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Yeah, except the surrounding areas of what was then houston were made of of an EVEN LARGE proportion of African-American slaves.
The fact of the matter is that the foundation that was laid that allowed houston to grow to become an attractive destination for domestic migration and international immigrants was done by African-American slaves. The original momentum had already been set in motion for the economic growth of the city. The first economic boom happened with the construction of the Houston Tap railroad which was built by slave labor, as well.
Not to mention the city continued to engage in post emancipation forms of "soft slavery" of African-Americans through vagrancy laws, apprenticeship laws, and convict leasing programs that lasted all the way into the early 20th century. Remember when they discovered the bodies of 95 black men in sugar land who had been forced to work in the sugar mills in the city as leased convicts?
Also, Houston never really became an attractive place to immigrants until after jim crow was eliminated(again we are a SOUTHERN city). Hispanic and later Asian people's population didn't explode until after the civil rights movement of the 60s thanks to the hard work of African-Americans. Before that they were simply very small minorities in the city who were clamoring for the right to be recognized as white(or honorary whites in the case of asians) to gain favor in the racial hierarchy so they didn't get treated like black people. African-Americans were the only ones attacking the racist system of jim crow at it's core to kill it completely, because we got the worst of it.
Events like the Houston camp logan riots, which made even the most vile racist make a committment to non violence resolutions with black people from then on out, the Smith v Allwright & Sweatt v Painter case two landmark Supreme court cases that led to the abolishment of all white primaries and voter discrimination as well as the desegregation of college institutions respectively not just in Houston but the entire state of Texas, and well as the TSU students who risked their lives and freedom to organize all of their sit ins to protest issues like segregation and garbage dumps in minority residential neighborhoods. In many cases older gen hispanics in the city joined racist whites in their protest of desegregation as they didn't want to be considered equal with blacks, but the newer and prospective immigrants welcomed the change(and of course it was the civil rights movement that led to the 1965 immigration reform policy).
The elimination of Jim Crow in the city also allowed Houston to be open to receive federal funding for things like the Medical Center improvements, the Astrodome, and the NASA space program.
African-Americans are more foundational and have contributed more to this city than any other group bar none, all while being the historically the most oppressed. All non-African-Americans living here owe a lot to our community. We will not allow ourselves to be moved out of OUR city that WE built. We will be just as vigorous in asserting our historical place in this city as the hispanics are in Los Angeles.
BTW....You only named 3 so called "transitional" communities at the most that are majority black today, while I named 11 historically black communities in the city established and built from the ground up by African-Americans. And that's not even all of them.
I'd like to coin "Louis Farrakhan privilege". If anything being self-defeating is worse than external anti black actions from politicians because they use farrakhanism as an excuse for their own actions.
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Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205
The white privilege in this thread is making me cringe.
I'd be interested in per capital immigration statistics but Houston did get white immigration from Europe. The Second Ward pre World War I was known for its Germans.
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Originally Posted by JYHTOWN
Also, Houston never really became an attractive place to immigrants until after jim crow was eliminated(again we are a SOUTHERN city). Hispanic and later Asian people's population didn't explode until after the civil rights movement of the 60s thanks to the hard work of African-Americans. Before that they were simply very small minorities in the city who were clamoring for the right to be recognized as white(or honorary whites in the case of asians) to gain favor in the racial hierarchy so they didn't get treated like black people. African-Americans were the only ones attacking the racist system of jim crow at it's core to kill it completely, because we got the worst of it.
If affluent Blacks had not chosen to leave the Greater Third ward it would of been a self gentrifying thriving AA enclave.
But they did chose to leave which caused the decline in the trey which now needs gentrifying by anybody that is willing to invest in the area.
Are you seriously proposing that neighborhoods should purposely allow decay so that property values will not appreciate and keep people trapped in a cycle or poverty that very few will be able to escape ?
Affluent blacks did leave 3rd Ward, but not to the degree that whites did to black neighborhoods that used to be white. I'm all for redevelopment, but not at the expense of longtime residents. When development comes to the inner city, it's to benefit outsiders, not the longtime residents. Longtime residents can't afford the real estate price increase, so they have to leave the only neighborhood they've ever known.
The longtime residents with money are going to be OK. It's the ones who don't, in apartment complexes and in the shotgun shacks north of Truxillo (the apartment complexes AFAIK were built around the 1970s, and the north of Truxillo part was always black), who may have to move. If they don't own their residences, the question of whether or not to stay may be out of their hands as it's the landlords who have the say.
What'll be better for the city as a whole is allowing for the profile of these inner parts of Houston to skew wealthier: you can "market" the area to black wealthy outsiders (much like Imani School markets itself to African-American families) though real estate steering by race may be illegal (so be careful on how it's done) ... while the people who have to move from the 3rd Ward can choose new housing in Fondren Southwest, Alief, Hiram Clarke, Sunnyside area, Minnetex, etc.
