Where can you experience creativity, booming technology, and expansive cultures, canvassed among au naturale beauty? Nestled between the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges, Seattle crosses the demographic boundaries, while driving an innovating pulse that makes up this ethnically rich city. Cultures amicably collide, while philanthropy, multinational entertainment, and cultural influences set the tone for a balanced lifestyle for any single person or family.
Currently, the Emerald City has upwards of 600,000 people, reports figures from the Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED).
“The racial demographic composition is reflected throughout restaurants, art, education, and city life,” says Marvin Rosete, director of the Robert Chinn Foundation. Therefore, Seattle is a place where diversity is not a black or white issue. It is actually a cultural hotbed of Asian Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and African-Americans. The nǐ hǎo and ¿cómo estás? frame the soul of bustling street corners and trendy hot spots.
During the past three decades, Seattle increased its multicultural landscape, but in a more recent growth spurt, Seattle gained an estimated 13,707 new residents between 2008 and 2009, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Based on the 2000 U.S. Census, 13 percent of Seattleites are Asian, with Chinese being the largest group. Blacks account for 8.4 percent; Native Americans and Alaskan natives contribute about 1.1 percent to the city’s diversity.
The large public school system also reflects those figures. Minorities in Seattle schools include a diverse population, where students speak more than 100 different languages. Even in some schools, minorities outnumber the white students. Some districts have implemented diversity training for staff; opened refugee centers for immigrant students, and modified English-language programs. The change is part of a demographic shift that is happening in districts across Washington, The Seattle Times reports.
The Seattle Public School system educates approximately 47,000 students, according to The Washington State Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction’s 2009-10 Total Enrollment Gender & Ethnicity Report. It reveals that there are 24.3 percent Asian students; Blacks, 22.9 percent; Hispanics, 9.4 percent; Native Americans, 3 percent. However, regarding the entire school system, white students weigh in at 40 percent.
So, how did Seattle become so diverse? Besides sitting on the Pacific Rim, Chinese pioneers arrived in the 1860s to work as laborers for railroads, mines, and sawmills, according to the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. A Chinese quarter emerged, known as the Chinatown-International District, on the eastern fringe of Pioneer Square. However, the Chinese became the target of white resentment in the 1880s, therefore expelling them from the neighborhood. Eventually, the Chinese community rebounded in the early 1900s and repopulated the area.
In the early 20th Century, the International District evolved, bolstered by the growing Asian trade. In the Roaring 20s, Japanese and Filipino immigrants soon trafficked to the district, adds Rosete, who also manages the Seattle Asian Resource Center.
However, that changed during World War II when the U.S Government sent Japanese residents to internment camps. At about the same time, large numbers of black war-worker families arrived in Seattle, and many inhabited abandoned Japanese-American houses, reports the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.
Open housing legislation in the late 1960s allowed blacks to move out of the area and form their own niche neighborhoods in Rainier Valley and other Seattle suburbs. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Valley is the most racially diverse neighborhood in the nation, which is reflected in Vietnamese, Chinese, Ethiopian, and Indian restaurants.
“Seattle became a melting pot for foreigners, who in turn gave birth to more multi-ethnic neighborhoods, rich with distinct personalities,” says Rosete.
Today, the International District is a cultural hub for Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Burmese, which borders at Yesler Way on the north, Dearborn Avenue on the south, Interstate-5 on the east, and 5th Avenue South on the west.
Ballard retains a small Nordic charm, and though, the population has become more diverse, it maintains its Scandinavian flavor in small bakeries, but has also welcomed Irish pubs and Indian bistros.
Throughout many decades, Seattle’s Central District has been a haven to a potpourri of colors and cultures. Today, the residential community has a large African-American presence.
Belltown, in the north area of downtown Seattle, loses its multiracial fabric, but over the past 10 years, a transformation into a trendy mélange of vibrant restaurants, funky cafes, and swanky condominiums has occurred.
Seattle’s culture-infused entertainment also contributes to its distinct framework. “Every year, the Seattle Center partners with community organizations to present Festál, a series of events that honors the economic and cultural richness, and diversity of the Pacific Northwest,” Rosete adds. “Festál unites Seattle’s dynamic and varied communities, featuring the Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival, Spirit of West Africa, Bastille Day, and Croatia Fest, to name a few.”
Some locals believe that Seattle’s celebratory and entrepreneurial spirit also make the city a wellspring of ideas, designing an ideal environment to study and pursue a career. “Here in Seattle, we grew up taking advantage of the cultural opportunities, and it’s reflected in business,” Rosete notes.
Seattle resident Michael Noel concurs, “we are more than just Starbucks coffee-sipping, outdoor and fitness enthusiasts.” An African-American who has lived throughout the U.S., Noel says his city thrives economically and artistically, because of its large and varied mix of ethnicities who work together in order to achieve economical and corporate growth.
It is common knowledge that the Emerald City is home to Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Boeing. A leader in business innovation, Seattle’s philanthropic endeavors magnifies the city’s industrial spirit. Coupled with a strong educational background (The Puget Sound Regional Council calculates that 35 percent of the city’s population has a bachelor’s degree, and one-third of those have either a master’s degree or professional degree), some say many future business startups are on the horizon and could produce more corporate boom cycles.
Rosete asserts that Seattle’s diverse startup scene has become a platform for ethnic communities to thrive as well. He credits the Gang of Four, a multiracial activist group from the late 1960s, who used their shared resources to speak with officials to assert social equality in Seattle. “These four guys are revered because they helped shape our race relations.”
In May, Julie Pham, PhD, launched Sea Beez, a program that strives to bring all ethnic media together – African, Native American, Russian, and Asian, in a collaborative effort. Perhaps inspired by the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates 1997 Macworld Expo collaboration, Pham realizes the value of partnership.
“This program empowers ethnic media organizations to gain the tools to strengthen their business side through networking workshops,” says Pham. “Sea Beez equips media individuals with the tools to amplify the voices of the ethnic communities they serve, and foster intercultural communication.”
Pham mentions that the idea to create this program stemmed from her own experience as managing editor at her family-owned Northwest Vietnamese News.
In Seattle, the frontier spirit churns with energy and vitality. Rosete believes it only strengthens a city’s economy when you cross cultures in education, business, and even in city life. “We work together in all aspects to fortify what social activists built for future generations.”