Racial Shifts Case Study: Housing & School Policy
Heavy Urban Renewal in the 1970s was aimed at clearing blight resulting from disinvestment, and therefore officials discussed neighborhoods in largely economic terms during that time. While the Renewal programs may have brought back economic investment, they also had significant unintended racial implications—notably setting off an out-migration of African American households from San Francisco, which is still occurring today [25]. Now the city is once again prioritizing looking at race in conjunction with housing policy. According to Marcia Rosen and Wendy Sullivan in the report, From Urban Renewal and Displacement to Economic Inclusion: San Francisco Affordable Housing Policy 1978-2012: “the Mayor’s Office of Housing commissioned a study, completed in 2009, to understand the reasons behind the decline in Black or African American households and, more importantly, changes that need to occur to provide opportunity for low-income African Americans, re-establish an African-American middle class in the City and rebuild this community as a strong presence in San Francisco,” [25].
|
This chart shows the substantial out-migration of African-Americans from San Francisco post-Urban Renewal years. (Source: From Urban Renewal and Displacement to Economic Inclusion: San Francisco Affordable Housing Policy, 2012)
|
These charts showing graduation and drop-out rates in the San Francisco Unified School District demonstrate disparities in educational attainment among different racial & ethnic groups. (Source: Budget and Legislative Analyst, San Francisco Planning Department)
|
The same perspective shifts occurred in the school system. In 2001, the San Francisco Public School System re-wrote their anti-segregation decree to reflect more socioeconomic-based language, as opposed to race-based language, which had been in place since 1983 [32]. However, many believe this shift has only re-segregated the schools, and promoted inequities. Currently, overall opinion is that race cannot be ignored to achieve racial integration. According to educator Sean Lords, bringing in more privileged students (via gentrification or other mixed-income strategies) artificially inflates school test scores and performance, but does not solve key issues of poverty and racial inequity [19]. For example, Oakland schools (reflective of regional trends, even if not in San Francisco) have seen a demographic shift in many area schools—often increasing diversity with more white students attending a traditionally African American school. Parent involvement has also increased—however, not with the same diversity as the student body. Instead, the middle class white parents have taken more active roles in the school, while many of the working class black parents still are unable to because of work schedules and other impeding factors [21]. This particular case in the Bay Area demonstrates that the city and surrounding areas cannot overcome racial inequity exclusively by promoting a mixing of socioeconomic classes. |