When the population increases in those places, build bus shelters. Build rail lines! Convince supermarkets to open there! If the student population increases, ask HISD to build more schools (they did open Billy Reagan K-8 in Hiram Clarke area), and in Alief ISD territory, the same
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Originally Posted by AcresHomes44
Affluent blacks did leave 3rd Ward, but not to the degree that whites did to black neighborhoods that used to be white. I'm all for redevelopment, but not at the expense of longtime residents. When development comes to the inner city, it's to benefit outsiders, not the longtime residents. Longtime residents can't afford the real estate price increase, so they have to leave the only neighborhood they've ever known.
Affluent blacks did leave 3rd Ward, but not to the degree that whites did to black neighborhoods that used to be white. I'm all for redevelopment, but not at the expense of longtime residents. When development comes to the inner city, it's to benefit outsiders, not the longtime residents. Longtime residents can't afford the real estate price increase, so they have to leave the only neighborhood they've ever known.
If affluent whites hadn't left the Trey , the Trey would not have become a "historically black neighborhood" and the Trey would probably never have been know as "The Trey". Your argument is self defeating.
I talked about not allowing the HCAD to raise property tax appraisals on unimproved properties anywhere because they are in areas believed to be gentrifying . This would keep long time residents tax bills where they are now and keep them from having to sell their homes because they can't afford the escalating tax burdens. The renters are transient residence anyway. The answer I believe is really that simple.
I jump into this conversation with fear and trembling, but I venture to say that "both sides" of this discussion have excellent points to make.
I have lived in three metro areas where the building of highways plowed through African-American communities with devastating results...namely Houston - where some of the most stately Third Ward homes were suddenly severed from one another by the construction of 288.
And Kansas City - where SE Kansas City saw the demolition of many homes for the supposed construction of the new US 71 - and ironically this plan got delayed for many many years and was eventually replaced by a boulevard.
And my current home of Roanoke VA - where the historic African-American community of Gainsborough was obliterated by the construction of I-581 along with the new civic center. In this case, many long-time homeowners wound up becoming renters as they were unable to acquire property after losing their homes.
Minority communities find themselves being casualties time and again.
As far as the old postwar neighborhoods along old South Park Blvd., I sometimes get the feeling that real estate bigwigs are the real winners in all this as they are bound to be making big bucks through the rumor-spreading that leads to "white flight." Yes, racism is a huge part. But there is also some major manipulation. I remember hearing that real estate folks would hire a young black woman to walk down the streets of some of these neighborhoods pushing a stroller - and inevitably a few FOR SALE signs would appear shortly thereafter. The flipping of neighborhood demographics in H-town has, of course, become even more complex with the skyrocketing population of the Hispanic community.
I fully understand the distrust of folks toward gentrification. But it's not quite as simple as either side might portray it. The statistics sort of make my head swim, but I found this to be an interesting take: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/...istics/594064/
I hope those of you who are so passionate about this issue will keep the conversation going!
My daughter lives in Oakland, CA which is perhaps the most prominent national example of the extreme effects of gentrification at present.
By the way, I recommend this 2018 movie - BLINDSPOTTING - in which gentrification in Oakland is a continuing subplot. Makes ya think...
Some of the gentrification is also related to some non-racial issues in which there is a fast-growing segment of humanity that is very negative toward suburban living and sees close-in living as extremely desirable. This really wasn't much of a thing at all 40-50 years ago.
But there is a huge cost to be paid by hard-living folks when you find yourself being relegated to finding affordable housing in farflung suburbs where public transportation becomes either nonexistent or impractical.
But there is a huge cost to be paid by hard-living folks when you find yourself being relegated to finding affordable housing in farflung suburbs where public transportation becomes either nonexistent or impractical.
Poor people do feel nervous about going to those suburbs because it's harder to get around; that's why we need to pressure politicians and the wealthy into expanding METRO, into building bus shelters, into making those suburbs more walkable.
The "natives" in that part of town were white, until the Black invaders drove them out in the 1960's at the behest of the real estate cartel.
Doesn't matter who is polluting the neighborhood, if the neighbors, who were, in many cases, there first complain, the turkey leg people need to do something about their externalities.
I first heard about the Turkey Leg mess the other day via the African Diaspora News channel on YouTube. When the ADN host tried to racialize things as he almost always does, I was skeptical. And after seeing footage from a local news station on YouTube of all of the smoke pollution coming from the establishment's smokers, I hope and pray that they are forced to relocate.
Here is some footage of how bad things get, and they are smoking for well over 12 hours a day!
I would not want to have to put up with that crap if I lived there. They need to move to more commercial area if you ask me. And its not like people wouldn't come. This place has a cult following.
Note, I wish this business every success, but what's going on now is not acceptable. Plain and simple. For the record--and not that it matters-but one of the complainers about the smoke from the establishment is black (it wouldn't surprise me if more than one is black) as is shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_XLfIayNIE
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