Transcripts For KGO Beyond The Headlines 20170611

Cheryl, thank you. It is great to be here. I am excited to introduce you to our panel of guests today. We have sheryl davis, who is the executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. David harris he is the c. E. O. Of the oaklandbased nonprofit urban Strategies Council. And finally, zahrah farmer shes a professor at Laney College and the host of days with zahrah, which airs here on abc7. So, thanks to all of you for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Now, before we get into our discussion, lets take a look at a recent abc7 news story focusing on challenges facing San Franciscos Africanamerican Community. Some Church Leaders want San Francisco mayor ed lee to declare a state of emergency to keep blacks from being pushed out of the city. Abc7 news was at Third Baptist Church in april as faith leaders pointed out the africanamerican population of the city is now below 6 . They say housing is a big factor. The group cites a traditionally black Senior Housing facility thats now less than 15 africanamerican. If it were just a matter of economics, other groups would not be able to make it here. But its only black people who are being pushed out. The faith leaders also want the mayor to ramp up its Gang Task Force in the bayview and ingleside areas and address the high rate of black students suspended from school. So, clearly, we have a lot to talk about today. And, david, id actually like to begin with you because you moved to the bay area only about a year ago. So can you share with us some of your First Impressions of africanamerican representation in the local community here . Sure. Well, thank you, ama, for having us here today. I began working with the urban Strategies Council back in 1994 while i was in philanthropy, and i had quite a bit of relationships develop with folks in the community here, so i had a bit of experience working out here before coming here. Its always, to me, representative of a very progressive, a very proud, and a very Strong Community out of which a lot of ideas and energy thats been started here has affected black folks all around the country. Okay. Now, actually, zahrah, in contrast, you grew up in San Francisco. I did. Yeah. What was your experience like growing up here, and how is the black Community Different now in your eyes . It was so wonderful growing up here, i mean, for all kinds of reasons, but one of the things i remember the most is how diverse it was, you know, and it was true to the terminology of being a melting pot. I mean, other than maybe new york or a few other cities, San Francisco was the city for that, and its changed a lot. I mean, you drive through the fillmore, or the fillmo, as we used to say, or the haight or the mission or and theyve just changed a lot, you know. Im kind of torn. I mean, i think theres an upside to justification when you see its safer or things like that, but were missing the core of what we had growing up here. It was the diversity, and it was beautiful, and so, you know, it twists my heart a little bit. Yeah. But, sheryl, so how do we best address this mass exodus of africanamericans from San Francisco and really the bay area as a whole . What do we do . Well, its funny. I was just in a meeting earlier this week with some folks to talk about this pushout and what we see happening, and if we have local hire ordinances or if we have neighborhood preference ordinances, it doesnt really benefit us if people are pushed out, right . So we really do need to start thinking about a regional approach and whether people that are living outside of San Francisco who still consider San Francisco home can actually still benefit from San Francisco, whether its employment, whether its housing, whether its even school and education because a lot of times people cant live here, but they still come back here, and they dont get to take advantage of the resources, so i do think we need to start thinking about how we make sure that people who call San Francisco home, especially people of color, still get to benefit from the resources once they can afford to be here. Right. And, david, actually, your organization has some research that really speaks directly to the struggles of Home Ownership in the black communities of oakland specifically. Were going to look at some of these statistics and maybe you can walk us through them. Sure. First off, we know the impact of the Great Recession on the assets of black people all across the country, and for the most part, especially for black women and femaleheaded homes, they lost most of their assets, but we can look at, in a case study, oakland between 2007 and 2011 at the height of the foreclosure crisis. We see the blue dots there represent all of the homes that were foreclosed on in oakland, and you see where thats concentrated, in east oakland. But then to throw real salt in the wounds, the red dots represent homes that were investorpurchased after the foreclosure crisis. Most of these were homes that were built not for people to reside in but to rent out. And furthermore, coming out of the recession, and this is [clears throat] excuse me some work weve done with the Greenlining Institute to show how access to capital for mortgages are being disparately provided. So, in 2014, you had almost 1. 