ipl-logo

What Was The Motivation Behind The Destruction Of Africville

1089 Words5 Pages

Africville was an isolated community located at the very end of Halifax, where African Americans lived in peace and thrived together as united people. At the beginning, the community was thriving with young citizens working towards a better future for themselves and their community. However, after years of abandonment from the government, Africville’s conditions started to decline. The government, motivated by desegregation, responded by attempting to eradicate these poor conditions under the name of urban renewal. Urban renewal is defined as the redeveloping of an area and in this case to eliminate the presence of slums. While desegregation is defined as ending the isolation of people with different religious beliefs, ethnicity, and in this …show more content…

After experts were sent to further examine the conditions of Africville, it was decided that demolishing Africville was in the best interests of both the government and the people of Africville. The integration of Africville residents was heavily opposed because they didn’t want to be displaced and lose their sense of community. The relocation of Africville was perceived as a success for the municipal government but comprehended as a failure for Africville residents. Since the demolition of Africville was a very complex issue, there were many reasons behind this act, however desegregation was the main motivation behind the demolition of Africville. Africville was a vibrant community, but conditions worsened overtime due to being neglected by the Municipal government. This black community was first inhabited in the 1840s by African Americans fleeing the …show more content…

In 1956, Professor Stephenson set out to study housing conditions in Africville. In his 1957 report, a Redevelopment study of Halifax, Nova Scotia, he expressed concern about how around seventy families are living in a slum that is far apart from the rest of Halifax and they should be relocated. The main motivation behind this is ending segregation of African Americans along with the elimination of the inhumane living conditions. Within his report, Stephenson stated an accurate statement, “Africville stands as an indictment of society and not of its inhabitants,” which reflects the carelessness of the government in terms of failing to support Africville. In 1963, Professor Albert Rose went to Africville to study it in terms of welfare. During his time in Africville, he was overwhelmed by the fact that Africville was a series of slums with no running water and sewage disposal facilities. He was also appalled at the fact that Africville was completely segregated from the rest of society even though segregation should be a phenomenon of the past and strongly advised the integration of the black community with the rest of Halifax. Even though Rose was keen on relocating the residents of Africville immediately, he still insisted that the municipal government acknowledge the community

Show More
Related

Pruitt-Igoe Summary

144 Words | 1 Pages

• For example, Oscar Newman's research for the U. S. Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment in the late 1960s included a 740-unit public housing high rise development, Pruitt-Igoe, which never achieved more than 60% occupancy and was torn down about 10 years after its construction at a loss of $300 million, because it had rampant crime. Across the street, an older, smaller row-house complex, Carr Square Village, occupied by an identical population, was fully occupied and free of crime during and after the construction, occupancy, and demolition of Pruitt-Igoe. Newman's research regarding multiple communities, including Pruitt-Igoe, into what caused these differences in crime resulted in a new, but related, term of "defensible space. This

Read More

Disintegration The Splinting Of Black America Summary

324 Words | 2 Pages

Summary of Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America Eugene Robinson effortlessly approaches the dismantle of a once collective Black (African-American) community in Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America. Robinson credits the constant fight for equality and advance of Blacks as the direct result of the splitting of the Black Community (2010, p.66). After that splitting four different groups of Black communities emerge: the Abandoned, Mainstream, Emergent, and Transcendent. The Abandoned group is composed of a large minority group, that society often portrays as the majority within Black America, which consist of Blacks that live within, as well as below the boundaries of poverty. The Mainstream group consist of the majority

Read More

Gentrification All Bad Justin Davidson Analysis

1841 Words | 8 Pages

There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their

Read More

Examples Of Homogeneity In The 1950s

1705 Words | 7 Pages

Following the conclusion of World War II in 1945 and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947, both American consumerist and anti-communist sentiments disseminated throughout the entire country. During the 1950s, these facets of American society created a sense of homogeneity amongst Americans by promoting a conservative mindset. While conservative “Americanism” existed in many towns and cities, its presence in the suburbs was particularly striking because it was able to unify an entire population of individuals. Although the suburbs’ collective unity brought entire communities together, it was often used to combat the communists and minorities of the 1950s. Nativism legally manifested in the form of “restrictive covenants” that ostracized African-Americans

Read More

Summary Of Code Of The Streets By Elijah Anderson

932 Words | 4 Pages

Anderson begins the section by explaining that there are two separate cultures in inner-city neighborhoods. The first are the “decent” this group is defined by commitment to “middle-class values,” (101). However, they are not mainstream in that they

Read More

Reconstruction Dbq

491 Words | 2 Pages

Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.

