If a tourist walked from the Minnesota Ave. subway station towards panel #14, he/she would notice the rather giant image of a massive crowd that covers a bit more than half the panel. With that said, this panel displays image that would immediately capture the interest of the tourist, as both the size of the crowd and the size of the interior of the venue give an impression that something significant or “grand” once stood in the surrounding area. Also, in terms of convenience to the tourist, the bottom half of the same side of the panel provides a brief “introductory” summary of Deanwood’s cultural and infrastructural development; this text, or historical context, also highlights another past–the background on the project that made the heritage …show more content…
Although the existence of government intervention in the establishment of Mayfair Mansions is unknown, it is important to note a link between Gillette’s argument and the establishment of the apartment complex itself, which is that the infrastructural “makeover” of Washington made African Americans subject to displacement and in dire need of housing during the twentieth century; the Mayfair Mansions serves as a historical example of an institution that sought to fix the displacement problem among black Washingtonians. Apart from the removal of alley dwellings, several thousand properties had to be demolished, and the destruction of these properties led the black population in select Washington areas to becoming increasingly subject to displacement (Gillette 146). Also, the Pentagon was established in a predominantly black residential area in Arlington during WWI, which unsurprisingly led to displacement (Gillette 147). In 1944, Washington’s number one problem per the Citizens Committee on Racial Relations was the lack of adequate (or basic) housing for blacks, who struggled to find new homes to live in (Gillette 147), even as the federal government pushed to revitalize Washington’s urban setting through an “extermination” of immoral, communist-like suburban living (Gillette 151); the lack of adequate housing and the persistence of modernization combined to contribute to an increase in racial conflict between whites and blacks, as the government strived to discourage suburban living (Gillette
Political forces, which are controlled by the government, can majorly influence and change the way people live their life. From the Federal Housing Administration, which enabled citizens to become homeowners by underwriting mortgages, to the Interstate Highway Act, that change the route of expressways, political forces can dramatically change the way a city runs and functions. Wilson (2011) states, “In short, public housing became a federally funded institution that isolated families by race and class, resulting in high concentrations of poor black families in inner-city ghettos” (pg. 14). Wilson describes political forces as
In the article The Construction of the Ghetto by Massey and Denton, there are several policies and practices that still has its effect on racial structure today. Among the several practices and policies are the Government Issue (GI) Bill for veterans and housing loans. At a political view, the GI Bill for veterans helped them buy houses at a lower price due to their contribution in the war. Since White veterans have the GI Bill, they moved out to the suburbs during 1940-1970, which was during the time of suburbanization. Because Black veterans did not receive the GI Bill, they were unable to move out and buy houses. This effect is still present today, considering that in the statistics, Blacks are less likely than Whites to own houses.
A Home to a well educated black middle class because of institutions like Howard University, DC, unfortunately, experienced a similar urban issue that was the same as with many US cities beginning in the late 1960s. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., “the segregation-era black enclave around U Street was left gutted by rioters, a trauma felt through subsequent decades” (Miller, 2012). DC had an influx of black people and poorer people as the middle-class residents left for the suburbs. With a declining tax base, “the city's schools and service institutions could do little to counteract the atmosphere of hopelessness and frustration pervasive in poor black neighborhoods” (Miller, 2012).
On May 3rd when I visited the site where the Norman Blumberg Housing Project once stood, the air was hauntingly peaceful. I had read about the notoriety of the site during my research, how over its existence it had become an area of concentrated poverty and crime, but on this day this urban setting was quiet and calm. On the two square city blocks where a complex of apartment buildings once ruled the landscape, only a single high-rise remained among the unchecked wild grass. However, even in the peacefulness of this day in Sharswood, the looming presence of the infamous Norman Blumberg Apartments could still be felt.
Lipsitz uses practices of the housing market to illustrate how the diverse practices provide the privilege to white people in the current institutional arrangements. The capital resides in suburban houses has proven many white families’ economic mobility, although few white Americans recognize that segregation has historically been the guarantee of suburban real estate values. Housing policy and real estate practices, banking and finance, education, tax codes and subsidies, the behavior of the courts, and the norms of urban policing are all heavily inflected by a racialist logic or tend toward racialized consequences. Lipsitz delineates the weaknesses embedded in civil rights laws, the racial dimensions of economic restructuring and deindustrialization, and the effects of environmental racism, job discrimination and school segregation. Lipsitz describes the centrality of whiteness to American culture, and explains how the whites have used identity politics to forward their collective interests at the expense of racialized groups, including African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos.
In order to eliminate the racist perception that Black poverty derives from laziness, the government should allocate public resources to restoring the predominantly African American communities by providing cheaper housing and resources for children. By restoring the communities, Blacks will have more opportunities and be seen more positively, both of which counteract the racist presumption that all African Americans are poor and lazy. Additionally, by making Black communities just as desirable as their white counterparts, the direct correspondence between race and affluence will no longer be as prevalent. As part of a new housing act in 1949, Chicago received funding for new housing projects – 98 percent of which were built in Black neighborhoods.
There has been a tremendous change in East Harlem between class warfare and gentrification. East Harlem is one more economic factor to the city’s wealth per capita since the attack of September 11, 2000. It is Manhattan’s last remaining development and it is on the agenda of the tax revenue of our government. East Harlem has become a profit driven capitalism. Gentrification enforces capitalism, it does not separate people, it does not go against race, poor and the working class, it wages war on the poor and the working-class.
