“Root Shock: The Consequences of African American Dispossession” by Mindy Thompson Fullilove is an article that brought up topics I discussed in my previous anthropology and sociology classes. I have read numerous texts about how African Americans today are still confined to ghettos although the United States has been desegregated years ago. It was interesting that the article highlighted the new urban ghettos, in which African American culture flourished, especially with the Harlem Renaissance. However, in 1949, the Urban Renewal Act was enacted, and the plan was to clear out slums by selling the land to private developers in order to attract people who had more money. This led to the dispossession of many African American communities. When a specific race or class of people are targeted and indirectly forced to migrate elsewhere, the communities that replace certainly shape the future of New York City. The city and the nation, in general, were built on the foundation of democracy and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, forcing the lower class and minority class to relocate does not reflect democracy.
The urban renewal projects aimed at attracting middle class individuals while pushing out the poor reflect how economics and class distinctions shape the future of the city. Since cities resemble big business and capitalism, a wealthy businessman or politician may believe that a city can only continue to grow if the city dwellers are able to compete in the job market. In other words, a misconception may be that the poor do not belong in a city; therefore, it is right to get rid of slums and disregard providing affordable housing and welfare to people. The issue is that this results in an oversight of the lower class. Perhaps, a person living in poverty has the potential to contribute to the growth of the city by obtaining a high-wage job, but he/ she does not have the opportunity to attend college. These are real problems that individuals continue to face in America today. There is great debate about whether a government should provide welfare to level out the playing field for the less fortunate or if those people should only rely on their own hard work to achieve success in society.
Relocation of less wealthy African Americans through urban renewal projects also disregards the lives of those people and their history of living in a specific neighborhood. For example, the article mentioned how two communities in Roanoke, Virginia were subject to dispossession after a federal urban renewal program was set into action. Those two communities were very tight-knit, and they had been living in the same location for generations. Therefore, the urban renewal project was devastating to their culture since they were forced to leave behind the shops, religious institutions, and houses that were familiar to them. White people also avoided the neighborhoods that African Americans would live in. In today’s world, the segregation may not be as dramatic as it was in the 20th century, but it shaped the society we have now. This means that urban renewal projects will continue to shape the future of how divided neighborhoods are, in terms of ethnicity and class.
In “From Dislocation to Resistance: The Roots of Community Planning,” a chapter from Tom Angotti’s book, the historical moments in which African Americans expressed their anger for being excluded within cities are highlighted. The ongoing feud between wealthy white Americans, who want to limit the amount of affordable housing in cities, and African American and immigrants, who refuse to be displaced by urban renewal projects, continues to shape the city we live in to this day. We can say that the city has a problem when affordable buildings are torn down, and the inhabitants stand in front of the bulldozers that are knocking their homes down. These acts of resistance shape federal policy as well as the social atmosphere, which will have a lasting impact on the future of the city.
Discussion questions: Are urban renewal projects doing more harm than good when they cause an entire group of people to relocate? How can social stigma against the lower class and minority groups be eliminated? Is it even possible to change the stereotypes that have developed in society against distinct ethnicities and classes of people?
