Editing Gary, Indiana (section)

===Racial changes===
A rapid racial change occurred in Gary during the late 20th century. These population changes resulted in political change, which reflected Gary's racial demographics: the Black and Hispanic share of the city's population increased from 21% in 1930 to 39% in 1960, and to 53% in 1970. Black and Hispanic people primarily lived in the Midtown section just south of downtown (per the 1950 Census, 97% of Gary's black population lived in this neighborhood). Gary had one of the nation's first African-American mayors, [[Richard G. Hatcher]], and hosted the groundbreaking 1972 [[National Black Political Convention]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Puente|first1=Michael|title=Gary's National Black Political Convention, 40 years on|url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/garys-national-black-political-convention-40-years-on/449ae089-207e-4547-b87d-844058c116d7|publisher=WBEZ|access-date=October 7, 2016|date=March 9, 2012}}</ref>

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gary had the highest percentage of African-Americans in U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, 84% (as of the [[2000 United States census|2000 census]]). This no longer applies to Gary since the city's population has fallen well below 100,000 residents. As of 2013, the Gary Department of Redevelopment has estimated that one-third of all homes in the city are unoccupied and/or abandoned.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 2013 |title=Harper's Index |magazine=[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]] |publisher=Harper's Foundation |volume=327 |issue=1,962 |page=17 |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2013/11/harpers-index-355/ |access-date=December 30, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref>