Miami, 1955 on film, the good ole days (racism, money)

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by lucky4life

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that "Florida Cracker" is white lol

Also, I agree that Miami could be a nightmare if you were black back then, but I can counter that with the fact that now days Miami can be a nightmare if your white. It's to the point that not even money can make most of Miami a nice place to live. Just walking around down town or hanging out on most the public beaches has been scary for as long as I remember. This whole topic reminds me of old timers talking about how southern CA was the greatest place on earth until the 70's. My grandma say's that the late 80's/early 90's is when Los Angles really started to become what it's turned into today. I think Miami started to really go down hill around the same time.

Miami is expensive, and parts are dangerous. I won't argue that. However, that would affect anyone. Black Americans are quite poor in Miami compared to other cities. That being said, the many denominator here is money, not race. If it is bad for a White guy looking for a middle class living, then it is bad for a Black person looking for the same thing. You have to make the money. It isn't like the 1950s where Blacks were confined to Overtown/Liberty City. People can go where they want and the law says so. Nowadays it is about the money.

[lucky4life]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Miami is expensive, and parts are dangerous. I won't argue that. However, that would affect anyone. Black Americans are quite poor in Miami compared to other cities. That being said, the many denominator here is money, not race. If it is bad for a White guy looking for a middle class living, then it is bad for a Black person looking for the same thing. You have to make the money. It isn't like the 1950s where Blacks were confined to Overtown/Liberty City. People can go where they want and the law says so. Nowadays it is about the money.

I agree. When I say the beaches and down town are scary, it really comes down to the fact that there are a lot of poor people that are no longer confined to their neighborhoods which results in a lot of gang and drug culture throughout the city. I find that there are few decent middle class neighborhoods in Miami. It's almost as if one either has money or does not. I think there has been a lot of middle class fight from Miami over the last 30 years and it includes middle class blacks and Hispanics.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by lucky4life

I agree. When I say the beaches and down town are scary, it really comes down to the fact that there are a lot of poor people that are no longer confined to their neighborhoods which results in a lot of gang and drug culture throughout the city. I find that there are few decent middle class neighborhoods in Miami. It's almost as if one either has money or does not. I think there has been a lot of middle class fight from Miami over the last 30 years and it includes middle class blacks and Hispanics.

Why should anyone be confined to any one place? This is America. We have freedom of movement. If anyone commits a crime, I call the police. And how many of those beaches are actually scary places?

The way I see it, people go where they think they can make a buck or get by. And that gang activity would have been hurting the people in their own neighborhoods if they had been confined there.

[lucky4life]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Why should anyone be confined to any one place? This is America. We have freedom of movement. If anyone commits a crime, I call the police. And how many of those beaches are actually scary places?

The way I see it, people go where they think they can make a buck or get by. And that gang activity would have been hurting the people in their own neighborhoods if they had been confined there.

I don't think anyone should be confined to one place, but it's obvious that letting poor people into the nice part of town eventually makes the nice part of town suck too. You have to leave that gated community sometime.

It is what it is............

[LordHomunculus]

Most cities had what you might call the "good ole days". For example, Detroit during the 50s and early 60s was mostly White and like Leave it to Beaver in many areas. But like others said about the Black experience in Miami back then, the Black experience in Detroit during those "good ole days" didn't look so good. So I think it depends on who you ask. Maybe if you were White, then yeah, maybe those were the good ole days. But Blacks from all sorts of income brackets might beg to differ.

[StarfishKey]

I have never been to any beach in Miami where I felt threatened by "gang activity." And I would disagree that Miami is as hard for white people now as Black people back in the day, there's no question that's silly. I have never had a curfew or been confined to a restricted area by our govt., or really had any problems from any threat of violence. Then again, I know what I'm doing, I don't wander around aimlessly in areas that are dangerous just to see if someone will try to rob or harass me eventually - I don't do that in any city.

While we consider the question of whether in fact 1955 Miami was "the good old days" or not, and what was and was not better about it vs. now, could we please try not to exaggerate just to make ourselves feel better? There is not going to be anything quite like segregation today (thankfully!), so let's not try to force comparisons.

It might be nice though if someone found more old videos of any perspective of the region!

[mach234]

why do all these threads end up turning into "lets target black people" topics ?

this forum is turning into the NYC forum.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by mach234

why do all these threads end up turning into "lets target black people" topics ?

this forum is turning into the NYC forum.

It is what it is. Miami in 1955 was not a good place for Black people.

[ByeByeLW]

I like the physical look of the old Miami better; as someone mentioned, it had better greenspace.

But it's like the show Mad Men. Cool style bro' but the people were racist, sexist, etc.

I got my first car in the late 70s. I used to drive to Miami to look at the architecture.

It was like a ghost town. You could walk for blocks without seeing anybody.

The funky themed hotels on the beach were still there- the Tiki place or Thunderbird or whatever it was. So wish I had taken photos of all that.

I was sad when the 5 and 10s and some of the old style stores were closed down.

I felt bad for the elderly people who used to rely on the Lincoln Rd Woolworth lunch counter for a cheap meal out.

Well, glad I got to see the old buildings as they originally were. I still try to remember which one was the Woolworth's lol

[perry335654]

The Black Miami, A Documentary - YouTube