Census: Cape Girardeau population more diverse than in 2000

Sharon Armour has made a life of taking care of people in Cape Girardeau.

Armour, 57, owns and operates Jefferson Manor on the city's south side.

"I love people. I take care of people," she said, while filling her minivan with groceries Friday afternoon in the parking lot of Save-A-Lot on South Sprigg Street. "What color, that doesn't matter. We're all God's children."

Armour is part of a growing black population in the community, part of the changing face of Cape Girardeau -- a city that has become more colorful over the past decade.

Black residents made up nearly 13 percent of Cape Girardeau's population in 2010, according to the latest figures released from the U.S. Census Bureau. Blacks accounted for 4,839 residents, as of April 2010, up from 3,288 people, or 9.3 percent of the total population, in 2000.

Armour said she believes the increase has been driven in large part by the troubled state of Missouri's economy, and opportunity in Cape Girardeau.

"I used to live in St. Louis. I feel a lot of it has to do with the economy, the big city," she said. "It's harder to maintain there."

While white residents made up the vast majority of Cape Girardeau's population in 2010, their relative numbers are declining. The city counted 30,783 residents, or about 81 percent of the total population, down from 87 percent in 2000. By comparison, St. Louis County, Missouri's most populous county, was 70 percent white, with 23 percent black.

In Missouri, 83 percent of the population was white, and blacks remained the state's largest racial minority, at 11.6 percent of the total population. Missouri's Hispanic population soared 79 percent over the decade, but Hispanics account for 3.5 percent of the state's population. Cape Girardeau's Hispanic community grew to 1,046 residents, nearly 3 percent of the city's population. In 2000, there were 388 Hispanic people living in the city, about 1.1 percent of the total population.

Cape Girardeau's Asian community grew slightly between 2000 and 2010, from 400 residents to 718, making up just shy of 2 percent of the city's total population.

Southeast Missouri State University's globalization initiative, its campaign to "bring the world to Cape Girardeau," is doing much to diversify the city.

International student enrollment has more than doubled in the past two years, increasing to some 550 students, or nearly 5 percent of Southeast's 11,000-plus student population. And the campus is attracting more faculty members from beyond U.S. borders.

"When I came to Cape Girardeau in 1994, I was probably the second or third Asian faculty member on campus," said Ragu Athinarayanan, chairman of Southeast's department of industrial and engineering technology. "If you look around now, not only have Asian faculty but Asian students increased. I think Southeast really has taken the leadership role in this."

Athinarayanan, who came to the United States from his native Malaysia when he was 18, has spent more of his life in his adopted country, much of that time in Cape Girardeau.

Cape Girardeau's 2010 census also included 87 American Indians or Alaska natives, 17 native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders, and 585 residents of "some other races." More residents than ever, 912, were of two or more races, according to the census.

Athinarayanan said he sees much more diversity in Cape Girardeau's future.

"I won't be surprised if Cape Girardeau doesn't turn into a small metropolitan area down in the Bootheel," he said.

Jackson's population remained predominantly white, accounting for nearly 96 percent of the city's 13,758 residents. There were 227 blacks living in Jackson in 2010, about 1.6 percent of the population. Other minorities included 170 Hispanics, 79 Asians, 37 American Indians or Alaska natives, 188 people of two or more races, and one native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. The city's census included 44 people of "some other races."

In Scott City, too, whites made up 96 percent of the population of 4,565 residents. There were 66 Hispanics, 31 blacks, 12 American Indians or Alaska natives, 11 Asians and 48 people of two or more races.

In Sikeston, Mo., the black population, at 4,275 residents in 2010, made up 26 percent of the city's 16,318 people. The Scott County city also counted 378 Hispanics, 138 Asians and 328 residents of two or more races. The white population totaled 11,415 residents.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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