“I am from Oakland and my dad always said it was such a great city until the democrats took it over. The last GOP mayor in Oakland was elected in 1962 and since that time it became the city you are all now leery of (I’m speaking in general terms of course).”
I lived in Oakland right after the end of WWII (from 1947 to 1949) in a very nice apartment house at 410 Fairmont Avenue just a few blocks from Lake Merritt. I went there the other day while in Oakland for another reason. It’s now a black ghetto! The author is wrong! We don’t have a Democrat problem, we have a Black Democrat Problem! Oakland went Democrat in the 1960’s and has morphed to Black Democrat leadership (with the exception of the reign of Jerry The Fairy Brown and one nutty Chinese Commie woman). While the city goes under, the city council members fight over preferred parking places at city hall. In closing, I would add that my old neighborhood isn’t where most of the killing takes place. That’s reserved for East Oakland, a place you don’t dare go during the day.
You don’t need to say ‘black democrat’. This phrase undermines a perfectly reasonable intellectual point by making it appear to be a racists point. I know many wonderful black people and many stupid white people. I’m sure you do, too. Skin color has nothing to do with the poor and crappy neighborhoods in Oakland. Liberal policies are the one and only cause.
With all that said, Fairmont Avenue isn’t the greatest place. I drive down Harrison Street (nearby) quite often and it’s definitely not my favorite street...at least until you get down over to the Piedmont area. It’s a shame what the liberals have let happen in certain areas of the Oakland. This much I know we agree on.