Black Incomes Surpass Whites in Queens
The NYT has a story which is an example of success for America, that is also a success story for a Liberal Black, Democratic, Immigrant heavy area.

In Queens, the median income among black households, nearing $52,000 a year, has surpassed that of whites in 2005, an analysis of new census data shows. No other county in the country with a population over 65,000 can make that claim. The gains among blacks in Queens, the city’s quintessential middle-class borough, were driven largely by the growth of two-parent families and the successes of immigrants from the West Indies.

But Queens is unique not only because it is home to about two million people, but also because both blacks and whites there make more than the national median income, about $46,000.

As the son of Jamaican immigrants I have long been advocating that immigration advocates stop focusing JUST on Hispanics when arguing about immigration. NOT ALL IMMIGRANTS ARE LATINOS.
Being Black I have also long argued that Liberal Black Leaders need to campaign around the success stories of Black liberals not just the problems we still face. The GOP has started to spin a powerful narrative that "Blacks need to fire their current leadership, because they have nothing to for their votes." I think we as Democrats do ourselves a disservice when we don’t highlight success stories such as Queens.

"Southeast Queens, especially, had a heavy influx of West Indian folks in the late 80’s and early 90’s," said Mr. Veron, who, like his 31-year-old wife, was born on the island of Jamaica. "Those individuals came here to pursue an opportunity, and part of that opportunity was an education," he said. "A large percentage are college graduates. We’re now maturing and reaching the peak of our earning capacity."
Richard P. Nathan, co-director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, called Queens "the flip side of the underclass."
"It really is the best illustration that the stereotype of blacks living in dangerous, concentrated, poor, slum, urban neighborhoods is misleading and doesn’t predominate," he said.
Andrew A. Beverage, a Queens College demographer who analyzed results of the Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, released in August, for The New York Times, said of the trend: "It started in the early 1990’s, and now it’s consolidated. They’re married-couple families living the American dream in southeast Queens."
In 1994, an analysis for The Times found that in some categories, the median income of black households in Queens was slightly higher than that of whites — a milestone in itself. By 2000, whites had pulled slightly ahead. But blacks have since rebounded.
The only other places where black household income is higher than among whites are much smaller than Queens, like Mount Vernon in Westchester, Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Brockton, Mass.; and Rialto, Calif. Most of the others also have relatively few blacks or are poor.
But Queens is unique not only because it is home to about two million people, but also because both blacks and whites there make more than the national median income, about $46,000.

I emphasized this last point because the George Allen Conservatives could try and paint the success of Queens as an example of Blacks getting ahead at the "expense" of Whites. But when both groups make more then the National average this type of assault rings hollow! I also want to emphasize that Queens especially Black Queens is overwhelmingly Liberal and Democratic. This helps to defuse the tired GOP mantra that people and groups become more conservative as they become wealthier.
There are areas of concern with this story for "immigrant bashers".

Despite the economic progress among blacks in Queens, income gaps still endure within the borough’s black community, where immigrants, mostly from the Caribbean, are generally doing better than American-born blacks.
…………
Immigrants helped propel the gains among blacks. The median income of foreign-born black households was $61,151, compared with $45,864 for American-born blacks. The disparity was even more pronounced among black married couples.
The median for married black immigrants was $84,338, nearly as much as for native-born white couples. For married American-born blacks, it was $70,324.

But I think the overall success story of Queens needs to become part of the Democratic narrative. The right type of Liberal Black leadership can and does work. Also Immigration doesn’t threaten Black neighborhoods in fact it can strengthen them. When the GOP ask people why Blacks still vote Democratic citing places like Detroit, Democrats should retort because of places like Queens, Prince George County Maryland ect. Yes we still need to acknowledge the serious work to be done for too many Black living in poverty in America, but we also need to celebrate out successes!