Robert Moses is idolized as the man who had the biggest effect on New York City’s parks and recreation areas. He is recognized for his ability to get things done in the middle of a depression and to circumvent corrupt politicians in the interest of the good of the public. Some feel this crystal clear image of someone who fought for the people begins to crumble when looked at more closely, especially in relation to the African American community. I think that Moses was ruthlessly practical in how he implemented his policies. He took the path of least resistance to accomplish his end goals, without really caring about how it affected the African American community. I don’t think he acted maliciously, just lazily.

Almost every decision has a money trail that can be followed, revealing inherent bias. Robert Moses’ swimming pools are no different. Once the source of Moses’ money, the New Deal, is examined more closely all of Moses’ decisions fall nicely into place. In getting the new deal passed, President Roosevelt needed the support of Southern Democrats, who strongly favored segregation and racist policies. FDR decided that the economy was more important than the moral issue of segregation and therefore made concessions to these Southern Democrats. . There are many technical examples of how FDR could have better supported the African American community including, the National Recovery Administration had lower pay rates for blacks, blacks could not get mortgages in white neighborhoods, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration’s policies were particularly harmful to black sharecroppers because it made it more profitable for white landlords to live the land unworked (digitalhistory.uh.edu). President Roosevelt allowed for these racist policies to continue, so he could pass his New Deal. (It should be noted that the head of the National Youth Administration, Mary McLeod Bethune, was black. A significant amount of NYA funds were directed towards the African American community).

Robert Moses knew that in order to achieve his goals he needed to strike while the iron was hot, and the New deal money was available. This meant that in order to get as much of the New Deal money as possible into New York City, projects needed to be completely quickly. I believe this caused Moses to make a conscious decision not to rock the boat. He took the path of least resistance, which perpetuated already existing racial divide. The quickest way to find land for the swimming pools was to use land that was already available in public parks. Moses also believed in putting parks near public schools. Centering the project on a neighborhood centric location, forces the pools to reflect the neighborhoods. The neighborhoods were already segregated, the pools merely reflected this.

There are some reports of policies that specifically discouraged African Americans from using the pools. These include keeping the pools cold and hiring white lifeguards. While there is some evidence to support this, none of these could be confirmed or definitively traced to Moses personally.

Moses reflected his time and more importantly, the source of his money. Much in the same way President Roosevelt chose not to rock the boat in order to promote his plans, Moses chose the path of least resistance to providing New York City with an amazing 10 new pools in one summer. I do not believe that there was malicious intent here, just an unwillingness to go the extra mile to change the status quo. In decided to leave things the way they were, Moses squandered an opportunity to better integrate New York City.

 

Additional Source:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3447