May 27, 2004
THE AMERICAN DREAM AT WORK:
In a Reverse Migration, Blacks Head to New South: California, other regions lose African Americans feeling the pull of 'home' and a slower pace.
(Mark Arax, May 24, 2004, LA Times)
In what demographers are calling a "full scale reversal" of the Great Migration in the early part of the 20th century, blacks are leaving California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey and retracing steps to a place their families once fled — the South.This population shift of hundreds of thousands of blacks is nowhere near the millions who left the South from 1910 to 1970. But the flow is sustained and large enough, according to a study released today by the Brookings Institution, that a new map of black America must be drawn.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Detroit — cities blacks once considered the promised land — have been seeing more blacks moving out than moving in. As part of this shift, the overall black population in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area dropped for the first time in 70 years.
The new migratory pattern reflects the ascendancy of Latinos and Asians and provides another sign that the high-water days of black community power — when Los Angeles boasted a black mayor for two decades — may be over.
"We came out to California to find gold, and many of us found it," said Noella Buchanan, a pastor at the Community African Methodist Episcopal Church in Corona. "But when it's time to retire, there's this desire to go back home. Even the children who grew up in California are feeling the pull. They're heading off to black colleges in Atlanta and North Carolina and staying there.
"Let's face it. Everything is crazy here. The traffic is crazy, the housing prices are crazy. They're finding a slower pace of life in the South. Out here, we're the forgotten minority. Back there, we're the chosen minority." [...]
"My wife and I live in a house with 3,000 square feet, a nice yard, nice patio, nice pool, nice neighborhood, right next door to a Mormon bishop," said Martin Bauchman, a 75-year-old Las Vegas newcomer.
His migration tells the story of black America in the post-World War II years. He left his native Oklahoma in 1950, moved to South-Central Los Angeles and spent the next 50 years working his way up from prison guard to assistant manager in the state Department of Education. Two years ago, he pulled up stakes and moved to the boomtown in the desert.
"My backyard is even big enough that I got some tomatoes and peppers and a few carrots," he said, chuckling. "I just saw Gladys Knight perform at the Flamingo down the street. It's a pretty good life."
Amen, brother. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 27, 2004 5:41 PM
One thing that remains unmentioned is that blacks in California are being undercut by illegals who compete for their jobs.
Posted by: Derek Copold at May 27, 2004 6:30 PMOne can demonstrate the migration from San Francisco by the fact that there hasn't been an African-American elected to city-wide office in years.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at May 27, 2004 6:54 PMLikewise no one wants to talk about how bitter blacks are at being pushed out of SoCal by Latino migration and being pushed out of NoCal(S.F.) by affluent gentrifiers.
Which is also why black politicians in Georgia pushed thru,or attempted to push a law banning latino's from state level A.A. programs.
The fight over the spoils system is going to be brutal,but since our official policy is both open immigration and ethnic/cultural separatism(outright supremacy in Cali)it's enevitable.
This may be one way for OJ to finally get more black votes into the GOP,but it will only be by alienating latinos and only if Dems don't become anti-immigration when latinos in Cali boot the political dominant white elite minority out of power to.
Google Rep. Howard Berman,nasty bit of latin ethno-centrisism and xenophobia aimed at him.
Is the percentage of the black population leavinng California any higher than the percentage of the white population leaving California?
Posted by: ralph phelan at May 27, 2004 7:24 PMIt's always puzzling when the examplar used in a story has nothing to do with the story's theme. I fully willing to believe that blacks are moving back South and it would be interesting to know whether the cause is lack of economic opportunity in the North or simply a better atmosphere in the New South.
But the story of Mr. Bauchman, born in Oklahoma and retired in Las Vegas, has nothing to do with anything.
Posted by: David Cohen at May 27, 2004 7:37 PMDavid and ralph --
Why spoil a perfect opportunity to rant about illegal immigration with insightful questions and observations?
If Black Americans, having immigrated to Califirnia and the Northeast decades before the mass of illegal Latino immigrants, are still competing for the same jobs, I think we need to look at other factors to explain and -- better -- address their plight. I think David is right that a good deal of the appeal of emigration may be the better economic and social environment in the New South.
Posted by: MG at May 27, 2004 9:10 PMDavid:
You are right. But never mind coherence; to me it was just a little heartwarming to read in microcosm how our country has changed these last 50 years.
Posted by: Jeff Guinn at May 27, 2004 10:01 PMI agree with Martin Bauchman.
My extensive travels and experiences living in many, many towns and cities, (including Las Vegas), leave me with the impression that Las Vegas is the third-best place to live in the entire US.
The migration might be nothing more than retired blacks seeking the sun and cheaper living expenses.
Northern Florida, Georgia outside of the Atlanta Metro area, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Texas (even the largest cities, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston)...
These are all low-cost areas, especially housing, far lower cost than NYC, Chicago, California...
As an aside, I can see blacks moving to Atlanta or Charlottesville, but Mississippi or Louisiana ?
Racism in those areas is still very much part of the mainstream culture, and not hidden at all.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at May 27, 2004 11:33 PMFred,
Wasn't Willie Brown the mayor of SF a couple of years ago?
Posted by: pchuck at May 28, 2004 12:09 PMNo,it's real migration sparked by affluent Bo-bo;s in SF and cheap latino's in LA pushing blacks o-u-t.
Blacks are being squeezed more than any by our immigration and economic policies as thay are the most vulnerable in terms of education and skills.
Add in a deep rooted sense of entitlement and resentment,disdain for academics,etc,you have wonder how much of a future blacks have here.
We can't afford them,endless waves of poor unskilled latinos and all those baby boomers.
Something will have to give.
Another way to look at it would be to say that all Americans have been migrating south and southeast for a couple generations, and now that black Americans are in many respects indistinguishable from other Americans, they're following that trend.
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