African American Exodus from San Francisco

I read the article in the 4/09/07 Chronicle S.F. moves to stem African American exodus, and couldn’t believe the pure bull contained within, on more than one level (read article here).

The mayor must be high on his 70% approval if he thinks his so-called “Task Force” is anything more than a smokescreen trying to delude people into thinking that he really cares. And the critics who said “the effort to reverse this longtime trend may be too late” are not nearly critical enough – there’s no “may” about it.

Something should have been done long ago before the Redevelopment Agency got its claws on the Fillmore, where ruining a vibrant African American Community, as well as people’s lives, got Justin Hermann a plaza named for him. Now Redevelopment has its claws on Bayview-Hunters Point and the Mayor is all for it. Where will Marsha Rosen’s plaza be? Hopefully on one or those semi-cleaned toxic areas where they intend to build.

We the people must be giving off stupid vibes if the mayor thinks he can fool us into believing that all this chatter really means something. But I’m sure there will be those who refuse to be informed who will say that “at least he is trying” when they cast that ballot next year. Yeah, trying to pretend that the outpouring of people of color from our city isn’t welcomed by some.

Then…I read “Demographers cite economic success among black residents as the primary reason for the exodus.” I really had to laugh at this one, although it’s not the least bit amusing. Johnson, the demographer, would have us believe that SF is losing its African American population because they have suddenly jumped into a higher income bracket and are heading for that middle class life in the suburbs. While this may be true in a few cases, and was probably a goal in the 50’s when the suburbs were so desirable, in my gut I know we are losing them and other people of color, along with their culture and diversity, because GENTRIFICATION OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS IS DRIVING THEM OUT, ALONG WITH THE HIGH COST OF BUYING OR RENTING IN SF.

And, this problem is not unique to San Francisco – it is happening in cities all over the country. As the end of the automobile culture of suburbia draws near due to peak oil, the ones who really are in that higher income bracket are starting to come back to the cities, where everything is close by, often within walking distance. Hence the demand for the gentrification of San Franhatten, and African Americans won’t be the only population we will lose due to being priced out of the housing market.

C’mon Gavin, get real. And c’mon people, wake up, don’t let yourselves be the proverbial “some of the people who are fooled all of the time.”

By the way, while this article appeared on today’s front page, it was nowhere to be seen on SFGate. I had to search for it, which I wouldn’t have known to do had I not read it earlier.

Sincerely,



Terrrie Frye