THE MOVEMENT OF BLACKS INTO
URBAN AREAS CREATES IMMENSE
RACIAL STRESSES IN THE 1940S.
BECAUSE THESE BLACKS ARE
COMING INTO URBAN CENTERS
POPULATED BY WHITES.
THERE'S NOT ENOUGH
HOUSING FOR THEM.
PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN EXTREMELY
CROWDED CIRCUMSTANCES.
MOST OF THESE NORTHERN AND
WESTERN CITIES HAVE BEEN
RIGIDLY DIVIDED BETWEEN
WHITE AND BLACK.
BUT IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ALL
THESE PEOPLE COMING INTO THESE
AREAS, THE BOUNDARIES
BETWEEN THE NEIGHBORHOODS
ARE BREAKING DOWN.
AND SUDDENLY BLACKS ARE
LIVING AMONG WHITES.
AND WHITES ARE
LIVING AMONG BLACKS.
AND THE TWO RACES FIND
THEMSELVES, FIND THIS
ACUTELY UNCOMFORTABLE.
AND WHAT BLACKS HAVE TO
DO IS FIND A PLACE TO
LIVE IN THESE CITIES.
AND THERE'S NO NEW HOUSING
BEING BUILT IN WARTIME,
OR ALMOST NO NEW HOUSING.
AND SO THE ENTIRE RACIAL
RESIDENTIAL GEOGRAPHY IS
BEGINNING TO BE REDRAWN.
AND THIS LEADS TO SOME
EXPLOSIVE INCIDENTS AND
RIOTS IN SOME OF THE MAJOR
URBAN AREAS INCLUDING
DETROIT, AND NEW YORK.
AND AFTER THE WAR
THE RIOTS CONTINUE.
WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE
RIOTS DURING THE WAR.
BUT AFTER THE WAR, THERE'S A
HIDDEN ERA OF VIOLENCE WHICH
HISTORIANS HAVE NOW REVEALED.
OF WHITE HOMEOWNERS IN CITIES
BEING DETERMINED TO TAKE BACK
THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS FROM
WHAT THEY SEE AS BLACK
INCURSION, BLACK INVASION.
AND GROUPS OF WHITE HOMEOWNERS
FORM IN ALL KINDS OF NORTHERN
AND WESTERN CITIES, DETERMINED
TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY
OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND THAT MEANS RACIAL INTEGRITY.
AND THERE ARE MANY INSTANCES,
AND IT'S REALLY AN APPALLING
HISTORY OF OURS IN THE 1940S,
AND `40S, OF BLACKS BEING
BURNED OUT OF THEIR HOMES.
OF BEING STRUCK
DOWN IN THE STREET.
AND THESE ARE MOSTLY RIOTS
OF WHITES AGAINST BLACKS.
AND THEY'RE MEANT TO TERRORIZE
THE BLACK POPULATION IF THE
BLACK POPULATION IS THOUGHT
TO BE LIVING IN AN AREA
WHERE THEY SHOULDN'T BE.
AND THIS CONTRIBUTES AND
RIGIDIFIES RACIAL SEGREGATION
IN AMERICAN CITIES IN
A VERY POWERFUL WAY.
AND THAT'S GOING TO ENDURE
FOR ANOTHER THIRTY YEARS.
AND I THINK THE GREATEST
INSTANCE OF SEGREGATION
IN AMERICAN LIFE TODAY
REMAINS RACIAL SEGREGATION.
THAT'S BEGINNING, IN SOME
PLACES, FINALLY, TO BREAK DOWN.
BUT AS A RULE ONE CAN STILL SAY
THAT BLACKS AND WHITES DO NOT
LIVE IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND ONE CAN ALSO SAY THAT
WE WILL NOT BE A FULLY
INTEGRATED SOCIETY UNTIL
THIS CEASES TO BE AN ISSUE.
