Blacks leaving the Bay ? (San Francisco, Sacramento: lease, violent crime, house)

[NorCal Dude]

I think there is a lot of hostility towards blacks in the bay for sure. The crazy thing is the worst of it actually comes from minority groups whom owe the very civil rights they enjoy to the hard work and even deaths of many blacks. Such a shame. That's why it does not surprise me sac is so much more integrated. Different races seem to get a long much better here. Reminds me of New York, Dc, and Atlanta in that regard.

I could not imagine why a black person would want to live in the bay unless they had family there.

[athleticsfan72737489]

I always knew that Black people were leaving the Bay Area. I think Oakland was 48% black at it's peak in 1980. Now it's maybe 27% and falling.

Also, how is the Latino population holding up in San Francisco? Obviously the Latino population is growing almost everywhere at a fast rate. However, I think San Francisco may be the lone exception.

[mayorhaggar]

When I ride home on BART I see plenty of black professionals who look middle class or upper middle class. They generally stay on the train when I get off at Rockridge.

I think there are a lot of them out there, I just don't think there's many towns or areas that are identified as staunchly middle class black areas anymore. I think they are scattered around more than somewhere like the South or Chicago or NYC that I think are more segregated. The Bay Area is pretty segregated when it comes to poor people but I think more middle class minorities are more spread out.

As for Hispanics in SF, they are mainly only in the Mission. Look at a demographics map and that is where they are centered. Cities like San Jose and Hayward seem more dominated by Hispanics.

[RehobothBeachDela_where]

Originally Posted by goldenchild08

Where I live now in Maryland is right outside the richest Black majority county in the nation, Prince George's County. There are huge upscale mostly Black neighborhoods in PG County filled with million dollar homes. However, PG County has its share of gun violence, drugs and above average homicide rate in the impoverished areas that are located outside of Southeast DC. DC is still a Black majority city (albeit only by a few percentage points in 2011), but DC is the most educated city in the nation with the highest median income of any big city. It is possible to be highly educated, upper or upper middle class, suburban and authentically Black in DC. This is unheard of in SF in 2011. Seeing how disenfranchised Black folks are in the hidden third world corners of SF and coming back to affluent Black suburbia in Maryland is a serious head trip.

There are huge upper middle class Black populations in Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery counties in suburban Maryland as well. But Baltimore City and DC have well-publicized impoverished disadvantaged Black populations. But at the same time, these communities in Baltimore and DC aren't as insular and cut off as some of the impoverished Black communities in the Bay. Living in the ghetto in Baltimore, you can easily make $500 a day on hot Spring, Summer and early Autumn days selling ice cold bottled water on the side of the road. Money from the pockets of rich people doesn't flow through Hunter's Point as much as it does through places like West Baltimore. Hunter's Point mine as well be a thousand miles away from Bernal Heights.

I am very familiar to what you are talking about in PG County in MD. I lived most of my life in NOVA right across the river. Most of those people work in DC and comute everyday to their DC & Government jobs and just moved out of DC into PG County when they got some money.

The white flight took off in PG County too mostly because people want to live with their own kind and it works both ways, white or black!

[goldenchild08]

The vast economic inequality between Blacks and Whites and other races in the Bay is crazy. San Francisco is one of the top ten richest cities in the nation and yet Blacks, collectively, have ZERO share of that wealth. In other cities, even Oakland, you have poor Blacks and middle class Black folks. In SF, most Black SF natives still residing in the City are poor. Here is a quick look in to what life is like for the vast majority of Blacks in SF. This hood documentary-type snippet was shot in the infamous Sunnydale projects. This video is only a minute long but Black folks live like this everyday of their lives in The City. Listen to the guy at the end of the video saying he's "broker than the Ten Commandments" and he's been "eating noodles for 366 days" (Ramen presumably) and his "stomach is touching his back". Although it was kinda funny how he said it, it's rather sad that most Black people are that down and out in what is supposed to be one of the greatest cites in the world. In all my years living in Maryland, I have never heard anyone talk like this; not even in the cuttiest corner of Park Heights in Baltimore City or the darkest alley of Southeast DC.

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by french paris

Blacks leaving the Bay? New report on black population trends in Oakland reveals

I can understand how blacks would like to leave the bay area. San Francisco is a very racist city. My family (who is Haitian) left California long ago after the jobs left. They used to live around the city while my close family lived in Marin County. We still have a few left but not much. We all migrated to Florida.

[goldenchild08]

I think there is a lot of hostility towards blacks in the bay for sure. The crazy thing is the worst of it actually comes from minority groups whom owe the very civil rights they enjoy to the hard work and even deaths of many blacks. Such a shame. That's why it does not surprise me sac is so much more integrated. Different races seem to get a long much better here. Reminds me of New York, Dc, and Atlanta in that regard.

Yes, the Bay does seem racist towards Blacks. I've noticed that a lot more Black folks in SF are much more vocal about being in a f*cked up situation than Blacks in other places because they really do have it that bad in the City by the Bay. Racism is communicated much more nonverbally where I live now. I've heard old Black ladies go off on bitter racist tirades at super White yuppies riding buses through Fillmore. I've heard a lot of ugly things. But those bitter old ladies had a point in being members of SF's practically invisible permanent underclass of Black natives living in a city full of rich closet racist transplants.

But I think the Bay is more classist than racist when it comes to race relations between poor folks. Many ghetto areas in the Bay are very diverse and Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and even Whites and Middle Eastern folks stick together in many Bay Area hoods because they grew up together. Even highly publicized interracial violence between minorities isn't inherently racist in SF. It has been covered in the Bay Area news that Blacks have targeted Asians and Latinos for robbery and extortion in grimey Southeast SF hoods. But not all Asians and Latinos are targeted. Black thugs in SF target Asians and Latinos for crimes like armed robbery because they are easier targets than even an old Black man that might have family members that will retaliate. Such crimes are more opportunist than racist.

http://www.asianweek.com/2010/04/21/inside-black-asian-violence-it’s-not-about-race/ (broken link)

DC is not like this at all. The ghettos in DC are 99.9% Black and there is a great divide between Black and White on the middle and lower/working class levels. There are virtually no lower-income Whites or Asians in DC that live in the hood unlike many places in the Bay. Hispanics in the DC area are new immigrants and stick to their own kind unlike many Northern Californian Hispanics who are first generation Americans who tend to get along well with Blacks and other races.

[andyadhi01]

Originally Posted by goldenchild08

The vast economic inequality between Blacks and Whites and other races in the Bay is crazy. San Francisco is one of the top ten richest cities in the nation and yet Blacks, collectively, have ZERO share of that wealth.

FYI, the self-proclaimed progressives in SF are in huge denial of this and ignorant of the progress made in other parts of US. The so-called socially aware people here only seem to care about the new sushi place on the block or the boutique shop and other such trivial 'yuppie' indulgences! Ignorance and apathy runs deep here.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by andyadhi01

FYI, the self-proclaimed progressives in SF are in huge denial of this and ignorant of the progress made in other parts of US. The so-called socially aware people here only seem to care about the new sushi place on the block or the boutique shop and other such trivial 'yuppie' indulgences! Ignorance and apathy runs deep here.

You understand 'progressives' well. Are you not able to leave the SF region? Doesn't sound like it's the best fit for you.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by LIS123

You understand 'progressives' well. Are you not able to leave the SF region? Doesn't sound like it's the best fit for you.

Off to the OC, then!