Urban Renewal Means Negro Removal

This documentary, titled "Urban Renewal Means Negro Removal", is a follow up to Deqah Hussein-Wetzel’s 2021 documentary, "Lost Voice of Cincinnati", about the wholesale demolition Lower West End for the construction of Interstate 75 during the mid-20th century. In the words of the famous James Baldwin, urban renewal…“it means Negro removal, that is what it means”.
Inspired by the first season of her podcast, Urban Roots which explored how Evanston, Avondale, and South Cumminsville were impacted by highways and urban renewal, Deqah’s new documentary will use archival photographs, historic aerials, and modern-day drone footage to illustrate the physical changes these communities experienced due to the construction of I-71 and I-74.
Interstates highways have a complicated place in American history; they provided those living outside the city center with direct access to downtown while systematically dividing and confining Black communities to specific geographic boundaries. These projects triggered socio-economic decline in BIPOC neighborhoods that continue to linger; themes present across the nation today. By highlighting these stories of adversity and resilience, this documentary will provide audiences with an immersive, human-centered way to understand the real life consequences of mid-century interstate highway construction..
Special thanks to Urbanist Media and the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library for partnering on this project to host Listen & Learns and archival scanning sessions so that community members could participate in this project!
See www.urbanrootspodcast.com for more information.

[@user-ho4tb5qe7v]

This is so good, full of examples and not just statements. Hopefully the algorithm will pick this up

[@CrazyBear65]

Just to be clear, the algorithm is a heartless, soulless, manmade machine.

[@claudermiller]

WOW! I've posted so many times about this. I'm 67. I saw much of this happen. We lived at Faye Apartments in the early 60s, and my dad worked on Este Ave. We drove through Cumminsville often when my mom would keep the car to run errands. Later, we lived in Hyde Park, and I watched them build the I-71 link. I also lived in Madisonville, where my grandparents lived and saw the changes there. Urban renewal destroyed communities and the economic backbone of the black community in Cincinnati. Your business is shut down, and your customers are scattered to the wind. Was it any wonder those same communities saw so much turmoil during the riots. Black people have always known, and white people are slowly realizing that the 1% can, by using their power, completely bankrupt you and make sure you can never rebuild. They want to make sure you work for them, rent from them, and get your food and everything else from them. That is what it means to truly be dependent. Thanks for the video.

[@utubewatcher806]

Lost coincidence, but Eisenhower integrated schools, so was this "negro removal" a payback?

[@CrazyBear65]

_They Live, we sleep._

[@lamontpearce170]

Divide and conquer and sadly we keep falling for it. I seen it as 18 year old kid, in the military.

[@plutomfjonez5007]

Trail of tears all over again yall 🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🤔

[@BullGooseTV]

This is great, I've read a number of books on urban renewal but this does a great job of packaging the info in a very succint and easy to understand way

[@thedirtybubble9613]

It's been happening in Miami for the last 20 years. Instead of highways, it's condos and lofts as removal tools.

[@CrazyBear65]

"Development" is government doublespeak for destroying the land.

[@patvicencio7394]

😂😂

[@williethomas9953]

The same thing happened in Detroit. When they built I-75 (Chrysler freeway) they destroyed Hastings street which was the center of black businesses in Michigan.

[@TakenTook]

I-375 specifically. And what's extra infuriating is now they're talking about taking that stretch of the expressway out and turning it back into green space and what not. Which will not repair the neighborhood or bring back the homes and businesses that were destroyed.

[@JamesHunt-ey5gw]

Facts

[@JamesHunt-ey5gw]

​@TakenTook and what's not being said is that area is becoming totally white now that's why it's being done

[@TakenTook]

@@JamesHunt-ey5gw -- One thing that we didn't expect to have to deal with in Detroit was gentrification. But the renovated buildings and new construction in those areas of the city has mostly been overpriced condos and luxury apartments that working class families and even most middle-class families cannot afford. Did you see the listings for $1.6 million condos in Corktown? Or one bedroom one bath units for $500K in Greektown? And apparently there's new construction units in Lafayette Park that are also one bed and one bath for $400K. How the heck is that helping anybody? And it's not like they're replacing the expressway with a street people can easily walk across. It's still gonna be something like six lanes wide.

[@chad2787]

​@@TakenTook"Gentrification" is code for anti-caucasianism.

[@Xavier-uknonada]

Important information here. Thank you for this work.

[@albewolf]

The Bronx was destroyed; they ruined Southeast Queens, and other locations I'm sure also. Thank you so much for this! Robert Moses was a MONSTER. Nicely Done!

