Factoid: Black Mayors of Cities with Population Over 50,000

This is a list of black mayors in cities with a population over 50,000. This is based on information from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. The Joint Center describes itself as “one of the nation’s premier research and public policy institutions and the only one whose work focuses exclusively on issues of particular concern to African Americans and other people of color.”

Their black mayors list is here. I have updated the list; the Joint Center’s list was effective as of the end of 2007. This list should be correct as of August 2008. If readers have any updates to provide, please fell free to send them to us. Items in bold are known updates as of very early 2010 – but a number of entries are certainly outdated in 2010.

There are 45 cities on the list. African Americans are at least 40% of the population in 35 cities. Ten of the 45 mayors are female.

Here’s the list:

City	Population		%Black	Mayor
Philadelphia, PA	1,517,550		43.2	Michael Nutter
Detroit, MI	951,270		81.6	Kwame Kilpatrick Dave Bing
Jacksonville, FL	821,784		30.7	Alvin Brown
Columbus, OH	711,470		24.5	Michael B. Coleman
Charlotte, NC	687,456		33.7	Anthony Foxx
Baltimore, MD	651,154		64.3	Sheila Dixon Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Memphis, TN	650,100		61.4	Willie Herenton A C Wharton
Washington, DC	601,723		50.7	Vincent Gray
New Orleans, LA	484,674		67.3	C. Ray Nagin
Cleveland, OH	478,403		51.1	Frank Jackson
Atlanta, GA	416,474		61.4	Shirley Franklin Kasim Reed
Oakland, CA	399,484		35.7	Ron Dellums
Cincinnati, OH	331,285		42.9	William L. Mallory
Buffalo, NY	292,648		37.2	Byron W. Brown
Newark, NJ	273,546		53.5	Cory A. Booker
Birmingham, AL	242,820		73.5	Larry Langford Carole Smitherman
Baton Rouge, LA	227,818		50.0	Melvin "Kip" Holden
Shreveport, LA	200,145		50.8	Cedric B. Glover
Richmond, VA	197,790		57.2	L. Douglas Wilder Dwight C. Jones
Durham, NC	187,035		43.8	William V. Bell
Jackson, MS	184,256		70.6	Frank Melton Harvey Johnson
Savannah, GA	131,510		57.1	Otis S. Johnson
Alexandria, VA	128,283		22.5	William D. Euille
Lancaster, CA	118,718		16.0	Henry W. Hearns
Inglewood, CA	112,580		47.1	Roosevelt Dorn
Miami Gardens, FL	105,414		79.0	Shirley Gibson
Portsmouth, VA	100,565		50.6	James Holley III
Compton, CA	93,493		40.3	Eric Perrodin
Trenton, NJ	85,403		52.1	Douglas H. Palmer Tony F. Mack
Youngstown, OH	82,026		43.8	Jay Williams
Camden, NJ	79,904		53.3	Gwendolyn Faison
Southfield, MI	78,296		54.2	Brenda Lawrence
Albany, GA	76,939		64.8	Willie Adams, Jr.
Evanston Township, IL	74,239		22.5	Patricia A Vance
Evanston, IL	74,239		22.5	Lorraine Morton
Wilmington, DE	72,664		56.4	James M. Baker
East Orange, NJ	69,824		89.5	Robert Bowser
Asheville, NC	68,889		17.6	Terry Bellamy
Mt. Vernon, NY	68,381		59.6	Clinton Young
Pontiac, MI	66,337		47.9	Clarence Phillips
Daytona Beach, FL	64,112		32.7	Yvonne Scarlett-Golden
Saginaw, MI	61,799		43.3	Joyce Seals
Irvington, NJ	60,695		81.7	Wayne Smith
Hempstead Village, NY	56,554		25.7	Wayne Hall
Pine Bluff, AR	55,085		65.9	Carl Redus
Monroe, LA	53,107		61.1	James Mayo

One of the more unlikely persons on the list is Terry Bellamy of Asheville, NC. Bellamy is a black woman mayor in a city that is only 17.6% African American. The only city on the list with a smaller black percentage of the population is Lancaster, CA, with a percentage of 16.0%. When Bellamy was elected in November 2005, she became the youngest mayor in North Carolina, the youngest Mayor ever elected in Asheville and the first African-American to serve as Mayor in Asheville.

This is some footage of Bellamy giving a talk in front of Asheville city hall in April of 2007: