Replacement Migration and the Slow Death of Illinois (1/2)

[mystery-ak]

 

Replacement Migration and the Slow Death of Illinois (1/2) › American Greatness
White Papers Policy Institute
May 10, 2026

The state of Illinois was once one of the wealthiest regions in the entire world. Its largest city, Chicago, was the second-largest American city for nearly 100 years, from 1890 to 1982. The hinterlands of Illinois are some of the best agricultural land on the planet, and the state is blessed with borders defined by natural, navigable rivers and lakes that made it a nexus of freight transport from the 19th century to the modern era. By every measure, Illinois should be a region of the United States that has only an upward trajectory. It should be filled with economically successful American families and a vibrant, abundant culture. That is not the Illinois of today.

Like most states that compose the great union of the American nation, Illinois has entered a period of steep demographic decline that is seeing its foundational American population—the population that founded, developed, and built Illinois from wilderness to powerhouse—vanish under a tide of demographic change, emigration, and economic decline. This is an incredible shame considering that Illinois gave the nation and the world inventions such as the first blood bank (1937), spray paint (1947), the automatic dishwasher (1893), the grain silo (1873), the first handheld cellular phone (1983), and much more.

Now, the population responsible for these innovations (the unique American people) is vanishing from the state.

From the state’s settlement in the early 1780s to the 1950s (a span of more than 170 years), the territory and then 21st state of Illinois had a population that was more than 95 percent white/European and American. The only significant minority to live in Illinois from its settlement onward was the small portion of blacks who have shared the United States with white Americans since the earliest days of colonization under the British. Illinois was NOT a “diverse” place as we understand it today, and it was not a reflection of the world. It was a European, Christian, thoroughly American outpost of Western civilization. That all began to change with the passage of the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act and the subsequent decades of both deliberate legal and illegal mass immigration that have come to shape the modern United States.

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https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/10/replacement-migration-and-the-slow-death-of-illinois-1-2/

[Wingnut]

Between 1980 and 2020, more than 1.5 million white Americans packed up and left Illinois.

Growing up in a medium sized city IL in the 50's,60'and 70's was a wonderful experience.   I left in 1980.  You could feel a change was coming, and it was not a good change.  Our migration into town was fueled by blacks fleeing Chicago.  But rather than looking for safety and a better life, all they brought with them was thuggery, a generally shitty attitude and crime. Once nice blue collar neighborhoods, with modest houses and nice yards, turned to shit almost over night.

[mystery-ak]

Growing up in a medium sized city IL in the 50's,60'and 70's was a wonderful experience.   I left in 1980.  You could feel a change was coming, and it was not a good change.  Our migration into town was fueled by blacks fleeing Chicago.  But rather than looking for safety and a better life, all they brought with them was thuggery, a generally shitty attitude and crime. Once nice blue collar neighborhoods, with modest houses and nice yards, turned to shit almost over night.

Luckily my area is conservative and what you described above is still here, but for how long I don't know. We are dead center in Illinois, pretty much rural. Not much of an attraction like a big city would be.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I think all states that are dominated by big cities like Maryland, Illinois, New York, etc. have the same problems.  Maybe even Georgia.

They become a magnetic cesspool of low income welfare recipients who vote for the most liberal politicians.  Result is fomenting social programs over businesses that employ workers and an overwhelming budget for urban areas at the expense of rural areas.  All require higher taxes that spin businesses toward other places and spiraling tax increases as tax base shrinks.

[Wingnut]

Luckily my area is conservative and what you described above is still here, but for how long I don't know. We are dead center in Illinois, pretty much rural. Not much of an attraction like a big city would be.

My home town was very ag.  Bread basket of America area...still is to this day.  It also had...had being the operate word, a very strong industrial and white collar base.  After the war, that would be World War Eleven for the Somali people, we had huge corps open factories in our town.  Just to name a few, Kraft Foods, Micro Switch/Honeywell, Kelly Springfield/Goodyear Tire, Newell/Rubbermaid corp HQ, Structo/King Seely Thermos, Furst McNess, 4 major Ins Co's, Anchor Hocking, WT Raleigh Co., Henney Packard Motor Company.

[mystery-ak]

Well we have Caterpillar, ADM and Tate & Lyle..those are the 3 major employers here.