Parkersburg gets low score in diversity study but residents say numbers don’t tell whole story
Lifelong city resident Toni Oliver said the assessment didn’t surprise her, but she questioned whether the numbers tell the full story.
“According to the statistics, it probably would look like that,” said Oliver, president of the Sumnerite Association, which is dedicated to preserving the area’s black history at the Sumner Museum, located on Avery Street in the last remaining structure of the first free school for African-Americans south of the Mason-Dixon line. “But at the same time, I don’t really think the statistics show that we’ve come a long way.”
The report examined U.S. Census Bureau data for 501 of the most-populated cities in the country, limiting the field to no more than 10 per state. Each city, excluding the surrounding metropolitan area, was assessed on three categories on a 100-point scale. Ethnoracial diversity was worth up to 50 points, with linguistic diversity at 33 points and birthplace diversity — whether people were born in the state, from what region of the country they came or if they were from out of the country — at 17.
The higher the score, the more diverse the city, according to the report’s methodology.
Aaron Crites, a professor of history at West Virginia University at Parkersburg, said geography has played a role in the level of diversity in the state. The mountains isolated West Virginia in the past and still provide an obstacle to some extent in terms of the high cost of building infrastructure within such a landscape, he said. There’s also the state’s recent economic track record and declining population to consider.
“So we have a hard time just keeping West Virginians here, let alone people from other countries and whatnot,” Crites said.
While some people may see being labeled 2017’s “least culturally diverse city” as a negative, Crites doesn’t think a value judgment can be made from the numbers themselves.
“I don’t necessarily think that the lack of diversity is a bad thing,” he said. “It’s just something that, due to our proximity, we have to live with at the time.”
Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce agreed the economy is one of multiple factors.
“I think if we can create some more economic opportunities, we’ll see that change,” he said.
Despite the statistics on diversity, Joyce said he worked with doctors from countries around the world while he was employed by St. Joseph’s Hospital and Camden Clark Medical Center. He added that he does not feel the area is opposed to diversity.
“I am very proud of the fact that throughout Parkersburg and the Mid-Ohio Valley, you don’t see institutionalized racism or bigotry,” he said.
Although it may have lowered the city’s score in the birthplace diversity category, Joyce said he sees a high number of residents born in the state or region as a positive.
“I don’t see how that could be construed as a negative. It’s a great place to live and work,” he said.
Debbie Richards, special assistant to WVU-P’s president for policy and social justice, said communities whose members predominantly come from the same place and share a common race and language tend to share similar values and practices. They may experience less conflict and turmoil because of general agreement on many issues.
“On the other hand, a homogeneous community lacks the diversity of perspectives to help them be creative,” she said. “They may be slow to adapt to change or progress and may be more likely to exclude those who are different to maintain comfort levels and the status quo”
Richards also noted that diversity is not limited to the categories reviewed in the study.
“Culture encompasses more than race, language and origin, and our local community does have cultural diversity in terms of age, socioeconomic status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity, for examples,” she said. “Our challenge is to recognize and embrace these differences.”
College is a good time to do that, Richards said.
“WVU at Parkersburg offers opportunities to our students and to our community to learn about different races, religions and cultures through our social justice program,” she said. “For example, last fall we hosted an internationally known cultural specialist to speak about becoming a global citizen. In January, we not only paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., but we also hosted a public presentation on gender and diversity by a distinguished author and scholar.”
Oliver said the presence of the federal Bureau of the Fiscal Service has brought some people into the area from outside it. An increase in diversity, or at least in the acceptance of it, can be seen in the presence of more ethnically diverse restaurants or the more than two decades the Mid-Ohio Valley Multicultural Festival has been celebrated.
“To me, that’s some indication of how long we’ve been trying to be culturally diverse,” Oliver said of the festival.
Festival board member Jennifer Randolph said the report underscores the need for the festival.
“Our mission is to encourage the appreciation and recognition of community diversity,” she said.
This is accomplished by exposing residents to different cultures through media like entertainment and food, Randolph said.
“Because I’m involved with the festival, I see people that really yearn for this kind of thing” and want to learn more, she said.
The impact of a lack of diversity for an area depends on the people who live there, Randolph said.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily a negative. It would be the attitudes and feelings of the people,” she said.