One of Robert Moses’ main three goals was to build affordable housing to bring the middle class back into the city. He wanted to avoid a divided city of the rich and the poor. This left people in the lower classes stuck in “new slums” or public housing. Those who are in the lower class are also disproportionately people of color. Not only are people of color driven into less than desirable housing situations by their incomes, but also by Robert Moses himself. Moses believed “‘Negroes and whites don’t mix” and that allowing people of color to live in the same neighborhoods as white people would decrease the value of all properties.
These public housing projects became known to be old run down buildings. The people who had wealth and could help people living here don’t care, and those who live there don’t have the money they would need to actually make a difference. I wanted to find a source that brings light to what it is actually like to live in public housing. I found this article where people in public housing were asked to take pictures of their everyday lives. I was happily surprised to find that the pictures were more of family and other people who make the photographers happy. There were no photos showing how run down the buildings were, people living in public housing are just happy to be living with people they love.
