Race and ethnic history of New York City

The racial and ethnic history of New York City has varied widely; from its purported sale to the Dutch by Native American residents, to the modern multi-cultural period.

New York City has had a largely white population, and most foreign born immigrants to the city before the end of World War II were from Europe. However, this changed in the decades after World War II, when all of the boroughs became more diverse, and when immigration from places outside Europe was increased.

The population of New York City was Non-Hispanic White until the post-World War II era. Large numbers of non-whites only began settling in Manhattan in the 1920s and in the rest of NYC after World War II. The slowest area in the city to change its racial makeup was Staten Island, which was the only borough of New York City to retain a Non-Hispanic White majority after the 1980s. Between 1900 and 2010, New York City's total black population increased by about thirty-five times, while its Asian population increased by over one-hundred-and-fifty times over the same period. The large black migration to New York City helped cause the Harlem Renaissance, a rich cultural period for the African Americans living in New York (especially in Harlem neighborhood, the namesake) between the end of World War I and the Great Depression. New York's Hispanic population increased by almost twenty times between 1940 and 2010, while its total Non-Hispanic White population decreased by over 60% over the same time period.

New York's five boroughs have had different settlement histories. The Bronx and Brooklyn were the most popular destinations for blacks to settle, while Queens was the most popular destination for Asian migrants to NYC and the Bronx was the most popular destination for Hispanic migrants to move to. New York City's total population more than doubled between 1900 and 2010 (with a period of population stagnation between 1950 and 1990). The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island experienced enormous population growth between 1900 and 2010, much higher than New York's average population growth. Brooklyn's population grew at a much slower rate during this time period, while Manhattan actually had fewer people in 2010 than in 1900.

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