ALABASTER, Ala. - It was called "white flight" in the 1960s and 1970s when white families were moving from urban areas like Birmingham to the suburbs seeking better schools and in some cases hoping to avoid integration.
An analysis by The Birmingham News of the latest U.S. Census estimates shows that now it's black families fleeing the cities for the suburbs.
Census estimates show from 2000 to 2009, Shelby County's black residents increased by 93 percent, or 9,863 people. That far exceeds the county's overall growth of 34 percent. In St. Clair County, black residents increased 46 percent, or 2,416 people, as the overall county grew 26 percent.
The latest growth means that one in every 10 residents of both Shelby and St.Clair counties is now black.