In this retrospective review of demographic aspects of race and the metropolis, presented as a basis from which to speculate about the 1970's, the period of mass migration of blacks out of the rural South is seen as drawing to a close. The U.S. black population is more urban and more metropolitan than the white population. The development of black…

Three issues are discussed in the beginning of this paper: general trends of urban population growth among blacks since 1930, regional variations in growth and distribution from 1950 to 1970, and urban growth and metropolitanization. The remainder of the paper examines the growth of the black urban population by size of place from 1950 to 1970.…