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Greetings, readers! Thank you for taking some time to read this column entry over a very intriguing, but still important, topic in our country. My name is Jacob Carlson, and today I’ll be investigating the historical trend of communities of Black Americans being forced to relocate after their homes were demolished in favor of adding a highway or other large public road, particularly during the 20^th century. This may sound like a mundane topic, but I assure you that it goes much deeper than you may initially expect. I’ll be attempting to answer the question “Is this racist?” as well as examining any potential solutions to this problem.

First and foremost, it would be best to address the context of this issue. The government does reserve the right to remove buildings and neighborhoods if deemed necessary for the benefit of the public, right? Technically, yes. Here are some historical examples: The Housing Act of 1949 authorised federal funding to be used for “slum clearance and urban redevelopment” in order to provide “a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family” (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). Additionally, the Highway Act of 1956 granted the federal government the means to construct 41,000 miles of highway, making it the largest development at the time (U.S. Senate). These acts, when considered together, certainly enabled city planners and the federal government to remove communities that were deemed to be damaging to the overall city.

Based on these acts, the government indeed has the ability to demolish communities for infrastructure improvements. Whether this is justified is a conversation best saved for another time. What we must consider, however, is how these acts were utilized to disproportionally target, condemn, and then demolish Black communities as they were deemed to be unpleasant and dangerous areas that needed to be removed.

We must next consider why Black communities were targeted for demolition as often as they historically have been. The reasoning behind this is a complex series of events that commonly occurred for Black Americans looking to establish a new home during the mid-20^th century. During this time period, it was extremely common for Black Americans to be denied loans by the federal government for use in specific areas, such as suburbs (this process is known as redlining). In addition, many homeowners operated under certain restrictions that forbid them from selling to specific groups of people, often including Black Americans. It was also incredibly common for Black Americans to be denied jobs that would enable them to pay for a house, forcing them to look into areas of lower income (Semuels). Due to all of these factors intended to prevent Black Americans from succeeding in the home-buying process, many of them found no other choice than to move into an overcrowded neighborhood, often struggling with poverty.

City planners came to view these neighborhoods as “unhealthy organs” that had to be removed immediately to preserve the health of the larger city (Semuels). This is where the Housing Act of 1949 and the Highway Act of 1956 come into play. Using these two acts, city planners had the ability to legally demolish these crowded neighborhoods under the guise of adding a highway for so-called “urban renewal” projects. Keep in mind that these neighborhoods were some of the only homes that many Black Americans could find due to the heavy restrictions in place.

An image of Black Bottom shortly before demolition, captured by the Detroit Historical Society on  March 19, 1959.    

Even Black neighborhoods filled with businesses were not safe from city planners looking for space to add highways. Take, for example, the case of Black Bottom, a former neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan. This community was considered to be a “Black business mecca” by a former resident and attracted performances from incredibly popular musicians, including Duke Ellington and Louie Armstrong (McFarland). In the 1960’s, this active community, like so many others, was demolished in favor of constructing a new highway.

Black Bottom’s replacement: I-375. This image was captured by the Detroit Historical Society on November 29, 1961.

Now that we have examined the apparent reasoning for why Black American neighborhoods and communities were often targeted, I believe that it’s time to examine the main question this column seeks to answer: Is this racist?

First, allow me to clearly state the definition of racism that I will be referring to, found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another.” I would also like to note that as a white male, I recognize that I have not experienced racism and cannot fully understand the impacts it has on people that have experienced it. Please know that I do not speak on the behalf of those who have faced racism, rather, I am merely attempting to answer a question about it through discussion.

With this definition of racism in mind, I believe that we can very clearly say that yes, the practice of disproportionally targeting Black neighborhoods for demolition is absolutely racist. In fact, all of the restrictions imposed on Black Americans in regard to their ability to purchase a house are undoubtedly racist, making this entire cycle one rooted in systemic racism. The restrictions placed on Black Americans were intended to oppress them while providing more opportunities to whites, thus giving them an advantage consistent with our definition. The process of then destroying the neighborhoods that Black Americans had more access to is an additional layer of oppression, especially when replaced by highways that white people had more access to at the time. Whereas white Americans could hop on the highway and move to a new suburb or neighborhood, Black Americans faced significantly more difficulty doing so due to the extreme restrictions imposed on them (Semuels).