[@JsRazza]

He wasn't a monster. Cut it out with that nonsense

[@RealSergiob466]

@@JsRazzaYES he was and explain why?

[@Will_Bx_NYC_718]

​@@RealSergiob466 Don't listen to that idiot, it's well know fact that he was an extreme racist, and power hungry control freak. All the highways he built in the Bronx destroyed it, making the Bronx have the highest asthma rate in the nation. He wanted to build a freeway across Manhattab and Brooklyn, but those got stopped dead in their tracks. He purposely built parkway in long Island with low bridges to prevent busses from accessing beaches since poor people rode busses, and of en didn't own cars.

[@aaronwilliams6989]

​@JsRazza He absolutely was, and I wasn't even born yet if you're talking about the 1950s and early 60s.

[@patvicencio7394]

Because it was Moses who burned the Bronx. It was Moses who sold the drugs. 🙄

[@IsraelEmmanuel475]

This has been repeated in every major American city. In many cases the damage to Black communities was even worse than in Cincinnati. In my town Oklahoma City, they completely obliterated a dense and vibrant Black community to build I 235!!!!

[@Finnegan-s-cake]

Oh lawd have mercy. 😂

[@IsraelEmmanuel475]

@@Finnegan-s-cake Think that’s funny huh?? You’re a sick puppy!!😵‍💫

[@armore]

As new resident of Cincinnati, I am shocked at the magnitude and long lasting impact urban-renewal had on communities (from Affluent, protecting them to the underserved, disenfranchised and now displaced) Great piece, I'd love to hear more about the make up and impact the Norwood along with the Regan corridor had on its residents, also cross the river in Covington.

[@StuffthatsGone]

I grew up in the Cincinnati suburbs in the 1960's. My mom grew up in Norwood. It is crazy how many highways were punched through here. I 75 was originally built to allow fast access to GE during WW2 near Evendale. Very "Robert Moses" like. Northside could have been lost had the residents not fought for it. Now a destination, but the immediate area around it is horrible due to the highway being punched through. Pittsburgh's Highway system really didn't take away neighborhoods, with the possible exception of the East St area... What not to do in Highway building, and they continue....

[@janea4777]

This is better than vox’s lost page history segments. Thank you.

[@urbanrootspodcast]

@@janea4777 thank you kind friend! We try!

[@janea4777]

@@urbanrootspodcastkeep up the good work! We need our history presented in a way we can live it and feel it. The interviews, the radio feeds, the maps, narration, the information… it’s all very well done. I’ll share your channel on my socials!

[@ewalt5501]

I grew up in Avondale, and I also listened to my elders on how things were. Yes I also was told about the mlk exit ramp that was going to happen. Its heart breaking, never thought about what the impact would have have all of that traffic through reading rd.. 😢

[@calral7774]

I remember my grandfather telling me about 71 when I was a child. Walnut hills side

[@victoriajones5274]

I lived on beekman street right down the street from Mr Gene's ice cream shop also my Dad worked at highway maintenance he told us they are building a highway thru we moved off beekman street in 1970

[@RobertRoth-oj6zz]

There's certain parts of Pittsburgh they did something similar to this only it was high rent apartments and not highways. This raised the cost of living in those parts of the city

[@Anthony-nu5oc]

As a white guy, I completely agree with all of this. “Urban renewal” always politically translates to “more highways” and never something useful, like new schools or a new hospital.

[@danieldaniels7571]

You say that as if highways aren't useful. They're much more useful than slums.

[@Anthony-nu5oc]

@@danieldaniels7571 nope. Densely populated urban neighborhoods produce more property tax revenue than asphalt, and especially in cases where these areas experience low investment from the municipality and the private sector.

[@danieldaniels7571]

@@Anthony-nu5oc you have an odd perspective on what useful means

[@Anthony-nu5oc]

@@danieldaniels7571 “able to be used for a practical purpose” is my “odd perspective” on what “useful” means. Highways that run through densely populated urban environments are not useful, they’re disruptive, and expensive.

[@sandasturner9529]

Also, pic a place to live over a place to drive

[@honeycone71]

I grew in Evanston on Jonathan Avenue. My family moved there back in 1955 and I was born in 1969. My mother says that I was around before they demolished Herbert Avenue (which sat between Jonathan and Brewster Avenue) to construct I-71, but I have no recollection of it. I do remember when there was nothing but mud down, but that's about it. I have been feverishly searching for decades pics of Herbert before the freeway was built, but sadly not one person seems to have any😓.

