BRIH-Ch. 4. The Results of Black Relocation: The Destruction of the Black Northern Migration Dream and the Dilution of the Black Vote From Urban Cores.

Harnessing Black Consumer and Economic Power As An Agent For Social Change.

Black Relocation Is Happening v2.2 [PDF]

Ch. 4. The Results of Black Relocation: The Destruction of the Black Northern Migration Dream and the Dilution of the Black Vote From Urban Cores.

The greater Los Angeles county area and the remaining southland is set to follow San Francisco’s[54], Washington D.C.’s, New York’s and Seattle’s pattern of development and relocation. Here in the greater Los Angeles area, the beginnings of a city-wide/county area demographic and economic shift are occurring following street and metro lines. 

We have lost Harlem in New York, Washington D.C. , the Fillmore district in San Francisco and the Central District in Seattle. [55]   These areas were Black meccas and hope to millions of Black families hoping to escape the south. At this rate, there is less place for us than ever before- they have literally “liberized”[56] these very large cities free of Blacks. 

The changing racial demographics will dilute the minority voter blocks of the urban areas- areas that were crucial to Obama’s reelection.   In California, the Black vote is being pushed east and dispersed amongst Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario counties. The result is a dilution of the Black vote at the local level as well. Given the enormous size of these cities and geographical areas, Blacks may be facing the largest relocation of peoples since the removal and relocation of the indigenous peoples onto existing reservations.

[54] San Francisco is a good model for Los Angeles with regards to both the types of groups relocating Black communities and the skyrocketing property values resulting from this pattern of development. Dolan, “San Francisco’s Black Population Dwindling”; Nittle, “Will San Francisco’s Black Population Vanish as City’s Wealth Rises?”; Kolko, “Top 10 Least and Most Expensive Housing Markets for Today’s Middle Class”; Leonhardt and Miller,“The Metro Areas With The Largest And Smallest Gay Populations”, (San Francisco has the largest homosexual population in the country and Los Angeles has the ninth largest in the country); Frizell, “The New American Dream Is Living In A City, Not Owning A House In The Suburbs”; Bui and Dougherty, “Good Schools, Affordable Homes, Finding the Suburban Sweet Spot”. See also Rosenfeld, “Is Gentrification Fueling Police Brutality in San Francisco?”. San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in the United States. That means one of the largest cities in the nation has relocated Blacks from the urban cores- 11,645 Blacks left San Francisco County from 2000-2010. US Census Bureau, “US Census, SF CA Population”; Regarding LA,Khouri, “Downtown Los Angeles Hasn’t Seen This Much Construction Since the 1920s”; Vincent, “In L.A’s Broadway Theater District, Chinese Developer Builds Condos Priced For the First Time Buyer”.

[55]Hopskinson “Farewell, Chocolate City”; Dolan, “San Francisco’s Black Population Dwindling”; Nittle, “Will San Francisco’s Black Population Vanish as City’s Wealth Rises?”; Fuller, “The Loneliness of Being Black in San Francisco”; Roberts, “White Population Rises in Manhattan”; Roberts, “No Longer Majority Black, Harlem in in Transition”; Beason, “Seattle’s Vanishing Black Community” (Central District is majority white for first time since the fifties. Central District was up to 70% Black in the seventies and sixties.).

[56] See e.g., Manjoo, “Silicon Valley’s Politics: Liberal, With One Big Exception”; Adam Ngourney, “Democratic Fight in California Is A Warning For The National Party”, New York Times, August 9, 2017 (calling California the “bluest of blue states.”). It’s common knowledge that San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and the coastal side of Oregon and Washington are considered very liberal areas. So is Boston and Massachusetts.