3 million in loans for whites whereas you had barely had 200 million for blacks. So, in oakland and in the east bay and in the bay area in general, were hemorrhaging our black population, and as far as where people are going, theyre being pushed out all over. In fact, we like to talk about how mass incarceration for black males was impactful. Well, eviction is becoming the same kind of force, Disruptive Force for black women and families and communities. All right. Well, we were actually gonna talk more about violence in our black communities coming right up, but i think now is a good time to take a quick break. When we come back, we are gonna explore the issue of violence and its impact that it really has on the bay areas black communities. Stay with us. At ikea, we believe that everything you need should be within reach. In an affordable dream kitchen that works as hard as you do. Save up to 15 at the ikea kitchen event. At ikea, we believe that everything you need should be within reach. In an affordable dream kitchen that works as hard as you do. Save up to 15 at the ikea kitchen event. The Energy Conscious whopeople among usle . Say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. And welcome back to beyond the headlines. Im ama daetz, sitting in for Cheryl Jennings for this special roundtable discussion with local Africanamerican Community leaders. Now, violence continues to be a major issue facing bay area communities, but its important to note the disproportionate impact on the black community. So, sheryl, i actually want to start with you because we have some information to share a little statistic you see at the bottom of your screen for everyone at home. Sf Human Rights Commission has identified that 57 of the people in the San Francisco county jail are africanamerican. What does that statistic really mean to you, and, really, what should it mean for all of us . Right. I think you know, i recently had a conversation with the sheriff, who said, its not quite 57 anymore. Its maybe like 50 , 53 . Still up there. Its still pretty high. I wrestle with this, right, because then some people will say, well, theyre in there because they did wrong, right . But then others will say theyre in there because theyve been targeted at a higher frequency than other people. And we have this debate back and forth, and my concern really is about what are the pathways, what are the opportunities, what are we doing to actually show people or give them the tools that they need to not be incarcerated, and what do we do outside, because theres a high recidivism right, as well. So what are we really doing to be intentional . The stigma that comes with that i think you know, ive wrestled with my own son. Hell be like, what does it mean to be black in San Francisco . Does it mean that you have to have had some kind of criminaljustice experience . Does it mean that you have to be low income . I think there all these general statements that people make and theres this assumption about what it means to be black. I think its really about changing the narrative and really getting a better understanding of why people are in jail and if we are really disproportionately incarcerating people, right . Like, its not about that africanamericans are doing more crimes, but that they are being picked up for more crimes not necessarily that theyve done more. Theyre just targeted more. And thats one thing that we have to kind of get to. I think sfpd is trying to do some things now with looking at their stop policies and what that looks like and if they are actually doing higher incidents of stopping africanamericans and trying to be aware of their own bias. And whatever the reason, we obviously want to keep this from becoming a cyclical problem. Exactly. David, your organization really created a powerful graphic to highlight the impact of violence on young black males. And as we can see were gonna show you all at home i mean, this just i was shocked by this. Mmhmm. More than half of black males in the fifth grade have at least one friend or Family Member whos died violently, while a third of them have experienced two or more such deaths. I mean, thats just sad. How is this fact shaping the lives and future of our bay area children when theyre dealing with this . Well, it highlights the trauma that exists, that our kids are living through every day, the Disruptive Forces that are in their lives not just in terms of just the pure health issues, mentalhealth issues, dealing with that, but, also, with the quality of the housing theyre dealing with, the quality of the schools that they go to, the stresses that families are under economically. I mean, when we have tech workers making six figures, writing in the paper about how theyre lowincome, imagine how a family thats living off of 40,000 is getting through. But on the other hand, there is something that we can learn from that, too, because there must be some assets and strengths in our community that its our responsibility to help lift up. Because theres no cavalry coming. The only one thats gonna take care of our community in many ways will be us. Yeah. Zahrah, you actually have a son, a young black male in our community. How old is he . Hes 8½. Wow. [ laughs ] [ sighs ] i mean. I mean, how do you deal with the questions . How do you respond to when he asks about the disproportion of violence thats faced by the black community . I think. Its really hard. I mean, especially with black lives matters and all the things that have been happening across the country, its such a delicate and very. I mean, i dont even have the word to express how hard it is. Because every time something happens or a young black male gets shot, you know, were like, what do you say to your child . And at the end of the day, there