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convergence in proportions of Black population had occurred among the North
Atlantic ports, it is important to emphasize that only in Baltimore was the Black
community really established over generations; in New York and Philadelphia
especially, large portions of the Black population were new arrivals.
Table 3-1 also disputes the notion that Baltimore was essentially the same as
Southern cities in having tiny European ethnic populations. Over 29% of
Baltimore's population was either European immigrant or first-generation natl.e-
born. While this proportion is significantly less that the 50% plus proportions of
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, and while it pales compared to the 70% plus
levels in New York and Boston, it is nonetheless from three to five times greater
than most Southern cities listed.
Finally, Table 3-1 does indicate one ethnic-demographic similarity between
Baltimore and the cities of the South. The final column of the table lists the
proportions of the selected cities population comprised by ethnic minorities — white
or non-white. For the Southern cities listed and for Baltimore, that proportion fell
between the 30th and 40th percentile; for the Northern cities it ranged from about
60% to about 80%. Put differently, this can be read to indicate that "native" whites
demographically dominated in Baltimore and the urban South to similar degrees,
while they were in the minority in the urban North. This similarity between
Baltimore and the South disguises a crucial difference, however. Baltimore always
had significantly higher rates of European immigration than the South, and far
larger portions of its "native" whites had foreign roots two or three generations
back. Therefore, the amalgamated native-white grouping in Baltimore, was far
more cosmopolitan (and far less Southern) in its heritage and culture. Baltimore's
"native" whites were different from those of, say, Richmond or Atlanta.
Like other major centers of immigration, Baltimore's European ethnic
population was made up of a plethora of nationalities. Table 3-2 indicates both the
diversity of European ethnicities in this city and their relative proportions. This
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