Is Los Angeles racist against black people? (Orange, Fortuna: fit in, crimes)

[onetwothree321]

I would like to move to Los Angeles as I think it's a beautiful city to say the least, but I constantly read conflicting information about the place.

On the one hand, it is a racial utopia where everyone mixes freely, has no racial inhibitions, and is super progressive. People have friends of all races, and no one even bats an eyelid at someone of another ethnicity. Everyone is laid back and more worried about traffic than racial pettiness.

On the other hand I hear that Mexican gangs are murdering black people, OC is full of racists that commit hate crimes, ppl stare at black people and call them the n-word. That black people are made to feel unwelcome in any area that isn't heavily African-American and that it's just all pretty bad.

I would love to hear the opinions of Angelinos on this topic so I can get a better sense of what LA really is like for black people. I would love to live there but I'm on the fence at this point. It seems wonderful but it's really hard to ignore the information available online.

Let me know what Los Angeles is really like. Thanks!

[theraven24]

I'm Black, was born and raised in Los Angeles.

First, this entire country is racist. There's no getting past that, wherever you go. I don't know where you're getting your info from, but I've lived here all my life and I've never felt Los Angeles was blatantly racist. Orange County is separate from L.A. County. I've lived there as well, and it felt fine. I've never run into a Mexican gang (I just posted in another thread that one sees a lot of Black/Latino relationships, and I've only been called the "N" word once, but if was a weird situation. The woman who called me that was very elderly and senile. You could tell she was losing, or had lost her mind. I felt sorry for her.

Being Black in this country will never be easy, whether you live in Los Angeles or elsewhere. Have you ever visited for a long period of time?

[ryanms3030]

It probably depends on where you live. LA doesn't have a big black population for such a big city, I believe blacks make up about 8% of the population. The places I've lived in LA have been neighborhoods made up of young professionals and families mostly and black people seem to fit in fine. I will say the ammount of black people in the neighborhoods I've lived in is probably more like 3% of the population and black people in those neighborhoods are young professionals and families like the rest of the people. Unless you are living in the ghetto I wouldn't worry about gangs.

[jamills21]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

It probably depends on where you live. LA doesn't have a big black population for such a big city, I believe blacks make up about 8% of the population. The places I've lived in LA have been neighborhoods made up of young professionals and families mostly and black people seem to fit in fine. I will say the ammount of black people in the neighborhoods I've lived in is probably more like 3% of the population and black people in those neighborhoods are young professionals and families like the rest of the people. Unless you are living in the ghetto I wouldn't worry about gangs.

By percentage. LA is top 10 in black population. There are almost a million black people in L.A. county. That is significant for any metro in the USA.


Back to the topic....I'm Black and grew up here in Los Angeles. Never really had any problems, people are people. I've seen more racist incidents in ATL than Los Angeles. If you are not in a gang, you don't have to worry. The only time I have ever been called the "N" word was on the bus by some senile old white man who looked homeless.

[Taiko]

Until this century Blacks were de facto segregated. The only Whites you would know by name were your school teachers unless you were bused out, nobody got bused in if they tried there would have been even more White Flight from the LAUSD.

As Blacks moved out to keep their sons from becoming Crips or Bloods the gang wars started jumping ethnic lines in the late 90s. The Mexican problems come when the first Black family moves to an old line Mexican gang area. Blacks who had been in East LA for decades had never faced the jail system and more recent troubles.

Most discrimination aside from those policing South Central is more economically based and not racial profiling

[BGS91762]

Seems like more and more of LAs black population is moving to the IE or out of state. I live in the IE and my neighborhood is racially mixed. No problems whatsoever.

[JustMike77]

I'm a pretty typical white guy living in the valley, but I work all over the city. The vast majority of people in L.A. don't seem to "look like me" and I never give it a second thought. There are so many different ethnicities that everyone just seems to blend in and get along fine. You're always going to find some racist jerks, but that could be anywhere.

[sacreole]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

Seems like more and more of LAs black population is moving to the IE or out of state. I live in the IE and my neighborhood is racially mixed. No problems whatsoever.

The Black population in LA's city proper and inner suburbs used to be larger prior to the early, mid-1990s. But since the 1992 riots, there has been a flight of Blacks from LA to the Antelope Valley, Inland Empire, Victor Valley and out of state (Nevada, Texas and the southeast). Parts of LA and adjacent cities that once had large Black populations are now majority Latino.

I don't think you should have an issue. As long as you're easy-going, open-minded and practice the Golden Rule, you'll be fine. Demographics do ebb and flow. Los Angeles had a Black mayor for 20 years (Tom Bradley) as well as a number of Black elected officials in the region who have served in various offices at the local, state and federal levels.

[CALGUY]

Like many other cities, there are pockets of racist.
Perhaps closeted, but still there.
One thing I know for sure, there is a definite racist policy against non blacks, among some black community leaders in this city, and anyone who has lived here for any amount of time knows who they are.


Bob.

[lterease]

Hi OP,

I've been in LA for almost 2 years, moved here from Atlanta. What I do love about LA is it is so spread out with numerous different ethic groups. People pretty much do their own thing. However, I have ran into a few unkind looks (can count them on one hand) from mostly Caucasian men. Their problem, not mine. Where I have had difficulty is in the work place. Coming from Atlanta where there are so many successful people just like me, in my current work place it is a grossly lesser amount of successful professionals who are AA. In this case, it has taken other races longer to accept me as a successful, black professional whereas in Atlanta, I'm a dime a dozen. Fortunately, I am connected to another group of AA professionals who invite me to various events whereas I don't feel so isolated. Overall, I love LA due to the city having so much to offer, but no place is perfect on this earth. Weigh the pros and cons of what you want in life at this time and go for it. I did!