San Francisco's Been A Big Liberal Hell Hole For Blacks

See the word "Bro's" at the top of this map? That's San Francisco's ghetto, which no one white ever sees:

For years, I've actively discouraged the smart, ambitious African Americans I know from moving to San Francisco. This may come as a surprise to many local residents, most of whom are possessed of the unshakable belief in the superiority of the city above all others, but not everyone thinks so - and that includes many well-educated African Americans.

"Oh, I totally see what you mean," they tell me, after spending as little as a weekend here. "I'll be taking that job offer in New York/Washington, D.C./Chicago/London."

Some disregard my advice, make the big move, and then invite me to their farewell brunch a year later.


"Well, you were right," they say as we clink glasses. "This place is not for us. You'll be coming to visit me, won't you?"

While city officials claim to wring their hands over San Francisco's shrinking black population (6 percent in 2012 and dropping like a stone), obvious steps to mitigate the decline go unnoticed and unheeded,...Would it really be that hard for San Francisco to acknowledge its black history?


We met at the Martin Luther King Jr. waterfall in the Yerba Buena Gardens. As we shook hands and said hello, I mentioned my surprise at the historical displays of the Bay Area's civil rights movement, which are hidden behind the waterfall.


"I've walked by this a million times, and I never knew that this information was here. I didn't even know that the waterfall was named after Dr. King," I said.


Templeton heaved a deep sigh. "You're not the only one," he said. "It's impossible to tell that this waterfall has anything to do with Martin Luther King, and that makes it completely indicative of how this city views African Americans - it's a population that's hidden, that the city is embarrassed by, that officials are ignorant of in terms of their importance and their role in the city's history."


Over the course of our walk, I came to realize that Templeton was right. The waterfall was the right place to begin exploring his thesis. If you want to look at the displays, you have to walk behind the waterfall. It is cold, dark and damp, and no one will spend that much time there. It certainly doesn't feel as if the city believes that it's an important place.