The effects of urban renewal on African Americans in Charlotte, North Carolina, the case of the Brooklyn neighborhood: 1960-1974.

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Hijazi, K. (2014). The effects of urban renewal on African Americans in Charlotte, North Carolina, the case of the Brooklyn neighborhood: 1960-1974. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

The federal urban renewal program, which was created as part of the Housing Act of 1949, was designed to provide cities with money to rehabilitate their infrastructure by replacing old decaying buildings and blighted inner city areas. Almost in every city urban renewal took effect, African Americans were the ones whose homes and places of business were deemed blighted, and as a result, were removed to make room for new governmental and private business structures. The city of Charlotte chose to participate in urban renewal in 1960. The Brooklyn neighborhood, which was located in Charlotte's Second Ward, was the first black community chosen to be developed. In a period of 14 years, more than 900 families were removed from their homes in Brooklyn as the entire neighborhood was demolished. This paper will first, establish the historical background of how African Americans were treated in terms of housing policies in Charlotte during the twentieth century. Second, it will construct the story of urban renewal in Charlotte by exploring the role of the media and local leaders in the decision making. Third, this paper will evaluate the aftermath of urban renewal upon the former residents of Brooklyn.

Details
Author

Hijazi, Khalid

Title

The effects of urban renewal on African Americans in Charlotte, North Carolina, the case of the Brooklyn neighborhood: 1960-1974.

Physical Description

1 online resource (110 pages) : PDF

Date

2014

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

The federal urban renewal program, which was created as part of the Housing Act of 1949, was designed to provide cities with money to rehabilitate their infrastructure by replacing old decaying buildings and blighted inner city areas. Almost in every city urban renewal took effect, African Americans were the ones whose homes and places of business were deemed blighted, and as a result, were removed to make room for new governmental and private business structures. The city of Charlotte chose to participate in urban renewal in 1960. The Brooklyn neighborhood, which was located in Charlotte's Second Ward, was the first black community chosen to be developed. In a period of 14 years, more than 900 families were removed from their homes in Brooklyn as the entire neighborhood was demolished. This paper will first, establish the historical background of how African Americans were treated in terms of housing policies in Charlotte during the twentieth century. Second, it will construct the story of urban renewal in Charlotte by exploring the role of the media and local leaders in the decision making. Third, this paper will evaluate the aftermath of urban renewal upon the former residents of Brooklyn.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

History

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

African American
Blacks
Brooklyn
Charlotte
Urban Removal
Urban Renewal

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Ramsey, Sonya

Committee Members

Mixon, Gregory
Hicks, Cheryl

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2014.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Hijazi_uncc_0694N_10734

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1693