanta as "the new black mecca" and "the go-to city for blacks.""Is Atlanta the new black mecca?" Ebony, March 2002.
In 2009, the Associated Press characterized Atlanta's status as a black mecca by black political power in its City Hall.
A 2015 report showed that the Atlanta area had the greatest numerical gain in new black residents than any metropolitan area in the U.S., according to an analysis of census data.
In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked Atlanta tied for the #1 city in the U.S. (along with the Washington, D.C. area) for where African-Americans are doing the best economically.
In 2019, USA Today named Atlanta the nation's black tech capital. Atlanta attracts the most black professionals in the tech industry.
Historically Black colleges in Atlanta
Atlanta is home of the oldest and largest consortium of historically black institutions in the nation. The Atlanta University Center consists of Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine. The consortium structure allows for students to cross-register at the other institutions in order to attain a broader collegiate experience.
The first college founded by African-Americans in Georgia, Morris Brown College, is based in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Student Movement was an organization formed in the 1960s by students enrolled in Atlanta's historically black colleges that focused on dismantling systemic racism and oppression of African-Americans. Their courageous efforts led to fairer treatment and better opportunities for African-Americans in the Atlanta area.
Black educational attainment According to a 2018 study, 30.7% of African-Americans in the Atlanta metro area have earned at least a bachelor's degree which is above the national average of 21.8% for black Americans.
Black entertainment mecca
In 2011 in a New York Times article with the short title "Atlanta Emerges as a Black Entertainment Mecca", comedian Cedric the Entertainer, who hosted that year's Soul Train Music Awards, said Atlanta had always been a black mecca and continues to be one, with respect to the black musical talent in the city."Atlanta had always been a black mecca and continues to be one;, in Kim Severson, "Stars Flock to Atlanta, Reshaping a Center of Black Culture", The New York Times, November 26, 2011.
In 2019, Tyler Perry opened the 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios which is the largest film production studio in the nation and the first major film production studio owned by an African-American.
Black entrepreneurship
According to a 2015 study by NerdWallet, the Atlanta area is home to about 2.1 million black owned businesses, the highest in the nation.
Established in 2005, the Atlanta Black Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to supporting and connecting black entrepreneurs in the Atlanta area. Established in 2019, Atlanta's Russell Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship is America's largest center dedicated to empowering black entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Black homeownership In February 2023, the Atlanta area's Black homeownership rate of 53% was above the U.S. Black homeownership average rate of 45%. The Atlanta area's Black homeownership rate jumped five percentage points during the worst months of the COVID pandemic when mortgage interest rates were at or near historic lows and student loans were paused. The Black homeownership rate in the Atlanta area increased more than any other race in the same area between 2020 and 2022.Walk Together Karen Hatcher Housing bizjournals.com February 3, 2023
Mecca for Black LGBT people
In 2005, The New York Times reported that Atlanta had become a mecca for openly Black LGBT people, noting that within the African-American community in the U.S., in which some consider being gay was slightly less accepted than in society as a whole, Atlanta formed a reputation for being a place inclusive to openly LGBT people with its "too busy to hate" mantra. Atlanta is also widely noted for its annual Atlanta Black Pride celebration."Atlanta has become mecca for black gays" , The New York Times, August 15, 2005. An earlier 2004 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution also documented Atlanta as a "hub" or "mecca" for black gays.Dres Jubera, "Atlanta a hub for black gays", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 21, 2004.
Criticism Atlanta's status as a "mecca" for blacks has always been questioned, or the concept of a "mecca" refuted altogether, due to the endemic high levels of black poverty that exist alongside black success. In 1997 the Chicago Tribune published an article titled "Atlanta's image as a black mecca losing luster". The loss in "luster" was because of a reality that too many blacks weren't coming close to financial success, but rather "caught up in a vicious cycle of poverty, crime and homelessness". The city had among the highest crime rates in the nation coupled with low performing predominately black public schools. Black city leaders were unable to solve or improve problems plaguing the Black community in the city.
As of 2020, Blacks are the fastest declining racial group within the city limits of Atlanta. The African-American population went from 67% in 1980 to 47% in 2020. For the first time in decades, the city is no longer majority Black and the rate of new Black residents in the city is significantly lower than in years past. Since the 1990s, the fastest growth of African-Americans in Georgia have been in suburban cities around Atlanta.
As of 2020, with about 1,500 people newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the Atlanta area each year, it ranks among the highest rates in the world. The high rate is comparable to African countries. Black residents make up the majority (~75%) of new infections each year in the area.
Despite Atlanta Public Schools (APS) having several decades of majority Black leadership and a spending per student amount about double the Georgia school district average, a 2020 study showed that Black APS students have one of the nation's worst academic achievement gaps when compared to their White APS peers.
In 2022, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an article stating Atlanta has the highest income gap in the U.S. between Black and White residents. According to the article, within Atlanta's city limits the median income for a Black family was $28,000 and $84,000 for a White family. The Black family median income is the lowest in the city, falling behind Latino and Asian families as well.
In 2023, Axios published an article that explained despite the early 2020s rare jump in Black homeownership in the Atlanta area, the Black homeownership rate is still about 25 percentage points below Whites in the same area, about 13 percentage points below the national average, and below all racial groups in the Atlanta area. Also the black homeownership rate within the city limits of Atlanta is 33% which is notably lower than the Atlanta area rate. In 2021, Atlanta had the 5th highest mortgage delinquency rate in the nation, the majority involving Black homeowners.
Also in 2023, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an article stating only 7.4% of the registered business in the Atlanta area were Black-owned. Although the percentage is the highest in the nation for any U.S. metropolitan area, it is still considered low in comparison to the Atlanta area's Black population (34% as of 2020).