The 1970 census found that Berkeley was 23.5 percent Black, a number which was down to 7.9 percent in 2020. This is generally believed to be due to gentrification, which refers to the process in which wealthier people buy and renovate properties in poor neighborhoods for profit, leading to increased property values and the displacement of residents who can no longer afford to live there. This is an issue that disproportionately affects African Americans, according to a 2020 study by Stanford sociologist Jackelyn Hwang. The study found that residents from predominantly non-Black neighborhoods experiencing gentrification had a wider variety of neighborhoods they moved to and were more likely to move to wealthier neighborhoods. Meanwhile, those from predominantly Black neighborhoods were generally relegated to disadvantaged neighborhoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another reason for the steep decline is systemic displacement during the construction of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) tracks and freeways in the East Bay. According to a 2024 report by KQED, BART tracks were built in neighborhoods with up to 95 percent Black populations, displacing those residents without fair compensation for their homes. During the 1960s and 70s, this practice removed thousands of Black Berkeley and Oakland residents from their homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The City of Berkeley has a responsibility to prevent further exodus of Black residents. Displacement due to gentrification is incredibly harmful, and allowing African American people to be continuously pushed out of Berkeley is unjust. The Black community deserves a place in Berkeley that comes with the knowledge that Black residents won\u2019t be further dispelled from the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many have pushed for Berkeley to densify its housing by increasing the amount of multiple-family homes. Berkeley has a long history of single-family zoning, being the first city in the U.S. to instate single-family zoning laws. These laws prevented more affordable housing from being built in areas like the Elmwood and Claremont neighborhoods, and they were heavily based in racial discrimination, according to a 2020 report by KQED. In 2021, Berkeley\u2019s single-family zoning laws were overturned. This is a great step towards affordability \u2014 and hopefully future diversification \u2014\u00a0 but ultimately doesn\u2019t address the years of harm already done to Berkeley\u2019s Black population. \u00a0<\/p>\n
A report by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project asserted that if not handled properly, increased density would not necessarily lead to affordable housing. Movements to densify Berkeley must prioritize the rights and needs of renters and actively work to address inequities. That said, to leave the housing crisis as it is would be detrimental; the mass displacement of African American residents cannot be left unaddressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Affordable housing is crucial. Allowing gentrification and Berkeley\u2019s housing crisis to continue would be incredibly harmful to African American people, especially youth. Young people of color deserve to see a future in which they can reasonably afford basic needs like housing.<\/p>\n
The City of Berkeley has a responsibility to take action to prevent gentrification from continuing to push Black residents out of the city. The housing crisis disproportionately affects Black people, and policies aiming to address housing affordability must be aware of this fact and must attempt to make Berkeley\u2019s housing as equitable as possible. For countless families of color in the East Bay, the damage has been done. But a focus on affordable, accessible housing will undoubtedly provide hope for future Berkeley residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 1970 census found that Berkeley was 23.5 percent Black, a number which was down to 7.9 percent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-167651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-oakland","9":"tag-oakland-headlines","10":"tag-oakland-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}