Suggesting that American neighborhoods may not be as diverse as many would like to think, a new analysis of data collected during the 2000 Census shows that about 60 percent of nation's African Americans reside in just 10 states.

The Census Bureau also found that the White population remains the country's largest racial group. Nearly 217 million people, or 77.1 percent of the total population, reported as White, either alone or in combination with one or more other races.

About 36.4 million people, or 12.9 percent of the total population, reported as Black or African American. This number includes 34.7 million, or 12.3 percent, who reported as Black alone, in addition to 1.8 million, or 0.6 percent, who reported as Black in combination with one or more other races.

The statistics have substantial social and political importance.

For example, Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation, a new study by the The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University shows steady re-segregation occurring nationwide. According to the Project, "70.2 percent of the nation's black students now attend predominantly minority schools (minority enrollment over 50 percent), up significantly from the low point of 62.9 percent in 1980. More than a third of the nation's black students (36.5 percent) attend schools with a minority enrollment of 90-100 percent. The proportion of black students in such schools has been rising consistently since 1986, when it was at a low point of 32.5 percent."

In political terms, results from the 2000 Census are now being used to revise congressional district borders. A survey by Professor Michael McDonald of the University of Illinois, Springfield, shows that race will play a part in a number of congressional redistricting efforts. Given the closeness of the political divide on Capitol Hill, redistricting will impact the next election cycle and the question of which party runs the House and Senate.

The 10 states where six out of 10 African Americans live are home to nearly half the U.S. population. They are: New York, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan and Louisiana.

Five states -- New York, California, Texas, Florida and Georgia -- each had more than 2 million Black residents.

On the other hand, people reporting as White were the numeric majority in all states but Hawaii. The Midwest was the region with the highest proportion of those reporting as White -- 85 percent.

While New York has the largest number of people reporting as Black -- about 3 million -- the South has the largest black population.

Some 54 percent of all African Americans still live in the 10 southern states, each of which has more than 1 million people reporting as African Americans. In addition, 95 of the 96 counties where African American's comprised more than half the population were in the South.

Proportionately, though, only 20 percent of the southern state's total population is Black.

New York City had the largest number of people reporting as Black with about 2.3 million, followed by Chicago, 1.1 million, and Detroit, Philadelphia and Houston, which had between 500,000 and 1 million each.

Among places with 100,000 or more population, Gary, Ind., had the highest percentage of people reporting as Black, 85 percent, followed by Detroit, with 83 percent.

The regions with the highest proportions of people reporting as White in their total populations were the Midwest with 85 percent and the Northeast with 79 percent, followed by the West with 74 percent and the South with 72 percent.

More than half (52 percent) of all people reporting as White also lived in just 10 states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina. These also are the 10 states with the largest total populations.

There were eight states where people reporting as White represented less than 70 percent of the population -- Hawaii, Mississippi, California, Louisiana, Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina and New Mexico. About a third of all respondents in the District of Columbia reported as White.

For more articles by Lew Sichelman, please press here.