Drawing on data from the 2010 U.S. Census, the map shows one dot per person, color-coded by race. That's 308,745,538 dots in all.
White: blue dots; African American: green dots; Asian: red; Latino: orange; all others: brown
Last year, a pair of researchers from Duke University published a report with a bold title: “The End of the Segregated Century.” U.S. cities, the authors concluded, were less segregated in 2012 than they had been at any point since 1910. But less segregated does not necessarily mean integrated–something this incredible map makes clear in vivd color.
The map, created by Dustin Cable at University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, is stunningly comprehensive. Drawing on data from the 2010 U.S. Census, it shows one dot per person, color-coded by race. That’s 308,745,538 dots in all–around 7 GB of visual data. It isn’t the first map to show the country’s ethnic distribution, nor is it the first to show every single citizen, but it is the first to do both, making it the most comprehensive map of race in America ever created.
Via Seth Dixon, Michael Miller, Skuuppilehdet, Deanna Dahlsad
We can use maps to think spatially,make connections, and find patterns. Maps can also be used as a way to compare change over time, as in this particular case where maps from the present were compared with maps from over fifty years ago when racial segregation was plainly obvious. Now, however, when we compare past maps with those of the present, the change over time factor becomes clearly evident, revealing why maps are so useful in determining continuities or changes.