[@sandasturner9529]

Keep searching. The Internet is a very vast and wide spacious place. Try searching on different Internet browsers (besides Google)

[@aaroncone6778]

It's so horrible, that all the folks that were in the way of "Urban & highway acts", were discarded like trash. Let's make sure things like this doesn't happen again..

[@kelvintorrence5994]

b4 I left cally in the 90s, they made the 105 new hiway go right over top of watts and imperial hiway ,so when you drove on the 105 you look down in watts

[@yosquidd242]

In Denver, CO it was first called Zero Population Growth, before its run of non-white Mayors. Before the Super Max prison was built in the state, there was talk of plans to use certain schools in certain neighborhoods as detention centers as some western cities had local juvenile detention buildings across the street from a grocery, barber shop, and an apartment building all within a block of each on Downing Street. So it was a common sight in minority communities. And I remember certain community members disappearing similarly as portrayed in the Lovecraft Country Television series. Denver did present the Urban Renewal projects as minority building contractors set aside programs while funding without plans or any minority contractors identified in the bidding process, thus opening the fast wave of white women as minority contractors taking over as the principal figures receiving bank funding that produced gentrification on a furious scale. This was nothing but a steal first disguised as Urban Renewal. edit p.s. 11 percent is the highest population share the African-Americans ever reached, in total, in Denver! What were they afraid of?

[@JsRazza]

So what. My grandparents had their beautiful homes torn down in Harlem so the city could build projects. It happens to everyone. But some don't cry and complain about it.

[@RealSergiob466]

@@JsRazza explain?

[@Moose803]

That is so true 👍

[@SlimTeety-xr2hw]

And they say its us These people have taken everything from us

[@Ahzpayne]

Then have the nerve to stand back and criticize what you've been able to cobble together without any help and with those around you actively working against you. Trauma + isolation always = more trauma. We know this. But here we stand. Pretending you chose to both isolate and retraumatize yourselves by ignoring redlining, urban renewal and white flight. Because of what it might reveal about who Meemaw and Papaw truly were. And the character they lacked. It's sick. We're sick. The irony is we have broken everything for everyone in our attempts to keep certain people from certain aspects of society. So, that bit us in the ass rather hard since now "our system" doesn't even work for us. 🤣

[@karensback]

​@@Ahzpaynethere are college funds designated specifically for 💩 you get housing welfare food stamps medical cards etc etc and you have done nothing to deserve anything you get and in return you give us crime chaos destruction and diseases.

[@karensback]

I've never heard it's you in fact we dare not to talk about the huge African elephant in the room you claim we're evil but yours FORCES DIVERSITY ON US 😂 you had to come to our schools, eat and work at our businesses and live in our neighborhoods your rich ones pay big to live in our neighborhoods you all enjoy the fruits of our labor and you don't deserve any of it.

[@scottmcneely1927]

There's no "warn and fuzzy feeling" anywhere now.

[@user-yt9id8zq3g]

If it hadn't been built they'd be yelling about them NOT bringing urban renewal to the inner city. This nerrative never ends.

[@davestewart2067]

Baltimore is a case study. They didn’t finish I-70, and the core declined anyway.

[@chad2787]

​@@davestewart2067I don't think anyone can argue that "urban renewal" caused anything to go that wasn't due to be demolished anyways. Pigtown? Yeah, what a loss. Fells point/Canton? Same deal. There is no winning. If the city left these areas to rot the same crowd will complain that the city ignores them.

[@thisendthat]

If you think this video is eye opening you should read, The Color of Law - A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. I recently finished reading it and it was just devastating to learn the lengths our government went to to make sure blacks and whites live separately.

[@jennyhirschowitz1999]

Just ordered a copy. Thank you.

[@burritobob69]

Yup. East Cleveland is being consumed (near downtown and tri-c metro especially)

[@jeffogden2982]

Every city is different,up here in Dayton I75 effected everyone about the same but when Rt 35 when expanded to four lanes it effected the lower income white community more until the 80s when 35 was finished through the black communities so it's even now. I really think that highways should have been built on the edges of the cities and they the cities expand out to the highways instead of dividing neighborhoods. I have been looking at pictures of what the highways have taken away and it's a lot of small businesses.

[@jeffteyrosado9966]

The way things are these days judgement is here

[@dr.shakalu8224]

Damn i thought this was a development companies slogan.

[@urbanrootspodcast]

Maybe an inclusive development company owned by a POC…bc otherwise that would be weird.

[@user-nk9jv5cg3z]

My family was a victim of this. They tore down our home and many others which lead to the demise of the whole city. Camden New Jersey was a good place until that happened. I was away in the Vietnam war at the time. But you can’t expect anything good or humane to come from these people. Just look at what’s going on today.

