View source for African Americans in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)

{{Ethnic San Francisco sidebar}}
The [[East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)|East Bay]] within the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] has historically had a significant Black population, in comparison to the other counties and cities nearby. Culture of the area has been shaped by the Black population.<ref name="Condé" /> Most notably the 1960s formation of the [[Black Panther Party]] happened in city of Oakland, which also served as the headquarters.
The two counties that comprise the East Bay Area, [[Alameda County|Alameda]] and [[Contra Costa County|Contra Costa]], are estimated at 11% and 10% Black, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |date=2022 |title=QuickFacts Contra Costa County, California; Alameda County, California (V2022) |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/contracostacountycalifornia,alamedacountycalifornia/PST045222 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]}}</ref> The largest city in the East Bay, Oakland, is estimated at 22% Black in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |date=2022 |title=QuickFacts: Oakland city, California (V2022) |url=http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/oaklandcitycalifornia/PST045222 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
== African Americans in Oakland, California ==
=== Migration and demographics ===
The African Americans arrived in Oakland en masse between 1940 and 1970 (which is called the [[Second Great Migration (African American)|Second Great Migration]]), this was a result of Black people leaving the [[American South]] during the time of [[Jim Crow laws]] which enforced racial segregation.<ref name="Condé">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-02-13 |title=Where to Eat, Stay, and Play in Oakland to Experience the City's Rich Black History |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/oakland-black-history-eat-stay-play |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=[[Condé Nast Traveler]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Local jobs in the East Bay, particularly in the [[World War II]] era, such as shipyard work and railroad work offered Black Americans middle class wages.<ref name="Kuruvila">{{Cite news |last=Kuruvila |first=Matthai |date=March 11, 2011 |title=25% drop in African American population in Oakland |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/25-drop-in-African-American-population-in-Oakland-2471925.php |access-date=2024-03-13 |work=[[SFGATE]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tramble |first=Thomas and Wilma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFJ4Pv6iz4UC |title=The Pullman Porters and West Oakland |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |year=2007 |location=Charleston, SC|isbn=978-1-4396-3418-9 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Luther |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFTlBHBFYvEC&q=west+coast+defense+%22great+migration%22&pg=PA15 |title=Way Up North in Louisville: African American Migration in the Urban South, 1930-1970 |date=2010-11-29 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=9780807899434 |pages=15 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1980, [[Oakland, California]] had a 47% Black population (the 20th-century peak number); and by the 2010 census, Oakland had a 27% Black population due to out of state migration and other factors.<ref name="Kuruvila" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bay Area Census – City of Oakland – 1970–1990 Census data |url=http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Oakland70.htm |access-date= |website=BayAreaCensus.ca.gov}}</ref> The Black population has declined since the 1980s, and since then the entire San Francisco Bay Area has experienced more [[Wealth|affluent]] residents as a result of [[gentrification]].<ref name="Condé" /> Some of the Black residents of Oakland have sought residence in other San Francisco Bay Area cities, such as [[Antioch, California|Antioch]] and [[Pittsburg, California]], and have moved to other states, largely seeking a lower cost of living. However some African immigrants from [[Ethiopia]], [[Eritrea]], and [[Nigeria]] have taken up residence in the Bay Area.{{When|date=March 2024|reason=Unclear when this occurred}}
=== Oakland, California culture ===
Oakland is home to Black rights organizations, such as the Black Panther Party (1966–1982).<ref name="Kuruvila" /><ref name="Condé" /> Students [[Huey Newton]] and [[Bobby Seale]] founded the [[Black Panther Party]] in 1966 at [[Merritt College]] (then located at a former high school on Grove Street, now occupied by [[Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute]]), which emphasized [[Black nationalism]], advocated armed self-defense against police, and was involved in several incidents that ended in the deaths of police officers and other Black Panther members. Among their social programs were feeding children and providing other services to the needy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tyler |first=Carolyn |date=October 19, 2016 |title=Oakland Museum of CA celebrates 50th anniversary of Black Panthers |url=http://abc7news.com/entertainment/oakland-museum-of-ca-celebrates-50th-anniversary-of-black-panthers/1561793/ |work=[[ABC 7 News]]}}</ref>
[[Marcus Books]] was founded in 1960 in the [[Fillmore District, San Francisco|Fillmore District]] of San Francisco as one of the country's first Black bookstores and oldest African American bookstore in the United States. It closed its San Francisco location in 2014 (with plans to return), and has a second location at 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland.<ref>{{cite web |last=Woo |first=David |title=Marcus Books, the Nation's Oldest Black Bookstore |url=https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Marcus_Books,_the_Nation%E2%80%99s_Oldest_Black_Bookstore |website=FoundSF}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Lynn |date=July 23, 2016 |title=Preserving the Soul of Black San Francisco |url=https://www.ebony.com/black-history/black-san-francisco/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007020538/https://www.ebony.com/black-san-francisco/ |archive-date=October 7, 2023 |website=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]}}</ref>
Many Black celebrities grew up in Oakland, such as [[NFL]] player [[Marshawn Lynch]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ostler |first=Scott |date=February 3, 2021 |title=Marshawn Lynch explains his 'unmatchable' love for Oakland, how he's giving back |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/ostler/article/Marshawn-Lynch-explains-his-unmatchable-15922821.php |access-date=2024-03-13 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |language=en}}</ref> and rapper [[MC Hammer]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 13, 2015 |title=MC Hammer And The Oakland A's |url=https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2015/06/13/mc-hammer-golden-state-oakland-as |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=[[WBUR-FM|WBUR]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Vice President]] [[Kamala Harris]] was born and raised in Oakland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Canon |first=Gabrielle |date=2021-01-20 |title=Kamala Harris: her home town watches as one of its daughters makes history |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/20/kamala-harris-oakland-california-biden-inauguration |access-date=2024-03-13 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Social issues and violence==
The [[BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant]], a 22-year-old Black unarmed man occurred in 2009;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tucker |first=Jill |title=No cuffs on man shot by officer, BART maintains |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/02/BAL91534TE.DTL |access-date=2024-03-13 |work=[[SFGATE]] |language=en}}</ref> this led to many protests and riots in Oakland and in the Bay Area,<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 27, 2009 |title=Protesters Mark Oscar Grant's Birthday |url=http://www.ktvu.com/news/18816105/detail.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304183226/http://www.ktvu.com/news/18816105/detail.html |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |work=[[KTVU]]}}</ref> and a court settlement between the Grant family and BART.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 28, 2011 |title=BART Reaches $1.3 Million Settlement With Oscar Grant's Mother |url=http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/28/bart-reaches-1-3-million-settlement-with-oscar-grant%E2%80%99s-mother/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704004641/http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/28/bart-reaches-1-3-million-settlement-with-oscar-grant%E2%80%99s-mother/ |archive-date=July 4, 2011 |work=[[CBS San Francisco]]}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[African Americans in California]]
* [[African Americans in San Francisco]]
* [[Obediah Summers]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:African-American history in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:History of Alameda County, California]]
[[Category:History of Contra Costa County, California]]