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Old 05-01-2018, 08:27 PM
 
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,364 posts, read 43,832,144 times
Reputation: 16578

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsvh View Post
Oh please.

But regardless, leveling their homes and neighborhoods did not make these people (or areas) better off. Only now that we are returning new private housing to so many of these sites are they getting back on their feet.

Urban Renewal was a failure.
In the long run, it was. But the way the largest part of the Black Community was living prior to WWII in Atlanta was deplorable. My grandfather drove the family cook home once and was so appalled by her living conditions that he bought her a home in East Atlanta. She and her husband lived out their lives there.
Many of their peers were not so lucky. Urban Renewal was a blessing for many. Hindsight is 20/20.
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Old 05-01-2018, 08:45 PM
 
10,974 posts, read 10,816,726 times
Reputation: 3435
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iconographer View Post
In the long run, it was. But the way the largest part of the Black Community was living prior to WWII in Atlanta was deplorable. My grandfather drove the family cook home once and was so appalled by her living conditions that he bought her a home in East Atlanta. She and her husband lived out their lives there.
Many of their peers were not so lucky. Urban Renewal was a blessing for many. Hindsight is 20/20.
Demolishing people's homes did not make their life better. Want to buy someone a home? Yes, that might help. But leveling their old neighborhood does not do that.
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Old 05-02-2018, 08:00 AM
 
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,364 posts, read 43,832,144 times
Reputation: 16578
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsvh View Post
Demolishing people's homes did not make their life better. Want to buy someone a home? Yes, that might help. But leveling their old neighborhood does not do that.
And I do see your point. But there are two sides to every story was mine.
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Old 05-02-2018, 08:02 AM
 
Location: Georgia native in McKinney, TX
8,057 posts, read 12,798,537 times
Reputation: 6318
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iconographer View Post
In the long run, it was. But the way the largest part of the Black Community was living prior to WWII in Atlanta was deplorable. My grandfather drove the family cook home once and was so appalled by her living conditions that he bought her a home in East Atlanta. She and her husband lived out their lives there.
Many of their peers were not so lucky. Urban Renewal was a blessing for many. Hindsight is 20/20.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsvh View Post
Demolishing people's homes did not make their life better. Want to buy someone a home? Yes, that might help. But leveling their old neighborhood does not do that.
jsvh, I understand that looking back from this vantage point and realizing what we know now, it is tragic that neighborhoods were dismantled and people displaced. But my memories are similar to Iconographers above.... and I do make the point that I am thinking of conditions in places other than Buttermilk Bottom.... but in smaller towns in Georgia. Horrible, horrible living conditions that many lived in. Primarily African American but many white families lived in similar conditions.


That many found life and a sense of a community is testament to the human spirit being able to bloom where planted. That does not erase the reality that many of these homes .... and I can't describe it here, but unless you have seen the horror, I can't but wonder why anyone pines away for them to have stayed. The expectation for anyone to live in such a structure.... well, cleaning some of these neighborhoods up was not an option. They needed to go. There are some things worth saving. Homes like ones I saw needed a bulldozer and nothing less.
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Old 05-02-2018, 09:16 AM
 
37,812 posts, read 41,589,060 times
Reputation: 27100
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsvh View Post
Oh please.

But regardless, leveling their homes and neighborhoods did not make these people (or areas) better off. Only now that we are returning new private housing to so many of these sites are they getting back on their feet.

Urban Renewal was a failure.

Edit: Here is a picture of "Buttermilk Bottoms". Do some minor renovations to the homes and park some Priuses & BMWs on the street and this scene could fit in with most of the reviving in-town neighborhoods today.


Source: https://www.atlantaphotos.com/butter...ghborhood.html
And then there's this picture:



The biggest travesty of this era was not demolishing these substandard homes, but shutting Black Americans out of the biggest wealth-building initiative in American history by denying us low-interest, government backed home loans which built the American middle class. We are due reparations for that if nothing else.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4044146...n_tab_contents
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...ations/361631/

I swear this country is TRASH for all the ish they did to our people and an absolute refusal to remedy any of it.
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Old 05-02-2018, 09:25 AM
 
Location: Ono Island, Orange Beach, AL
10,736 posts, read 13,291,570 times
Reputation: 7166
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
And then there's this picture:



The biggest travesty of this era was not demolishing these substandard homes, but shutting Black Americans out of the biggest wealth-building initiative in American history by denying us low-interest, government backed home loans which built the American middle class. We are due reparations for that if nothing else.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4044146...n_tab_contents
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...ations/361631/

I swear this country is TRASH for all the ish they did to our people and an absolute refusal to remedy any of it.
It is a shameful chapter in U.S. history, Mutiny. I hope that as a nation we are doing better. Even if so, I know we all have a long way to go.
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Old 05-02-2018, 09:39 AM
 
Location: NW Atlanta
6,495 posts, read 6,078,433 times
Reputation: 4453
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
And then there's this picture:



The biggest travesty of this era was not demolishing these substandard homes, but shutting Black Americans out of the biggest wealth-building initiative in American history by denying us low-interest, government backed home loans which built the American middle class. We are due reparations for that if nothing else.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4044146...n_tab_contents
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...ations/361631/

I swear this country is TRASH for all the ish they did to our people and an absolute refusal to remedy any of it.
So how much do you think you should get, and who's going to pay for it?
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Old 05-02-2018, 09:41 AM
 
37,812 posts, read 41,589,060 times
Reputation: 27100
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gulch View Post
So how much do you think you should get, and who's going to pay for it?
We can use Japanese reparations as a model and go from there. The U.S. government will pay for it of course.

But it's not like you agree or even care about the issue so I don't know why I even took your bait.
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Old 05-02-2018, 09:52 AM
 
Location: NW Atlanta
6,495 posts, read 6,078,433 times
Reputation: 4453
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
We can use Japanese reparations as a model and go from there. The U.S. government will pay for it of course.
Using that model, I have zero problem with it provided the funds go to the individuals that were denied FHA-backed loans during a specified time period (my guess is that it would be pre-Fair Housing Act of 1968).

Quote:
But it's not like you agree or even care about the issue so I don't know why I even took your bait.
Considering that taxpayers will be paying for it, I do care.
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Old 05-02-2018, 11:02 AM
 
31,995 posts, read 36,572,943 times
Reputation: 13254
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnsleyPark View Post
It is a shameful chapter in U.S. history, Mutiny. I hope that as a nation we are doing better. Even if so, I know we all have a long way to go.
Agreed.
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