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| New Housing in Denver in 2009 |
I’ve mentioned that there were very few African Americans
living in Boulder when I was growing up. I know why. When I was young—maybe 10
years old we went over to my aunt and uncle’s house. They lived in the
neighborhood Keewaydin Meadows. I remember hearing my dad and my uncle talking
about how an African American couple had just moved into the neighborhood. I
remember we drove past the house—it was on a small cul-de-sac. My uncle pointed
out which house was now owned by African Americans. They talked about how upset
the people living around them were. I can imagine how much heat that family had to take. I can imagine how difficult it was for this family and I wonder how long they were able to live in that house.
When I was an adult I worked at a company that provided
medical care to seniors. This company happened to be in Denver, Colorado. I
worked at this company when Mr. Barak Obama was elected president. The excitement
was palpable, especially from our African American patients. During the
celebrations we all began talking about the history of racism—and our
conversation turned to segregation. I asked what they remembered most about
segregation. There were two answers that surprised me most. The first surprise
came from a woman who said that the lack of public restrooms was especially
difficult. She talked of travelling in a car and the inability to relieve
oneself made traveling not only difficult but frightening. She said that driving within the city was just as bad as driving across the country. No bathrooms make for a very short journey.
The second surprise came from a man who had lived in Denver
in the 30’s and 40’s. He talked about the Red Lines. These were the streets
which demarcated where African Americans could live. I remember that the man
told us what the boundaries were but I had to look them up for this article. I
found the information in a pdf from the Department of the Interior, and the
National Park Service entitled “Historic Residential Subdivisions ofMetropolitan Denver.” On page 87 and 88 the document states that in Denver,
African Americans were confined to the Five Points neighborhood, with York
Street being the eastern boundary until 1954. After 1954 the boundary extended
a few blocks to the East of York Street. (Denver Suburbs, p. 87 and 88.) At
that time, the South Platte River was the western boundary for African American
communities while 17th Avenue was the southern boundary and the rail
yards were the northern boundary. I have not yet found when these red line
restrictions were lifted but the conversation between my uncle and my dad happened in the early 70's so I think red lining existed much longer than white people realize.
Other racial groups were reportedly not exempt from housing
restrictions. The Historic Residential Subdivision document states that “Hispanics”
were offered inferior public housing options at 12th Ave and Federal
Boulevard. Japanese Americans also had difficulties after being released from
the internment camps of WWII. The Japanese Americans were forced to live in the
same small neighborhood (Five Points) that the African Americans were crowded
into.
Most damning of all (in my opinion) is the following
paragraph (p.85):
Discrimination in access to well-built, affordable private
housing was common in the metropolitan area during the years before the war.
Denver-area black leaders, like those at the national level, possessed few
options with which to counter unfair practices. In 1940, the Colorado
Statesman, Denver’s African American newspaper, discussed the impact of
red-lining, noting that housing choices for the community were limited to dated
properties in need of extensive repair and improvement that sold for $2,500 to $3,000,
and charged that: “Conversely, the real thing can be seen upon the fringes of
our City, in the hundreds of new and attractive homes, containing all of the
modern features, and priced at 4000 dollars.” Money for new houses could not be
obtained to build houses “within this racial zone” due to deterioration of the
existing properties and low wages of residents. The Statesman concluded, “Some
months ago, the FHA offered citizens within this zone of racial encirclement an
opportunity to rent and live in ‘new homes,’ the same as other people do, but a
group comprising realtors, and others having selfish interest, blocked this
movement.”470 A year later the Statesman noted the housing situation remained a
“grave problem” due to racial restrictions.
Every African American that ventured outside those
boundaries must have experienced something similar to what that Boulder family
experienced. White people exercising their “right” to bully and intimidate
those who they did not feel should live in their communities.
The neighborhood that I now live in has a little local
newspaper that is published about once a month. A couple of years ago I
remember reading a short article—just one paragraph in length. The article was
asking people not to call the police when they saw an African American man
walking down the street. The article reminded people that “African Americans
live here too.”
This part of America and American culture needs to be
healed. People should be free to live where they want to—and they should be
free to live without others’ intimidation and threats of violence. Until we are
able to heal this, I will feel deeply ashamed of this part of being an
American.