In the empirical article, “Black Philly after the Philadelphia Negro,” Marcus Anthony Hunter examines the once populated Seventh Ward and the effects that political neglect and racial barriers had on this primarily black area, which ultimately led to its urban decay. Similarly, in recent years, we see this occurring in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. However, we notice how the neglect towards Vesterbro stems from other factors such as immigration, crime, and a poor economy. Hunter examined the archives of the Seventh Ward, specifically after W.E.B. Du Bois’ initial study of the Seventh Ward. From the 1920s through the 1940s, Hunter found that the poor living conditions did not improve. Instead, they were constant, suggesting that Republican politicians neglected this black area. “This period also offers a historical window into the shifting allegiances of black Americans, and their retreat from the Republican Party and embrace of the Democratic Party” (Hunter). Hunter claimed that the shift in
In 1942, apartments and row houses were being built in Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast, two of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods, after the court case of Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority. Being one of the first cities to implement public housing, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) was in charge of the
Gilbert Osofsky’s Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto paints a grim picture of inevitability for the once-exclusive neighborhood of Harlem, New York. Ososfky’s timeframe is set in 1890-1930 and his study is split up into three parts. His analysis is convincing in explaining the social and economic reasons why Harlem became the slum that it is widely infamous for today, but he fails to highlight many of the positive aspects of the enduring neighborhood, and the lack of political analysis in the book is troubling.
After WW II, Chicago’s Housing Authorities chose to construct more public housing options for its Chicago residents. The Public Housing Administration highly advised against building high-rises for Chicago families. However, money was very limited for this project which soon became a huge factor in the while planning and constructing new public housing. Despite Daley’s attempt to build the Taylor homes as a low-rise project, construction began on the high-rises in 1960, which would later become the longest housing project in the world. Some speculate that low-high rises would have been built adorably, if the land on the outskirts of the city had been made available. However, a white alderman opposed the idea of having blacks occupy houses in the same wards as them. During construction it was estimated that that average family contained roughly six people. But, realistically that was an inaccurate estimate, as extended families often lived in these apartments. Overtime, the housing projects became horrific and overcrowded with problem tenants. “One resident complained in 1965: The World looks on all of us project rats, living on a reservation like untouchables (Pacyga, Chicago, 334).” In addition to the housing problems, citizens accused Daley of purposely segregating the housing projects from the rest of Chicago (Daley: The Last Boss). Citizens claim that the Dan Ryan Expressway route was shifted to reinforce the border between Daley's native Bridgeport and the Black Belt to the east (Encyclopedia, Chicago). Shortly after Martin Luther King’s death, looting and rioting swept through Chicago Black west side. Mayor Daley, issued an order that was broadcast: “shoot to kill any arsonist … with a Molotov cocktail in his hand." This did not settle well with the Chicago community and especially the Africa-American people. Daley is often remembered as one of Chicago’ most powerful
For far too long, African Americans have been neglected the rights to decent and fair housing. In “In Darkness and Confusion,” William Jones expresses his discontentment with the almost cruel living conditions of the ghettos in Harlem as he stated, “It ain’t a fit place to live, though” (Petry 261). William was especially motivated to move to a better home to protect his wife, Pink’s, ailing health. William and Pink searched high and low for more decent places to live – however, they simply could not afford decent. Though marketed to those with lower than average incomes, the ‘better’ housing for blacks were still deficient and extremely pricy. In
It was a way to constraint African Americans to areas that were far away from those with status, class, and power. Segregation led to discrimination in economic opportunities, housing, and education. The black culture has suffered from the barriers that were placed through segregation. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 tried to limit some of the discrimination associated with segregation. It was discovered that even a “rising economic status had little or no effect on the level of segregation that blacks experience” (Massey and Denton 87). The authors imply that “black segregation would remain a universal high” (Massey and Denton 88). The problem with the continuing causes in Segregation is that even though the Fair Housing act was placed, many realtors still discriminate against blacks “through a series of ruses, lies, and deceptions, makes it hard for them to learn about, inspect, rent, or purchase homes in white neighborhoods” (Massey and Denton 97). Segregation and discrimination have a cumulative effect over time. Massey and Denton argued that the “act of discrimination may be small and subtle, together they have a powerful cumulative effect in lowering the probability of black entry into white neighborhood” (98). William Julius Wilson had
Martin Luther King Jr.’s failed housing campaign and the Bronzeville Project exhibit this disjointedness through black middle class Chicagoans ignoring the socioeconomic class divisions within Bronzeville by using institutionalized racial barriers as a conduit to produce a narrative of collective discriminatory practices faced by all blacks preventing social and financial equity for the race. However, these
This class is the first in my major of Criminal Justice, and throughout this class there will be a great deal of valuable information obtained. Justice can have several meanings to it because all of us are different in our own way, and we all will have different outlook on situations. Throughout this research paper you will learn about what justice means to me, and how I think I will impact society once I achieve my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Secondly, you will be able to compare with the remaining of the class mates to see exactly how many of our views are the same or different. Last but not least, there will be at least two