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SF is segregated, especially when it comes to blacks being generally residentially separated from monied whites. However, there has never been one large centralized black neighborhood in SF like Harlem in Manhattan or the entire eastern half of DC. Rather, the tiny black population is scattered throughout a handful of black majority neighborhoods in the central and southern areas of the city (i.e. Fillmore, Lakeview, Hunter's Point, Sunnydale). The largest black neighborhood in SF of Hunter's Point is a startling example of how intensely black people have been segregated from the rest of the population in SF. Hunter's Point is located in the far southeastern fringe of SF and is located near one of the most toxic waste sites in California. Much of the housing there consists of the worst public housing in America. The only areas that are majority-black in SF today are such housing projects.
But here's where it gets interesting. Lower-income neighborhoods in the urban Bay Area and Northern California tend to be more economically segregated than racially segregated. The poorest and most crime ridden areas in San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and Vallejo are often the most racially integrated. Areas like the 20's in Oakland are among the most diverse neighborhoods in all of California. Racial tension is all but non-existent in many of these areas. Even in the worst areas of the urban Bay area, it is common to see Asians, Samoans, Latinos and even whites hanging around outside on dangerous blocks alongside blacks and no one ever really thinks much of it. But well-off mostly white folks who visit or live in the Bay never see this integration there because they stay out of the working class/ghetto southern fringes of SF and the motto is "don't go to Oakland" for too many people in the Bay.
Segregation in East Coast cities tends to be much more complete. On the East Coast, you don't really have the diversity within the Asian population that you see in California. On the East Coast, Asians tend to be Korean liquor store, deli, laundromat owners and highly educated professionals. You don't have a ton of ghetto Asians like you have in every major city in California from San Francisco to Oakland to Fresno to Long Beach. Also, East Coast cities, especially above the Mason-Dixon Line, tend to have more ethnic whites than anywhere else (i.e. Irish, Italians).
Segregation in East Coast cities like DC is very complete. Even educated upper income blacks segregated themselves from whites in the DC Area. There are upper middle class blacks in Prince George's County, Maryland, the richest black majority county in America immediately east of DC, who could afford to live in majority-white Montgomery county if they wanted. But segregation in the DC Area is so complete that most black people in Montgomery County, Maryland immediately west of DC, aren't even native born American blacks, but they are more likely to be recent African immigrants from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone etc. Even many minorities in the richer areas of Montgomery County were adopted and were raised by rich white people in rich white neighborhoods. Blacks and whites in DC are like oil and water. White people in DC are homogenous in being upper middle class and wealthy and WASP white culturally. There is no white-black cultural overlap in DC. I have never even seen a black male-white female couple in DC in all my years of living in this area. Native blacks in DC are also extremely ethnocentric and strongly dislike out of towners as well.
Cities like Baltimore have pockets of black-white integration. Baltimore is integrated with lower income blacks and whites in South Baltimore. The drug culture often brings whites and blacks together in Baltimore. But as a whole, Baltimore is very, very segregated. Driving while white is a real thing in many majority-black areas in Baltimore where the only white people rolling through the hood are there to cop dope.
Philly is deceivingly integrated if you are a tourist. Center City is extremely diverse and you can see all types of interracial couples and racially ambiguous mixed people walking the streets there every weekend of the year. However many of the actual neighborhoods in Philly are starkly divided among racial lines. West Oak Lane is very, very black. Port Richmond is very, very white. The well-publicized violent flash mob incidents a few years ago highlighted the racial tensions between blacks, Latinos, Asians and whites in Philly. Philly does have integrated pockets as well, but overall, Philly is a very segregated city with deep seated racial tensions.
NYC is also deceivingly integrated to the untrained eye. Everybody rides the subway together. There is a live let live feel in the air. But go too deep east into Brooklyn if you aren't black, you will stick out like a sorethumb. Same thing with going to Jamaica in Queens. Go to Bensonhurst in Brooklyn if you are black and see if you feel comfortable. Depending on when you step off the train going Uptown, it's all Dominicans (Washington Heights) or all Puerto Ricans (Bronx). Spike Lee's portrayal of racial tensions in NYC in 1989's Do The Right Thing was pretty spot on. There are hundreds of thousands people who have lived in NYC their whole lives who rarely, if ever, come into contact with people of different races.
From my limited experiences, the Northeast is more segregated than in the West, and folks from the Northeast are usually not as "politically correct" when discussing racial issues and in making racial comments. Just my observations hanging out in DC, NY, New Jersey, and in Boston.
From my limited experiences, the Northeast is more segregated than in the West, and folks from the Northeast are usually not as "politically correct" when discussing racial issues and in making racial comments. Just my observations hanging out in DC, NY, New Jersey, and in Boston.
That's because being politically correct is pointless. Political correctness will be our downfall. Sometimes, it is what it is - I don't care who or what I offend. People need to get over it and quit being so sensitive. I guess it's true that we "tell it like it is" around here, isn't it?
I blame political correctness as the reason why our government/the CDC/the UN will not close the borders of the West African countries that will eventually spread ebola all over the world through air travel. We already have a case brought to TX and they still have no intentions of closing the borders to protect us all. God help us.
I'm sorry, but the Northeast is not any more segregated than anywhere else in the U.S. Whenever I travel to places down south or out west, I see the SAME exact segregation patterns. For example, all the Latino people living in Chula Vista for the most part, in the San Diego area. Or in places like Dallas, where all the white people live in the northern suburbs like Plano and Carrollton. Another example would be Southeast FL, where Miami-Dade county is almost exclusively Latino, but Palm Beach County is majority white.
But more importantly, it's not racial segregation, it's CLASS segregation. It's just that most non-white racial groups tend to earn less income than their white counterparts.
It's not just the northeast. It's everywhere. Give me a break.
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