Exodus from West Oakland

Today, Fruitvale has the highest percentage of Hispanic, Latino/a and Chicano/a residents in Oakland, but this was not always true — its primary occupants used to be German, Portuguese and Irish families. Prior to World War II, West Oakland was home to Oakland’s first Latino/a neighborhood, especially attracting immigrants fleeing the 1910 Mexican Revolution. In the 1960s, urban renewal, freeway construction of the Cypress Freeway (now I-880), and BART construction destroyed over 5,100 housing units and community centers in West Oakland. All these factors contributed to displacing Black and Latino residents, many of whom relocated to East Oakland, particularly in neighborhoods like Fruitvale.