is if you get pulled over, you know, look, there are circumstances where things happen, and theres other circumstances where you know you just got to be on point with how you communicate. You do exactly what they tell you to do. So those are things, you know, that we have to talk to our kids about. Because there are great cops out there, you know, but if youre in that situation, you just and so talking to our kids, its like, what are we gonna do . Just got to try and talk to them. But i also teach as part of laney, my first two years, i taught in sobrante park, which is deep in east oakland. Its like right off of 98th and edes. The crime rate, the murder rate extremely high in east oakland. And these kids, they go to bed hearing the helicopter. They wake up hearing the helicopter. Their friends have been shot, theyve seen them shot, or theyve seen somebody shot or, you know, theyre worried about getting shot on their way home or theyre getting approached by gang members to join a gang. Thats not happening in montclair. Thats not happening in pacific heights, you know . And so were responsible for these neighborhoods to ch they have to change. The environments have to change. The schools have to get better. We have to do something. In castlemont, its not fair that castlemont in oakland almost got shut down, you know . So these are things that something has to get done, and thats what i think is gonna help our community, if we can change their environment. And then dont get me started on food and access to food and stuff like that. And, sheryl, you actually have a son, too, whos about to go to my alma mater. Yeah so must be very proud. Right. Talk about some of the programs, as well. Because, zahrah, you were talking about how do we change this. And your organization actually works with police and people in the community so that they know how to relate to each other better. Well, i think its to zahrahs point. Its that i worked for many years in private school, my son went to private school, and, to that point, it was like his experiences are very different than where we live. And how do we take i was living in the heart of fillmore, like right there, and its like, how do i take the experiences hes getting in school and bring them back to my community . How do we make this how do we normalize that everybody should have the opportunity to go to college whether they want to or not . Everybody should be expected to get a job and to be able to walk into any business and feel welcome there. And those Little Things like that make a difference, and thats part of what weve been doing with this program, is people should have relationships, right . Businesses should not come into fillmore and not know the community there they shouldnt go into bayview. So how do we build those relationships with police, with business owners, and with homeowners so that we begin to think of ourselves in that same light . Yeah. Absolutely. All right. Well, we do need to take another break right now. Next, were going to talk about the importance of Educational Opportunities for africanamericans across the bay area, so do stay with us. Much more to come. How far should pure Alpine Spring water have to travel from its source to the bottle . A hundred miles . A thousand miles . How about less than a mile and a half . Crystal geyser always bottled at the mountain source. You know what i could go for right hmmm some sweet barbeque. Or spicy crave van here, try my new barbeque Bacon Cheeseburger and chicken sandwich with your choice of sweet or spicy barbeque sauce. You crave it, we serve it. Crave van you know what i could go for right hmmm some sweet barbeque. Or spicy crave van here, try my new barbeque Bacon Cheeseburger and chicken sandwich with your choice of sweet or spicy barbeque sauce. You crave it, we serve it. Crave van how fafrom its sourcelpine spring to the bottle . Travel how about less than a mile and a half . Crystal geyser is the only major us spring water bottled at the mountain source. Welcome back to beyond the headlines, with Cheryl Jennings. Im ama daetz, sitting in for cheryl, as we discuss issues facing black communities across the bay area. Recently, Highschool Students in the east bay have found offensive, racist graffiti on their campus. It happened at Castro Valley High School Just as they entered finals week, just days before the summer break. Abc7 News Reporter Laura Anthony brought us this story. We wont show the entire message, but these pictures taken by students show the second incident of racist graffiti at Castro Valley high school in two days in this case, scrawled on a bathroom mirror. I was disgusted. Like, it was hard to be walking down the hall and see a hate towards me. On thursday, junior Sakinnah Brown was the first to see the same phrase written on a locker and across some poles. It said f [bleep] classmate will sualua was walking with sakinnah. We were walking down the hall, and she noticed that there was lettering on the poles and by the snack bar. I feel like, since our president has been elected, its given people more of an opportunity to say hurtful things to people of my kind and other minorities. Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi says the district has sent a letter home to parents and wont shy away from the issue. It isnt something thats isolated to one school, one student, one classroom. I think its something that we need to address all the time. And the n word brings up a whole lot of history that theyre uneducated about. These students jumpstarted the conversation with a lunchtime public forum and some messaging of their own. This definitely needs to be talked about. It needs to be heard. People need to be educated on what we have to go through as students not only as students, but being africanamerican students. School officials have yet to identify those responsible for the graffiti incidents. In Castro Valley, Laura Anthony, abc7 news. Kids are in school to learn. Thats just a hateful distraction. Education is a critical factor in building opportunities and Bright Futures for bay area children and young adults. So the question is, are black students facing challenges in school that others are not, and how do we address these inequities . And, zarah, lets talk to you first because youre a professor at Laney College in oakland, as well as a tv host. Mmhmm. What kind of diversity are you seeing in the classrooms, and how do you make sure to provide your students with the best opportunities possible . Well, at laney laneys superdiverse. So my classroom, you know, if we have 30 students, it may even be 40 black. So one of the great things about laney is it is almost like a safe haven in some ways. You know, their diversity is really great for students. I have also gone to a private school or looked at private schools, you know, and theres so many Great Schools throughout the bay area, but i think, as an africanamerican woman or a young girl, you struggle when you go to a school and you may be the only one in your class whos africanamerican. And so its more of an identity thing of knowing who you are, and it gets harder when you start dating, you know, because your hair is different and you look different and things like that. I think those are all things that kids may go through. And when it comes to racial slurs and stuff, i mean, when i was at davis, there was a lot of stuff that happened on campus, and its extremely hurtful. Yeah. What you were describing is a little like my experience, being the only one, you know, feeling like you kind of stick out a little bit. Sheryl, the Human Rights Commission that you lead does a lot of work with San Francisco students. Tell us about some of those projects and why theyre so important to the hrc. I think, again, were trying to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in San Francisco and what that looks like. And we have been doing some School Groups with students to have them actually think about what are the issues that they see happening, and how do they elevate their voice to become what were calling equity ambassadors or engineers, where theyre going around, theyre doing office hours, theyre talking about how to make it a safe space, and that really is about sometimes you know, in San Francisco, i think africanamerican students are like less than 7 of the school population. And so, you know, there was one school we worked with 1,000 students only 60 of them africanamerican. And so it becomes really hard to feel like you matter, right, because youre such a small part of it, and you think no one cares. So its really about empowering and having everybody appreciate and respect everyone in the school, whether its a minority or a majority. And so that, i think, is critical to the diversity of San Francisco and being able to celebrate that. Yeah. And, david, the urban Strategies Council actually advocates on the behalf of young black students, especially, really, the black boys, to make sure that they have the opportunities that they need to be successful. What are some of your efforts to make a difference . Sure. The urban Strategies Council houses the oaklandalliance for boys and men of color. That is a group of nonprofit organizations primarily, but also representatives of public systems, where together were looking at policies and systems that create barriers to opportunities for primarily young men of color things such as suspension policies in school for willful defiance, for example, if a kid doesnt take their hat off or if they seem a little like they have an attitude. We have black boys being suspended in kindergarten. Hmm. Which is clearly putting them on a path thats to leave school early. We call that trying to dismantle the schooltoprison pipeline. On the flip side, like what director davis was speaking about, were also trying to build a correctionstocollege pipeline for those who are coming out of incarceration. Oh, wow. Well, we certainly appreciate the work all three of you are doing to help out our communities, and we appreciate you being here today and really giving us some insight on the black communities here in the bay area. So thank you all for being here. Thank you. All right. It has been a great conversation. Back to you, cheryl. Thank you so much, ama. For more information about todays show, go to our website, abc7news. Com community. Were also on facebook at abc7communityaffairs, as well as cheryljenningsabc7. And follow me on twitter cherylabc7. Thanks so much for tuning in. Have a great week. The Energy Conscious whopeople among usle . Say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. Live where you live, this is abc 7 news. We wont be erased. We wont be harassed. We wont be divided. A message of unity, gay pride celebrations across the country and here in the bay area, morph into movements. Hello, thank for joining you. A crowd of hundreds marched in downtown san jose today for lbgtq equality. Marching on the eve of the oneyear anniversary of the orlando pulse nightclub shooting. Leslie brink lin is live in san jose with the story. Reporter this area behind me was