We can further narrow this form of racism down to it being an example of systemic racism, meaning that rather than this being an isolated incident driven out of hate, it is a widespread injustice that was (and still is, although currently not as common) supported by systems of power. The system of power in question here is none other than the federal government, as it gave cities the funding necessary to undertake such removals. Systemic racism is prevalent in America to this day, as the systems of power in place here can be difficult to reform and often take a very lengthy amount of time to accomplish anything. It is important to be aware that this example of racism is rooted deep within our country’s structure, as this will very likely shape any response or reform to counteract this injustice.

We have now answered our overarching question and can confidently say that the practice of disproportionally demolishing Black communities to construct highways as an “urban renewal” project is racist. This leads us to our next challenging question: what can we do to fix it? If this injustice truly is rooted deeply into acts passed by our federal government, what can we possibly do to help reverse this?

I, unfortunately, cannot provide a clear answer to this question. The path to fixing such a large injustice is incredibly complex and presents multiple challenges that must be overcome to reach a lasting solution.

That being said, there are some current movements to replace highways built in the 20^th century with smaller, more resource efficient roads. As time has passed since these major highways were built, cities have had to grapple with some of the more undesirable side-effects of them, including pollution, noise, and congestion (McFarland). Due to this, some cities are considering or currently planning on removing these highways in favor of smaller, more manageable roadways. There is public support of these plans, with some campaigns and programs being started to promote ways to replace the aging highways and give back to the communities that were devastated by their construction.

Remember the neighborhood of Black Bottom that was briefly discussed earlier in this column? The city of Detroit is now making plans to remove I-375 (the highway that replaced Black Bottom) and construct a boulevard in its place (McFarland). This new boulevard will allow for the development of new neighborhoods, which some residents hope will be used to re-establish the destroyed and displaced communities that were formerly present in that area. This seems to be a good first step toward correcting this injustice, but it would take time to rebuild the sense of community that was destroyed with these neighborhoods were lost.

There is, however, one aspect of the Detroit project that poses some concern. The development of this new boulevard will likely cause an increase in rent and property values for the areas surrounding it, including any new communities that would be established (McFarland). This increase raises the possibility of gentrification, the process in which residents of an established community are displaced as wealthier individuals and companies settle in and eventually take control of the area. In this case, the concern exists that established Black communities would once again be displaced as wealthier white communities move into these new developments, leading to a sustained increase in rent and taxes that the initial residents can no longer afford. This is exactly the opposite of what needs to happen in order to reconcile this injustice. It would, in fact, make the problem even worse by once again forcing Black Americans out of their established homes, leaving their communities behind.

Clearly, righting this wrong is not going to be an easy task. Great care must be taken to reach a true solution, one that actually benefits the communities that were affected. I think the movements and discussions to bring new neighborhoods back to cities is a great first step and have the potential to bring positive change, however, the positive change needs to be for those that actually have suffered and not for the benefits of white Americans. Again, there is no easy answer to fixing this issue, but I am hopeful that ongoing discussions will eventually yield real results.

With that being said, I think we have reached the end of this discussion. We’ve answered our main question, examined how this is an issue rooted much deeper in our society than some may realize, and looked into the significant challenges that come with attempting to correct this injustice. I hope that you found this discussion to be insightful and informative about an issue that many of us might not realize has impacted thousands of people, and perhaps are more curious about the extent of this injustice and the possibilities to correct it.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my thoughts on this issue. Until next time!

Works Cited

“Congress Approves the Federal-Aid Highway Act.” U.S. Senate: Congress Approves the Federal-Aid Highway Act, U.S. Senate, 12 Dec. 2019, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Federal_Highway_Act.htm#:~:text=On%20June%2026%2C%201956%2C%20the,Interstate%20and%20Defense%20Highways%20Act).&text=The%20authorization%20to%20build%2041%2C000,works%20program%20to%20that%20time.

“Encyclopedia Of Detroit.” Detroit Historical Society – Where the Past Is Present, detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/black-bottom-neighborhood.  

“MAJOR LEGISLATION ON HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ENACTED SINCE 1932.” US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

McFarland, Matt. “Highways That Destroyed Black Neighborhoods Are Crumbling. Some Want to Undo That Legacy.” CNN, WarnerMedia, 27 Feb. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/02/27/cars/buttigieg-highway-removals/index.html.

“Racism.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism.

Semuels, Alana. “The Role of Highways in American Poverty.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 18 Mar. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/03/role-of-highways-in-american-poverty/474282/.