Read More

Defining Moments In Canada

1010 Words | 5 Pages

Years of neglect and racism has turned Africville into one of the worst slums of Canada. (Expropriating Black Nova Scotians) Even as an official city of Nova Scotia Africville was not given essential services. The small community was poisoned by disease and large amounts of waste that freely scattered around the town. A former Africville resident, Eddie Carvery, states that “The hospital would just dump their raw garbage on the dump—bloody body parts, blankets, and everything”

Read More

Ronald Reagan Urban Policy Essay

984 Words | 4 Pages

At this point it was widely acknowledged that many of America’s cities faced severe economic, fiscal, and social problems. In hindsight the problems were two fold. First, as Harold Wolman points out in his exhaustive essay titled The Reagan Urban Policy and its Impacts “metropolitan-area population and employment had decentralized, leaving central cities trapped within fixed boundaries with a disproportionately high share of the needy populations and social problems like unemployment, poverty, crime and poor overall health, but a disproportionately low share of the tax base” (Wolman, 312). In addition, Wolman went on to point out that urban centers had a higher share of minority residents at the time, which caused the problems of minorities to be seen as identical to the issues facing urban

Read More

Structural Racism In African American Society

1258 Words | 6 Pages

African Americans have systematically been deprived of equal opportunities and fundamental rights in America since the establishment of slavery. Although the Civil Rights Act banned the implementation of segregation and racial inequality over 40 years ago, the overall concept of racial and cultural hierarchy still lingers at the forefront of today’s society. White America’s history of racially oppressing, isolating, and segregating African Americans have led to present-day issues surrounding the political and economic forces that intentionally limits Blacks access to and opportunity from social, economic, educational, and political advancement through the institution of structural racism. Structural racism within America’s governments and

Read More

Racial Residential Segregation

745 Words | 3 Pages

The contemporary distinctive patterns of segregation and poverty in the United States often relate back to the issue of race. Scholars have looked at the institutional forces that shape differential life outcomes of American racial minorities, particularly African Americans, to explain such patterns. Massey and Denton explore racial residential segregation in the United States throughout the 20th century. They argue that the making and concentration of the (African American) underclass in inner cities resulted from institutional and interpersonal racism in the housing market that perpetuates already existing racial segregation. Amanda Lewis and colleagues adds more insight to Massey and Denton’s investigation with their comprehensive overview

Read More

Positive Effects Of The Great Migration

812 Words | 4 Pages

Between that time, African American Families moved from the South to the North and to the West. Following the Civil War, many African Americans had packed up and migrated to urbanized areas like Chicago and New York. By 1920, almost 300,000 African Americans had moved away from the south, Harlem being a very popular destination for the traveling families. New arrivals found jobs in slaughterhouses, factories and foundries, but working conditions were strenuous to their bodies and sometimes dangerous. Many didn 't consider the amounts of people that would be migrating to New York and that made competition for living space harder.

Read More

Social Problems In The African-American Community

1082 Words | 5 Pages

There are many open wounds in the African-American community that have not healed what so ever. Disintegration of family structures in the African-American community has been a persistent problem for far too long. High out of wedlock birth rates, absent fathers, and the lack of a family support network for many young African-Americans have led to serious problems in America's urban areas. The persistence of serious social problems in inner-city areas has led to a tragic perpetuation of racial prejudice as well. African Americans still face a litany of problems in the 21st century today.

Read More

Gentrification Informative Speech

1145 Words | 5 Pages

In this speech, I will begin by explaining what gentrification is along with a short background on the Lincoln Park gentrification, then I will proceed to explain how the families in these areas fought for their homes, and finally I will be discussing the gentrification that is affecting citizens of Chicago today. Body I. Gentrification is the process of renovating an area to meet the standards of a different social class, typically the upper middle class. Throughout this process the price of renting and owning a home increases while family owned businesses become bankrupt. Low-income families are left homeless and without the support of a

Read More

African Americans Between 1910 And 1930

108 Words | 1 Pages

Between 1910 and 1930, African Americans migrated from the rural South to the urban North in search of better economic opportunities and as a means of escaping the racism of the South, but they were disillusioned with what they encountered. To begin, African Americans still experienced racism—segregation, profiling, and unjust law enforcement—In the North, though it was more subtle. As a result, blacks were forced into lower-paying jobs than whites. Thus, while the northern white, middle-class population grew wealthier during the post-WWI economic boom and were moving to the suburbs, blacks and other poor, working-class groups were left in the cities, the state of which grew progressively

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Gentrification

502 Words | 3 Pages

Lance Freeman, an associate professor of urban planning in Columbia, wanted to investigate if there was any displacement going on in two predominantly black neighborhoods that was briskly gentrifying. Much to his dismay, he couldn’t find any correlation between gentrification and displacement. What was surprising to Freeman was his discovery, “poor residents and those without a college education were actually less likely to move if they resided in gentrifying neighborhoods”. (Sternbergh, 19) Freeman adds, “The discourse on gentrification, has tended to overlook the possibility that some of the neighborhood changes associated with gentrification might be appreciated by the prior residents.” (Sternbergh, 19)

Read More

More about What Was The Motivation Behind The Destruction Of Africville

Related Topics

Open Document