[@oveidasinclair982]

Well if urban renewal is what you want, the name of this video is what is really required.

[@UnicornDreamsPastelSkies]

Happened in Portland, O R, first in the 1960s when the Minnesota Freeway was built through predominantly blue collar neighborhoods to carry I-5 from downtown to the Washington border, and then continues now not with roads (thank urban growth boundaries for keeping a lid on that in this city) but with gentrification like on Alberta Street, going from crack epidemic central in the 1980s to hip art district as of 20 years ago to today, and hoods near there are undergoing a similar transformation now.

[@carsonellerby804]

Indeed, and a half century later practically every urban canter in the United States is transforming through the process of gentrification/hyperventilation: essentially the same the narrative of “urban renewal”, just the flip opposite. Essentially middle class and urban professionals presently demand more urban living. The wicked occurrences present themselves through private real estate brokers hiking up land values. Higher land value increases the costs of living all across the United States. I Just pray private return to more affordable levels all across these states; whether urban, suburban, exurban and rural.

[@mannyfrencha5736]

WOW, this video was so very interesting, all the while, very similar in its content. I'm certainly not from Cincinnati, however, I like history and seeing relevant images of the past. I'm from Chicago, I've lived with the city mainly on the Southside for the majority of my 50yrs. I stayed about 2-2.5yrs in the south suburb of Dolton A former professor of mine Dr. Lance Williams not long produced a text named "King David and Boss Daley." This text allowed me to see some of the things, that I had heard about throughout the years about what's referred to now as the "Bronzeville" community At one point, it was referred to as "The Black Belt," in the early 1900s goin into more decades. Here, around the same time that the highways were built in Cincinnati, they were being erected in Chicago and I'd bet, other places as well. Well, even after the mayor at that time, Richard Daley, was informed by respected committees that building what is called the "Dan Ryan" expressway (Southside Chicago) would better serve the ENTIRE CITY at a different location. Daley along with another guy (can't recall his name at the moment) went against serving the city. Daley's home neighborhood "Bridgeport" would've partially had the Dan Ryan go south. The path was directed eastward into the Black Belt. The "blight" issue was used as an excuse. When even though many homes were in bad shape, there were presentable as well, but, they were possibly situated on blocks with blighted ones, and the entire blocks were raised. That cost some folks there connections to generational wealth when they had to use funds from imminent domain to find a place to reside I could really go on, but, it's so much to speak on

[@urbanrootspodcast]

@@mannyfrencha5736 yes this context is all too familiar that’s why we feel it’s important to share all these stories. So we can see how similarly communities of color were historically treated. We hope that by shining light on Cincinnati (and hopefully other US cities like Chicago and Detroit) we can encourage city officials and planners to do create better systems for new development esp in marginalized communities today.

[@13_13k]

The same thing happened in Los Angeles starting in the early 1960s and continued until the most recent freeway built completed in around 1995. The goverment (state, federal, and cities) plan these builds through the lowest income properties because they have to pay the property owners and tenants of rentals to relocate, which obviously costs them money. They aren't going to go through a neighborhood with homes worth $300k or $500k when they can go through neighborhoods with property worth $50k. It just so happens those are usually predominantly Black American neighborhoods. In L.A. they are Black and Latino neighborhoods. But, not in every case in L.A. . They built freeways through some neighborhoods that were and are still predominantly White. The Department of Airports , L.A.X. is located on land that had been a pig farm in the pre WWII time became a municipal airport, and then becaise of the war, it it grew and the area surrounding the airport was mostly just wild bean fields and the Pacific Ocean with oppulent mansions built in the 1920s for movie stars and the like. Then post war the area was changed from rolling hills of wild grass and pinto beans into GI housing for the veterans returning from Europe and the Pacific. The area is prime real estate with ocean and city views, ocean breezes, cool coastal fog, and an ideal neighborhood with schools, churches, shopping an almost television picture neighborhood of middle class living. Only to have the airport claim the housing in parts of the neighborhood too dangerous and noisey with the runways so close to homes. So they bought up the homes and made at least 300 - 500 middle and upper middle class homes and beach front mansions owners and families as well as two elementary schools and a jr high school move out and then tore down all the houses. They left the streets intact, like a modern ghost town. It stayed that way for 30 years. Then the Department of Airports cleared it and built a new highway extension of Pacific Coast Highway that cut part of the park and the golf course and what was land preserved for wildlife and that was in early 2000s. Now they did the same with more of that neighborhood removing housed and apartment buildings and schools to bring in the train and remote airport parking and a tramway into the airport that link to the two freeways. All of which was probably 85% White working class neighborhood. So, it isn't only the Black Communities although as I wrote at the beginning, they want the least expensive property to buy up and move people out. And we all know that across the U.S. those lowet cost neihhborhoods in big cities are Black people that live there. It is unfortunate but the government doesn't care.

