The population of African-Americans in Charleston is 4.2 percent, higher than the percentage of African-Americans employed by the city, zero.

According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2000 report, out of 21,039 people, the city of Charleston is 92.5 percent Caucasian and 4.2 percent African American.

Charleston City Employment Data indicates that as of June 30, 2005, all 172 city employees, including the police, fire, and water departments, among others, are Caucasian.

Mayor John Inyart estimated that the hiring statistics are still fairly accurate, as the city has only hired six to eight new employees since June 2005.

The hiring statistics are not a reflection of his opinion, nor that of his fellow officials, he said.

“I acknowledge that the numbers paint a bleak picture about minority employees on our payroll, but that certainly isn’t reflective of our staff’s opinions about minorities and certainly isn’t representative of our hiring practices or procedures,” he said.

Charleston would like to hire minorities, he said.

The police and fire departments hire based on a testing process outside the city, which makes it impossible for the city to know when it receives an application from a minority. The departments have no idea how many applications they receive from non-Caucasians, Inyart said.

“The simple fact is that, aside from EIU, Charleston, like many other small communities, offers very little to a minority or their family looking to relocate here,” Inyart said.

The small number of black employees in Charleston correlates with the low population of African-Americans living here.

Inyart said one reason this is true might be because Charleston lacks some cultural amenities minorities have in larger cities.