Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m CalMatters reporter Wendy Fry.
For the first time in decades, California’s Black population decreased, from 2.2 million people in 2000 to 2.1 million now. Also Black Californians have moved away from urban centers to places like the Inland Empire and Sacramento.
Why? Researchers cite the impacts of gentrification and high housing costs, which have stalled the economic progress of Black Californians.
UCLA researchers found Black population declines in the state’s major metropolitan areas; nearly a quarter of the state’s Black residents now live outside such urban centers as San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and Oakland, likely because of housing affordability issues. That figure is up from 17% of Black residents living outside urban centers in 2000.
These are key findings in a recent report published by the Black Policy Project, an initiative of the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. A previous report was commissioned in 2000 by the California Legislative Black Caucus and former California State Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass, now mayor of Los Angeles.
The research shows Black homeownership declined by nearly 6% between 2000 and 2020, while other ethnic groups did not experience such a decrease.
Despite such efforts as improving access to high school courses required for college entrance and reforming criminal justice, progress toward closing the racial gap in social and economic outcomes for white and Black Californians has been slow at 4% since 2000, the report says.
“According to that rate of change, closing the racial gap between Black and white Californians would take over 248 years,” said Michael Stoll, faculty director of the Black Policy Project and author of the report.
Even though there have been improvements to the quality of life for Black communities in California, racial inequality stubbornly persists and may continue for centuries unless more is done, Stoll said.
DON’T MISS
- Income inequality. The gap between high and low incomes is wider in California than most other states, the Public Policy Institute of California said. California families at the top 10% of the income distribution earned 11 times more than families in the bottom 10% in 2022. That’s $305,000 vs. $29,000 a year, respectively.
- Migrant center. The Department of Homeland Security will spend $45.2 million this year to help newly arrived migrants in Calilfornia. San Diego County will get $19.6 million to open and run a migrant transition center, nearly two months after a county-funded center closed because it ran out of money. Catholic Charities in San Diego will receive $19.6 million, and Riverside County will get $6 million.
- Ripple effects. Will California’s huge raises for fast food workers influence other industries? Bloomberg reports the law already is creating spillover effects for janitors and hotel cleaners and for higher-paid fast food managers. Possible layoffs and reductions in work hours could blunt that impact.
- Single mom struggle. About a third of U.S. mothers are unmarried. At least 32% experience moderate or severe psychological distress, compared to 19% of married mothers, the Brookings Institution said.
- Immigrant Advocacy. About 500 people gathered at the state Capitol this week to advocate for immigrant rights. As part of the California Immigrant Policy Center’s annual “Immigrant Day of Action,” lawmakers and advocates rallied for such legislative priorities as food security, healthcare, and unemployment benefits.
- Big spending. Major agriculture organizations have combined forces to spend millions on Spanish language radio ads, to discourage farmworkers from voting in union elections, the Sacramento Bee reported.
- Inequity Alert. A program that arranges supportive services for Californians with developmental disabilities has been plagued by inequities, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Self Determination Program was supposed to help people from “traditionally underserved” communities but, nearly three years after it became widely available, Latinos make up 20% of participants though they are 41% of eligible Californians served by the Department of Developmental Services. Black people also are underrepresented.
- Chopping block. California’s climate program for low-income housing may lose a third of its funding as Gov. Gavin Newsom scrambles to close a major budget shortfall, Capital & Main reports. The program aims to reduce climate emissions from low-income buildings without displacing tenants.
- Sewage saga. Environmental groups accused a federal agency charged with applying boundary and water treaties of illegally dumping hazardous waste into the Tijuana River and the Pacific Ocean. The San Diego Coastkeeper and Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation filed a federal suit in California last week, saying the U.S. International Boundaries and Water Commission discharged fecal bacteria, contaminated sediment, heavy metals and toxic chemicals, like PCBs.
- Watch it. ABC7’s documentary called California’s Case for Reparations examines the history-making work of the nation’s first statewide reparations task force, which publicized California’s role in anti-Black policies that extended beyond chattel slavery.
- Rent burdened. The LA Times reported nearly 4 in 10 renters in that county worried about losing their home and becoming homeless in recent years. A new UCLA survey also showed many worried they or their family would go hungry because they cannot afford food.
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Thanks for reading,
The California Divide Team