Features

SAN FRANCISCO — The black population in San Francisco has declined, and with it, the political power of the community to address issues such as affordable housing, poverty, education and crime. 

The black population in the city has decreased only two points, from 13 percent in 1970 to 11 percent in 1998, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, at the same time that Asian and Latino populations have grown. 

The Asian population rose from 29 percent in 1990 to 36 percent in 1998, and the Hispanic population grew from 12 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 1998. The white population fell from 46 percent in 1990 to 38 percent in 1998. 

With the decrease in the black population of the city is a decrease in the strength of traditional institutional forces, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; a lack of future leaders for the community; and the loss of power and members in black churches, the San Francisco Examiner reported Sunday. 

Some argue that more blacks are now in positions of power in the city, for example, the mayor and superintendent of schools. But critics say the people in those positions have not improved conditions for most blacks in the city. 

The issues facing blacks in San Francisco, such as education, racial profiling and the economic development of urban neighborhoods have complex answers and not everyone agrees on how to deal with them, said Robert Smith, a San Francisco State University political scientist. 

“No one has an idea of how to address the miseducation of poor black kids,” he said. “We talk about how bad it is, but no one has any real agenda or strategy of how to address that problem. It’s very complicated.”