Another question about Frayser

[Wireyanker]

What happened to Frayser? Multiple plants shut down, Memphis happened, jobs went to Mexico, Jimmy Carter happened, people moved on, the people moving in didn't have the same moral fiber as the folks that built the original community. Nor did the new residents have the same level of discretionary income as the previous residents. Basically, the place fell apart.

[jasonapache64]

I grew up there from 84-96. I was born in 84 but I remember from about 88 or 89. It was about 50/50 between blacks and whites. I just drove through frayser today and I will tell you my opinion. Low cost housing, equal oppurtunity destroyed Frayser into what it is today. I remember in about 94 we got robbed. The education system in Memphis is horrible. I have a cousin who killed a black male breaking into his house. Thats what Frayser is today. My old house had all of the metal siding stripped off of it, I imagine to be scrapped for money. The house is just one of the many houses destroyed. It's hard for me not to be upset with the Memphis gov't. It's almost the U.S. version of Somalia.

[Snake Plissken]

Does anyone remember that song Drake and Zeke used to play, "Deep in the Heart of Frayser"? Pretty much sums up the area.

[Chris Balducci]

The Firestone factory closed in 1978. I read in Memphis Magazine that a decision was made at the top of the company a few years before that to use the Memphis factory to manufacture bias-ply tires, at a time when radial tires were rapidly replacing them for automobile use. Thus the Memphis factory was producing tires for which there were a shrinking demand.
The International Harvester factory manufactured cotton pickers. It was caught up in the tractor and implement manufacturing recession of the early 1980s. Several company names disappeared as they merged to maintain profitability. For example, Case and International Harvester merged to form Case-International (Case-IH). Remember also that as tractors and other ag equipment grew larger, farmers needed fewer of them. Remember also that the size of farms was growing and the number of people working in agriculture was shrinking. In short, fewer factories were needed to meet demand.
These factors would have happened regardless of who was President at the time.
Case-IH still manufactures cotton pickers, but they are much more sophisticated than what the Memphis factory made:

Module Express

God bless,

CKB

[rocketxko]

I wasn't around Memphis that long ago, but I can't blame a company closing their doors there for union or other reasons. The workforce is the mid south reason is pretty bad.

[Chris Balducci]

Originally Posted by Chris Balducci

The Firestone factory closed in 1978.

I stand corrected on the closing date for Firestone. According to this link:

The Memphis Flyer: Cover Story - December 4, 1997

the factory closed in 1983.

God bless,

CKB

[lpat]

Ray-gunned per Country Joe McDonald.