Activists wanted a 53% Black majority to solidify the city’s stature as a majority-minority community and to make it more reflective of the city’s overall demographics within the 2020 U.S. Census.

Now, in a city where the population is split evenly between white and Black residents, some schools are more than 95% Black. The school system as a whole is just under 60% Black and about 20% white.

Chicago’s Black population dropped by 86,413 — to 801,195. And the city’s white population dropped by by 226,578, to 986,280. Black Caucus mapmaker wants to preserve 18 majority-Black wards ...