The phrase “urban renewal” itself has a very positive connotation – so Fullilove’s “Root Shock” article immediately provided me with an interesting perspective of how it actually affects people. Additionally, I also have a better understanding of how and why ghetto neighborhoods have formed and why there are elements worth preserving in the face of urban renewal – or “Negro removal,” as the article mentions.
According to the article, segregation limited African Americans’ choices of living areas so greatly that they were confined to entry-level neighborhoods fit for immigrants beginning their lives in America. These areas were generally very crowded and poor. However, cultural flowering ensued and the ghettoes became places that although problematic, were bustling and artistic. Individuals here gained a strong sense of community. That is, until the Urban Renewal Act of 1949.
The Urban Renewal Act took the ghetto areas and made them even more segregated by removing living space and forcing closer quarters. Indeed, African American communities were disproportionately targeted with this action. Fullilove then goes on to provide an interesting argument for the value of the long term consequences of urban renewal on African Americans and specifically the health risks of the practice. She closes with discussing political effects and ethical issues.
The chapter on The Roots of Community Planning harks back even further in our history to the time of the slave to describe the gravity of slavery in the first couple pages. Upon seeing this, I immediately understood that the plight of African American living areas is deeply rooted in our history and stems from several causes.
However, as expected, the main focus of the chapter is community planning. Angotti cites four important events in New York City history that shaped the practice of community planning today. They are the following: Slave Rebellions, Henry George’s running for mayor accompanied by populism at the time, tenant movements and the rise of labor, and the organizing of jobs and housing during the Great Depression.
Slave rebellions often occurred because African Americans were frustrated that they were banned form certain parts of the city and constantly being displaced because of their lack of control over where they could live. Henry George, a mayoral candidate in the second half of the nineteenth century, voiced the popular opinion of discontentment with the “rule of real estate.” He wanted to bring down the fruitful market of real estate so that it would no longer contribute to poverty and exclusion. Laborers and tenants fought eviction and eventually were able to inspire the creation of rent laws which limited it. Finally, the New Deal was able to indirectly create jobs and public places in the city where there were none prior to the Depression.
One of the most interesting things I found about both readings is the effect of displacement on community planning. It seems that in many instances, it has been a fight over living space between the working class and the government – and to see that people have made a difference with their endeavors in pushing for equality and fair chances of survival in neighborhoods could inspire hope.
Discussion: What is one way that slavery has shaped community planning?