[@BillyG869]

Regardless of who lives in these areas the highways always use eminent domain to claim right of ways. It’s not about anything but the best route,

[@jefflewis4]

No, its about the path of least resistance. Which communities have the least ability and resources to fight and stop it, that's where the highway is going to be placed. Those most often will be will be low income and minority areas.

[@mattd.4133]

I live in Southern Illinois and for the last 40 years they have been building large 2 lane highways around all of our small towns and all of our businesses are gone. Nobody stops anymore just Flys right by and most people are poor and white. So who can we blame?

[@shopsshire9282]

It seems it's like that in Cleveland now with the construction of on the east side near East 105th Street the extension with the extension of i-490 and the also the opportunity corridor..

[@CapstoneTider]

The interstate highways were routed over the cheapest land the federal government could find period. Today, they would have to consider racial proportions.

[@petedickerson5437]

I was born at Good Samaritan hospital an taken to lumford pl and Kennedy Ave Kennedy heights

[@Smokr]

Yes, it often does.

[@PiSees-pd6je]

Urbanizing

[@tylerclark4379]

Great insight

[@ctgal9698]

When they build a new chipotle and starbucks the demographics have changed in your community

[@edbrown6985]

You are definitely doing your part to keep racism alive.

[@MegaJune08]

What Alex’s is gone ?

[@alanstrong55]

I saw Urban Renewal way back when. Shacky homes were replaced with better homes for low income citizens. Not all citizens got that benefit. Depended on locality.

[@RicO-xg4ju]

Looks like there are way too many highways for that city. Why not just make a highway go around a city?

[@JessicaRamosMaskiell]

Is this video about highway or people!??🤔

[@wofat6300]

What is Gentrification?

[@chad2787]

Anti-caucasianism

[@ScottP-oi8oq]

When money moves into a hood and fixes it. You got people that wanted that but are then are surprised rent/taxes go up a LOT to put in things the new people want or can be sold as great such as new sidewalks few are going to walk on, new park cleaning crews working constantly, fountains, roundabouts, ect. Which may sound great but government has a blank check attitude with kickback buddies. Anyway, happens to whites a lot more recently with Californication. I live in a town that hates locals. Always did even before the tourist came but loves any two elderly tourist about to drop 80 giant bucks. People here (including transplants, often originally tourist) are starting to see you can't make much off tourist since government keeps coming up with new fees and taxes. Only way to make money off these Gentrified businesses are taxes scams/grants which is a lot of work and eventually will run out. Then if lucky they sell to another Californian that makes the bakery a pizza shop, then it becomes a donut shop. It's deck chairs on the Titanic but looks good if you don't know the way it works. I'm white and not liberal btw but see this stuff become other things than the plan that was sold to people. Also our mayor is black as was the last one. It's a money thing and citizens are in the way.

[@zenoslayer9618]

Did anybody get funds for their property or was it all rentals. If so those owners were. How could these highway be built without buying the property sounds like the politicians got their palms greased and let it happen

[@peterbelanger4094]

Boo-hoo, I don't care. You are not entitled to those neighborhoods, nobody is.

[@JosephEchevarria-er3lr]

We are the only life form that pays too line on planet earth

[@toddgoza3522]

Called gentrification

[@davidmetis6249]

Unless they move away. Then it's White Flight.

[@chad2787]

​@@davidmetis6249Right, if Whites move in they're gentrify, if they move out it's "White Flight". Let's call it what it is - racism.

[@mikem820]

But there’s no such thing as ‘systemic racism’ , right?? I am so sick of seeing my black brothers stepped on .

[@teddyghioto]

DAT DERE BEEZ WHERE DA PONY KEG WASZ ATTZ

[@RoryVanucchi]

happened many places. developers rule the US, all types of tricks

[@universaljustice7376]

Reparations over everything

[@bobg3633]

Woke nonsense as usual

[@mayachico9766]

I mean............kind of.......

[@user-lc4bo3ic3g]

They are the problem

[@clarencep90]

Yall better start acting right

[@fidjet]

💜💚🇺🇲🌎🌏🌍👽🥊💪🧠

[@farmhand6524]

blights no care 4 ppls

[@eatsalot]

I had a black man tell me to move out of the white neighborhood that I live in because I didn't think the men's restrooms needed tampons.