LA Times: S.F. police scandal focuses attention on dwindling number of blacks

Well it's noted that Blacks are leaving some of America's major cities. They may not remain the force in our cities as they used to be especially San Francisco:

In the wake of a police scandal involving racist text messages,some black leaders are again lamenting the shrinking size of the city's black community. They have questioned whether a mass exodus of African Americans in recent decades have been driven as much by subtle forms of racism as by the city's high cost of housing.

In 1970, blacks made up 13.4% of the city's population. Today they account for less than 6%. City leaders have commissioned studies and task forces to reverse the trend, but to little avail.

Among the biggest 14 cities in the nation, San Francisco is near the bottom in the share of black residents. African Americans make up 25% of the population in New York City, 9.4% in Los Angeles, and 27% in Indianapolis. The only city in the group with a smaller percentage is San Jose, with 3%.

"Vigilante groups aren't chasing blacks out, but there are factors that are making other places more desirable," Simon said.

Civil rights leaders here attribute the exodus not just to the high cost of living, but to policies that have favored independent retailers over chains, urban renewal that tore down the housing where many African Americans lived, redlining by banks and high crime concentrated in neighborhoods where blacks lived.

Via Newsalert!