Map of Black Population Trends in the Bay Area, 2000-2008, Image from Urban Strategies
By Oakland Local contributor Eric K. Arnold
For decades, Oakland was what George Clinton would refer to as a “chocolate city” – one with a majority-black population.
However, “State of Blacks in the Bay,” a recent study by Urban Strategies analyzing the Bay Area’s overall diversity, as well as the state of its African American residents, confirms what many have suspected: Oakland is no longer a chocolate city.
In 2010, Oakland still claims the largest percentage of African-American residents in the region. However, the city has become a melting pot of multiculturalism, a destination for diversity encompassing an ethnic stew of black, white, Asian and Latino peoples – both natives and immigrants. Yet the much-touted Oaktown renaissance, which has seen a development boom over the past decade, has coincided – perhaps not coincidentally – with a significant drop in its black population, suggesting that many longterm residents have indeed been displaced by newcomers.
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