Overtown: Once a swinging area (Miami, Coral Gables: condo, home, neighborhoods)

[perry335654]

‪Overtown's musical heyday recalled‬‏ - YouTube

[Manolón]

But there came civil rights, and all the black enterpreneurs went bust when blacks started to flock to white businesses. The total destruction of black american economy.

[Pear Martini]

now the only thing swinging in overtown is crackheads fists and syringes

[NoMiami]

Thanks for posting this. I just borrowed Purvis of Overtown from the library which was wonderful.

[Marina1686]

Sad story

O-Town used to be very nice, now is a p.o.s. third world ghetto... I got lost in that area the other day and it was very depressing and scary... shame on you racists!!!

[Michael Di Meo]

Yes, is it not interesting that whites restricted blacks' freedom of movement back in the day.

They basically forced them to live/stay in Overtown and restrict their businesses to that area.

Sounds like a variation of Apartheid to me.

And then by the time the Civil Rights movement got some momentum, the folks in charge of interstate highway planning conveniently ripped the vibrant neighborhood into 4 parts, killing its soul.

That obliged thousands of residents to downgrade their quality of life by forcing them to move elsewhere - another variation of Apartheid.

Then they built some "urban renewal projects" with government buildings, but without the neighborhood fabric.

I am no expert on South African style Apartheid, but what folks did in Miami back in the day seems eerily similar.

[HWeight]

excellent story.

but this will probably turn into another anti-white thread, even though white people havent even been a major force in Miami for over 20+ years. if Latin's are so sympathetic to Overtown's cause then why is Overtown still such an ignored neighborhood in Miami (a city that's 75% Hispanic)? why aren't there any special projects or revitalization efforts going on? and pushing the black people out and replacing them with expensive condo's for Argentineans or Venezuelans doesn't count. it's easy to just throw your hands in the air and say "oh look at what those evil white people have done!" and then do nothing but look sad and play the sympathy card, but until your out there doing something to change the area you're no better off than "them mean ol' white rayssis" from the 50's.

[doggiebus]

^^^Nice post. Good point about racism, it crosses all races. I think they have started to do some revitalization in the area, it just takes time to make a big impact.

What really needs to start is that the people that live in the area need to take back their area and make the impact happen themselves, not wait on some guy from the outside to make the change happen. Sitting back and hoping someone else comes in and changes things isn't going to happen. The people in Coral Gables, Aventura, Bal Harbour, Pinecrest, etc. get involved and make things happen in their neighborhoods if they want something done. Thats what the people in these areas need to do if they want things to change. When people care about where they live, their children live, they get involved and make the changes happen.

[perry335654]

Florida Preconstruction - Crosswinds in Downtown Miami Florida



This would have given Overtown a big lift in revitalization but never came to fruition

[HWeight]

Originally Posted by perry335654

Florida Preconstruction - Crosswinds in Downtown Miami Florida



This would have given Overtown a big lift in revitalization but never came to fruition

I'm not surprised. The Cuban Mafia that runs the city gives about just as much a crap about Overtown as the white's in the 50's and 60's. it's definitely not in the city's top priority list, to say the least. they feel the money is better spent in area's with wealthy Cubans and wealthy Latin American second home owners (ie Brickell). ive talked to many black people here, and many feel that Miami is slowly trying to force them out of Overtown. they feel the wealth and money from the imposing condo skyscrapers on Biscayne is slowly starting to make it's way further west. how's that for racism?