Approximately Most foreigners A large minority Smaller numbers were born in Europe 6. Los Angeles was founded by settlers who were predominantly of African descent, and the city had 2, Black Americans in By this grew to approximately 15, Black leader W. Du Bois described Los Angeles in as a "wonderful place" because it was less subjected to racial discrimination due to its population being small and the ongoing tensions between Anglos and Mexicans.
This changed in the s when restrictive covenants that enforced segregation became widespread. Blacks were mostly confined along the South Central corridor, Watts, and small enclaves in Venice and Pacoima, which received far fewer services than other areas of the city. After World War II, the city's black population grew from 63, in to , a decade later as many continued to flee from the South for better opportunities. By , Los Angeles had the fifth largest black population in the United States, larger than any city in the South.
Still, they remained in segregated enclaves. The Supreme Court banned the legal enforcement of race-oriented restrictive covenants in the Shelley v. Kraemer case , yet black home ownership declined severely [ 4 ] during this period. Decades of police mistreatment and other racial injustices eventually lead to the Watts riots of , after a minor traffic incident resulted in four days of rioting. So many businesses burned on rd Street that it became known as "Charcoal Alley.
The city strove to improve social services for the black community, but with many of the high-paying industrial jobs gone black unemployment remained high. The growth of street gangs and drugs in minority communities exacerbated the problems. By , the LAPD, which had followed a paramilitaristic model since Chief Parker's regime in the s, became more alienated from minority communities following accusations of racial profiling. After four days of rioting , more than 50 deaths, and billions of dollars of property losses, mostly in the Central City, the California Army National Guard , federal troops, and the local and state police finally regained control.
Since the s, more middle class black families have left the central core of Los Angeles to settle in other California municipalities or out of state. Los Angeles still has the largest black population of any city in the Western United States. Blacks from Los Angeles have moved to the north suburbs of Palmdale and Lancaster.
