Last week, I included a link in my comment to another Medium writer and received a very terse reply – and the writer blocked me. Ouch. Really set me back. While you seem to appreciate the links I offer, if you prefer me not to post links, please just tell me, because I do not want to be blocked by you. Now that I’ve shared my apprehension, I am posting my comment with links.
Mr. St. Vincent! It took me weeks to track this down. I’d almost given up, but I finally found it. I don’t know if or when or where or how you will use this, but I have a feeling this belongs in your hands. It is 12 pages long, but well worth the read.
Here is my thinking. We talk about systemic racism and Critical Race Theory, but I have not seen anyone talking about a specific piece of CRT work on a system – and that bothers me. I’d rather talk about something specific, and real, than theory and opinion. in fact, forget arguing, let's just put CRT to work.
This year is my fiftieth anniversary as a civic activist and organizer. My civic network today, is as large as it is diverse. 35 years ago, my civic work turned to the American land-use system. It was such a good fit with my professional work in cultural planning and the design of public spaces, I read countless books, studied, attended classes, seminars, conferences, trainings, and meetings etc. Eventually I found myself, a respected voice in the crowd. In this way, I was finally able to put my education and professional skills to work in service to my civic network. It was a good marriage.
And here is where you and Atlanta come in.
This link will take you to a paper where Critical Race Theory is applied to the land-use system and urban-planning (Atlanta is at the heart of it). Please note the date of this paper – 1997. Those of us working in land-use, have known - the exact and specific - history of racism in urban planning and land-use policy for at least a quarter of a century and still we struggle to cleanse it from the system.
Your call to action, impacts every inch of land beneath the feet of every American – without exception. If Atlanta stands united, its victory will spread across the land like wildfire.
Here are the links.
The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities, Christopher Silver, 1997
https://www.asu.edu/courses/aph294/total-readings/silver%20--%20racialoriginsofzoning.pdf
George W. F. McMechen (1871 – 1961) To my knowledge, McMechen was the first African American attorney and activist to confront racism in land-use policy as a civil rights issue (1910). Please remember him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._F._McMechen.
Constitutionality of Municipal Zoning and Segregation Ordinances, George D. Hott, 1927
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/wvlr/vol33/iss4/3/ Umm, the ugly, offensive language in this link is not mine, nonetheless reading it is sickening (and I apologize).
I cannot leave without solutions. How we think about things makes a difference. To that end, this interview with Hannah Beachler, right here on Medium, will help cleanse the dirt, and leave you with a refreshing vision for the future.
https://medium.com/reimagining-the-civic-commons/designing-for-people-182bb3ba1aef
Stay strong.
