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San Francisco Supervisors Weigh in on Black DisplacementThursday, August 21, 2008
A string of articles have been published regarding the displacement of San Francisco’s African American population, the most recent of which is titled Black Exodus Emergency by Sarah Phelan in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Sarah Phelan outlines the plight of the African American Out-Migration task force, put together by Mayor Gavin Newsom last year. It recently issued a draft report demonstrating the harsh reality -- based on 2005 US Census and state demographic data -- that the African American population constitutes a mere 1/16 of the city’s population, a number that has decreased by 40.9 percent since 1990. “‘That’s not enough people to fill Candlestick Park,’ observed Fred Blackwell, executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.”
And this is not a new phenomenon. In response to San Francisco’s history of displacement, specifically the urban renewal projects of the 1950s and 1960s in the Fillmore area and in Hunters Point in the 1970s, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote on a Mayoral supported proposal on September 9th. If passed, it would extend housing reparations in the form of certificates allowing the recipient to jump to the front of long affordable housing lines, not only to the original tenants who were displaced but to their descendants as well. “They would be put at the top of the city’s lottery system that awards much-coveted affordable housing units,” reported Leslie Fulbright in the SF Chronicle on August 18th, 2008.
I applaud this proposed legislation as a symbol of making something right within a history of wrong. However the question must be asked, is this too little too late? It may not even be feasible to expect past residents and their families from forty-plus years ago to jump at an offer of a high lottery position certificate for a chance to move back to San Francisco. According to Fred Blackwell, executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (as quoted in the Guardian article), the city has a “lack of affordable housing, as well as a lack of educational and economic opportunity, severe environmental injustice, an epidemic of violence, and lack of cultural and social pride.” I agree with Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's statement to the Chronicle: “I highly doubt there will be a flood of people coming in to redeem them (the certificates).”
So what do we do in response to the African American depopulation? We must start by preserving and improving the housing supply that already exists. A watchful and critical eye must be placed on the Redevelopment Agency’s new plan to “clean up” Bay View-Hunters Point, one of the few predominantly African American neighborhoods remaining in San Francisco.
From the San Francisco Chronicle, August 18th, 2008:
A string of articles have been published regarding the displacement of San Francisco’s African American population, the most recent of which is titled Black Exodus Emergency by Sarah Phelan in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Sarah Phelan outlines the plight of the African American Out-Migration task force, put together by Mayor Gavin Newsom last year. It recently issued a draft report demonstrating the harsh reality -- based on 2005 US Census and state demographic data -- that the African American population constitutes a mere 1/16 of the city’s population, a number that has decreased by 40.9 percent since 1990. “‘That’s not enough people to fill Candlestick Park,’ observed Fred Blackwell, executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.”
And this is not a new phenomenon. In response to San Francisco’s history of displacement, specifically the urban renewal projects of the 1950s and 1960s in the Fillmore area and in Hunters Point in the 1970s, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote on a Mayoral supported proposal on September 9th. If passed, it would extend housing reparations in the form of certificates allowing the recipient to jump to the front of long affordable housing lines, not only to the original tenants who were displaced but to their descendants as well. “They would be put at the top of the city’s lottery system that awards much-coveted affordable housing units,” reported Leslie Fulbright in the SF Chronicle on August 18th, 2008.
I applaud this proposed legislation as a symbol of making something right within a history of wrong. However the question must be asked, is this too little too late? It may not even be feasible to expect past residents and their families from forty-plus years ago to jump at an offer of a high lottery position certificate for a chance to move back to San Francisco. According to Fred Blackwell, executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (as quoted in the Guardian article), the city has a “lack of affordable housing, as well as a lack of educational and economic opportunity, severe environmental injustice, an epidemic of violence, and lack of cultural and social pride.” I agree with Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's statement to the Chronicle: “I highly doubt there will be a flood of people coming in to redeem them (the certificates).”
So what do we do in response to the African American depopulation? We must start by preserving and improving the housing supply that already exists. A watchful and critical eye must be placed on the Redevelopment Agency’s new plan to “clean up” Bay View-Hunters Point, one of the few predominantly African American neighborhoods remaining in San Francisco.
From the San Francisco Chronicle, August 18th, 2008:
If you, a parent or grandparent lived in the Western Addition in the 1950s or 1960s or Hunters Point in the 1970s, you may be eligible for a housing certificate of preference. To find out, call the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation at (415) 822-1022 or the Mayor’s Office of Housing at (415) 701-5500
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