A New Chapter for Atlanta Civic Center (Auburn, Fairburn: new home, neighborhoods)

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

And then there's this picture:

Yeah, not sure why they are walking through people's back yards but guess you got to get your photo op. My neighbor in Ormewood Park has a back yard that has got the same sort of fence built out of scrap wood and has junk all over place. That doesn't mean we should take their house and level the neighborhood.

That doesn't solve anything. It makes things worse for all involved.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yeah, not sure why they are walking through people's back yards but guess you got to get your photo op. My neighbor in Ormewood Park has a back yard that has got the same sort of fence built out of scrap wood and has junk all over place. That doesn't mean we should take their house and level the neighborhood.

That doesn't solve anything. It makes things worse for all involved.

Neighborhoods like these all across the South were slums and that shouldn't be in dispute. What else do you expect from a people as poor as our ancestors? That said, my main concern wasn't the razing of these homes (which would have happened eventually for one reason or another) but it's the fact that Black people weren't offered anything better that they could own. Those houses would have eventually been demolished one way or another, but the biggest injustice perpetrated against Black people of that time was intentionally being shut out of the home-buying process that would have given us the opportunity to build wealth early on. This is the primary reason for the Black/White wealth disparity to this day.

I don't necessarily disagree with you but I'm looking at the bigger picture.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yeah, not sure why they are walking through people's back yards but guess you got to get your photo op. My neighbor in Ormewood Park has a back yard that has got the same sort of fence built out of scrap wood and has junk all over place. That doesn't mean we should take their house and level the neighborhood.

That doesn't solve anything. It makes things worse for all involved.

It looks to me like they are walking in what most people would refer to as a “road”. One neighbor having a yard full of junk does not equal an entire block/neighborhood of nearly uninhabitable homes, with trash and likely human waste scattered all around. Nice try. I mean, I know you know the difference, but you’ll pretend you don’t.

The people who were moved should have been offered respectable living condtions elsewhere. If they weren’t, that is a problem. If they were, and they chose to turn to crime, that’s their own problem.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Neighborhoods like these all across the South were slums and that shouldn't be in dispute. What else do you expect from a people as poor as our ancestors? That said, my main concern wasn't the razing of these homes (which would have happened eventually for one reason or another) but it's the fact that Black people weren't offered anything better that they could own. Those houses would have eventually been demolished one way or another, but the biggest injustice perpetrated against Black people of that time was intentionally being shut out of the home-buying process that would have given us the opportunity to build wealth early on. This is the primary reason for the Black/White wealth disparity to this day.

I don't necessarily disagree with you but I'm looking at the bigger picture.

Very and sadly true, Mutiny.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Neighborhoods like these all across the South were slums and that shouldn't be in dispute. What else do you expect from a people as poor as our ancestors? That said, my main concern wasn't the razing of these homes (which would have happened eventually for one reason or another) but it's the fact that Black people weren't offered anything better that they could own. Those houses would have eventually been demolished one way or another, but the biggest injustice perpetrated against Black people of that time was intentionally being shut out of the home-buying process that would have given us the opportunity to build wealth early on. This is the primary reason for the Black/White wealth disparity to this day.

I don't necessarily disagree with you but I'm looking at the bigger picture.

This is the more correct lens on history. As others have said shameful. No need to pine away for substandard housing. Better opportunities for all to live in decent housing is the ideal. At the time, the housing projects were modern and sanitary and a big brush way to solve a problem. In hindsight, not a good solution. But your point is the key here. And well paying jobs to be able to afford a mortgage.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

This is the more correct lens on history. As others have said shameful. No need to pine away for substandard housing. Better opportunities for all to live in decent housing is the ideal. At the time, the housing projects were modern and sanitary and a big brush way to solve a problem. In hindsight, not a good solution. But your point is the key here. And well paying jobs to be able to afford a mortgage.

Mutiny stated the Ugly Truth here. The Rules preventing blacks from pursuing their economic destiny were quickly established after Emancipation, and didn't let up until the 1960's.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

It looks to me like they are walking in what most people would refer to as a “road”. One neighbor having a yard full of junk does not equal an entire block/neighborhood of nearly uninhabitable homes, with trash and likely human waste scattered all around. Nice try. I mean, I know you know the difference, but you’ll pretend you don’t.

The people who were moved should have been offered respectable living condtions elsewhere. If they weren’t, that is a problem. If they were, and they chose to turn to crime, that’s their own problem.

That is not a road. That is not even an alley. There is no sign of even a curb is sight. They are standing in people's backyard for effect / to get their photo op.

This is what the streets in Buttermilk Bottom looked like:




But regardless of how much it offends you to look at it, bulldozing their homes is not the way to help these people.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Neighborhoods like these all across the South were slums and that shouldn't be in dispute. What else do you expect from a people as poor as our ancestors? That said, my main concern wasn't the razing of these homes (which would have happened eventually for one reason or another) but it's the fact that Black people weren't offered anything better that they could own. Those houses would have eventually been demolished one way or another, but the biggest injustice perpetrated against Black people of that time was intentionally being shut out of the home-buying process that would have given us the opportunity to build wealth early on. This is the primary reason for the Black/White wealth disparity to this day.

I don't necessarily disagree with you but I'm looking at the bigger picture.

I don't think it is the case that all those houses would have been torn down regardless. They look like much of the same housing stock that still exists in neighborhoods like Old Fourth Ward, Sweet Auburn, and Cabbagetown.

The bigger picture is that "Urban Renewal" / leveling these neighborhoods did not make things better for these people. It only saved white / wealthier folks from having to look at it and gave politicians an excuse to take the land they wanted for their pet projects.

[cqholt]

Why was Buttermilk Bottoms, Summerhill, Rawson-Washington considered slums, but Cabbagetown was not? Cabbagetown has shotgun homes.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Why was Buttermilk Bottoms, Summerhill, Rawson-Washington considered slums, but Cabbagetown was not? Cabbagetown has shotgun homes.

Cabbagetown was a housing community built and maintained by the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill for its employees. Nothing fancy, but it was sanitary and there was food on the table. And none of these neighborhoods started as slums.