Lab Seven: Census 2000!

 

For this week’s lab, I downloaded information from the Census Bureau website to construct three different maps. My map series displays percent population information from the year 2000. The first map displays population percentages for the Black only population. The second map displays population percentages for the Asian only population. My last map displays information for some other race. Prior to this lab, I was unaware of the level of availability and accessibility of information to the public. Because the census website was so accessible, I was easily able to construct my map series, which I will now describe.

As mentioned above, the first map in my series displays the percentage of Blacks in the continental United States. It is apparent that the Black population in 2000 is still heavily concentrated in the south.  While there is a slight population of Blacks in the southwest, the majority of the population resides in the southeast and eastern Untied States. This provides contrasting evidence to the stereotype that Blacks mainly reside in urban areas. It is interesting that, even after all the subjugation historically faced by Blacks in the south, they have, for the most part, stayed put.

The second map in my series displays the percentage of Asians in the continental United States as of the year 2000. Consistent with modern trends, it appears that the majority of the Asian population resides in California and along the west coast. There is also a significant portion of the population that inhabits the East Coast, and not so much within the Midwestern United States. The population patterns of Asians in the continental United States correlates with the settings of major research institutions. This substantiates the stereotype that Asians are very academically proficient, and wish to reside in a setting where they can utilize major academic institutions.

The third map in my series displays the percentage of “some other population” in the continental United States as of 2000. Historically, Hispanics have identified with this classification, as they are not “Caucasian”, “Black”, or “Asian.” From this map, it is clear that the majority of “some other” resides in California, which coincides with the trend of Hispanic residents currently inhabiting our state. For the most part, the percentages of “some other” are highly concentrated in the western portion of the country. This substantiates the stereotype that the west is “less traditional” than the East, which is generally home to the traditionally conservative population.

Overall, I have found GIS to be a convenient tool in its availability for public use. However, prior to taking this class, I was not educated at all about GIS, and had no idea that it was something I could utilize from my home computer. As I mentioned previously, I was so surprised that the US census information was so readily available online. With tools such as ArcMap, ArcCatalogue,  GoogleMaps, etc, everyone can become a geographer! The only challenge presented by ArcGIS is maneuvering the various programs used for presenting geographic Information. But if you ask the right questions, you’ll definitely get it all down… Eventually!