Does the Bay Area Hate Blacks? (San Diego, San Jose: transplants, to rent, home)

[macapuno]

wow...there are a lot of posts where people generalize their personal and limited experience to an entire region. of course, there will be people who seem to fit the stereotypical view of a certain ethnic group...but, you can find that anywhere...not just the bay. and yes, there are people with racist views....but what town or city is completely free of close-minded people?

i was born and raised in the city and have lived in many different places. i agree with the comment that someone has already posted: class/money seems to be a bigger issue than what your ethnic background is.

for people who are having trouble finding a gf/bf or a job....pls. check yourself. if you've lived in the bay for over 20 years and the "best I get looking my way is what ever fat chicks the white guys left over" well...that may mean you've got other issues.

[Ultrarunner]

I feel the need to respond to the "East Oakland" comments.

As a resident of East Oakland since 1969 and living in a neighborhood where 90% of my neighbors are black I feel qualified in saying that my family has NEVER experienced any race or crime problems.

My neighbors look out for one another. We exchange house keys, pick-up the newspaper and water the yard if someone is going out-of-town.

At times it is amusing to listen to former co-workers who have moved only to learn later that the problems they "Moved Away From" followed them!

Point of reference, 2400 square foot home, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath homes are selling in the 600k range.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I feel the need to respond to the "East Oakland" comments.

As a resident of East Oakland since 1969 and living in a neighborhood where 90% of my neighbors are black I feel qualified in saying that my family has NEVER experienced any race or crime problems.

My neighbors look out for one another. We exchange house keys, pick-up the newspaper and water the yard if someone is going out-of-town.

At times it is amusing to listen to former co-workers who have moved only to learn later that the problems they "Moved Away From" followed them!

Point of reference, 2400 square foot home, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath homes are selling in the 600k range.

You reminded me of a saying my mother uses, "You can't run away from yourself!" I've been in East Palo Alto for over 2 years now, a town that was once named Murder Capital of the US... and my neighbors are better than ANY "nicer" place I've lived in! We have nightly get-togethers with our dogs (in the parking lot), have eaten at each other's places, and I often call upon them for house/pet-sitting & so on. Sure, there's still a lot of crime in EPA, but most of the people are genuinely good. I'm actually going to miss this place, when I move to SF in a few days.

[KirbyJRT]

Does the Bay Area Hate Blacks?

Yes. The entire Bay Area does.

[Jack Jones]

Thanks for telling it like it REALLY is Kirby. And for the people who think it's just about money, sure if your not black. That's why Oprah can't get into Hermes.

[sliverbox]

I moved here 10 years ago from "the-south" where we're supposed to be racist in most people's minds. But after living on both the east and west coasts, My assessment is that the BA is actually very similar to say- NY where race is kept under lock and key in the form of strict segregation. There's a black part of oakland, a white/rich part of oakland, a asian part of Oakland, and a mexican part as well. Interestingly enough, nobody mentions anything about dangerous neighborhoods until east and West Oakland are mentioned.... which happens to be the predominantly black part of the city.

So in many ways, I don't think many in the BA will freely admit that they are racist- this being a highly touted progressive city. But I think people here are scared of other races to some extent. They might smile and say hello to someone of another race, but I always feel there is an underlying feeling of mistrust.

I'll even go as far as to say that at least back in the South, people were pretty up front about it. Due to the legacy of racial disparity there, people are generally all too happy to rid the stereotype of a racist south. We dealt with our problems and confronted the issues. I don't think the BA has done that yet.

[Dingler]

I see very few Black people in CA and the Bay Area in general. As a tourist you will only see just a handful of Black people in San Francisco. I saw very few of us in restaruants and bars and almost none on BART.

I think most Black people are in the East Bay in Oakland, Richmond, and Concord.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by Torrey

Those Asian girls are probably going for the white guys because blacks have a track record of BSing a woman to get her in bed, knocking her up and then leaving either before the baby is born, or shortly after. I've seen it happen over and over with black guys. Use em, abuse em, lose em. If you're not like that, maybe you and others like you could have a talk with some of the loser rapper types out there who do this sort of thing and get them straight to improve the overall attitude towards people of the black race.

Wow if this is not the most ignorant, racist stereotypical bunch of BS i've seen on here yet.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

Yes is the answer. I am a black man who has lived here since 1981, I have lived in SF, Daily City, Oakland, San Mateo and now in Richmond. As you I don't follow the idea of what people think a black man should be. I realize that every time I go to a rock concert like Joanna Newsom, Deerhoof, Animal Collective, I am the only black person there and all the white and asian people look at me like a outsider, every single time. And don't even think your going to get girl, most girls out here are asian or white and only love white boy's. But if you do come out here anyway move to Seattle, there not as closed minded as the girls out here hell you would even do better in Fresno then out here. I am 6'5 healthy good looking guy with a degree plus a good job and the best I get looking my way is what ever fat chicks the white guys left over and 98% of the young attractive black women are straight crazy Oakland getto style. I swear to you what I say is true. The rest of these people are just trying to make the bay look good becouse they are NOT black it works for them.

This is pathetic. You need some lessons on how to pick up a woman. Just admit you lust after white and asian women only. That is the classic excuse of black men who do not date black women. "They are all ghetto". Yeah all attractive black women in the bay area are ghetto. No surprise you want to move to seattle where there are more black and white couples than anywhere else. I've never had a problem getting hit on by Asian, white, latina, black, Iranian. Anything. Yes I am black. Yes i'm married to an Asian. Maybe you're not as good looking as you think you are. All women dont dislike you becuase you're black. Maybe they just aint interested in you physically.

[baygirl]

I have to say I find this thread to be entertaining . As for the original poster, In what city are you attending college? You have asked the question that I have been pondering about the bay area...and any other area. I would undoubtably be categorized as your "girl" version...only not single (so I don't worry about the whole dating thing) and I have children (who I do worry for with the whole dating thing) and undoubtably several years older than you are. I have been accused of acting "white" my entire life...due to my upbringing, my music choices, my style of dress, my choice of extra curricular activities...etc. Fortunately I met and married a man who loves me despite my being "chocolate covered" .

At any rate, I was just curious as to where you reside now. Our family desperately wants to leave the midwest in an effort to be near like-minded individuals. The two places we were considering were Fairfax cty and San Jose. We have 3 children and consider ourselves to be middle-class but not overly concerned with materialism. We want a better quality of life spent doing the things that we love and finding other people to do them with. The problem is we seem to be odd balls. We enjoy things from both sides of the spectrum...if we say we want to go camping or hiking then our black friends think we're crazy. When we moved to a predominantly white suburb because of a school district or attended a church that has a white pastor and wasn't a traditional baptist "black church" then our black friends think we're "trying to be white". If we elect to go to restaurants that aren't chains (red lobster) and declare ourselves to be vegetarian or if we chose to read books that may not be written by black authors and want to go to wineries and such, then we're accused of being "uppity", but it is then we're viewed with disdain when we don't purchase a luxury sedan or the over-priced SUV that our income seems to suggest we should have.

In short...at age 36, we are still looking for a place that we fit in. We don't expect to have everything in common, but we don't want to be considered misfits either. We like to socialize, but have to admit it is annoying to still go places and find ourselves to be the "only blacks" there while people of other races seem to be looking at us in suprise...and not always happy suprise.