Abstract

The neighborhoods of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in Detroit, Michigan, were a cultural, economic, and sociopolitical mecca for the African-American community from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. In a time where racism and segregation limited the acquisition and accumulation of wealth for Black families, this neighborhood in a heavily segregated Detroit served as the first African-American middle class neighborhood in the United States.

However, little has been reconstructed of its history since racially influenced housing standards saw it torn down in the 1940’s and 1950’s to make way for a highway into the city and slum clearance, an act for which residents were compensated little to none. Due to both the immediate destruction of the neighborhood and the financial disparity that followed, this act would heavily influence racial tensions that still influence the cultural makeup of Detroit today. Through a stratigraphic mapping of the neighborhood, analysis of cultural artifacts produced and distributed during this time, oral testimonies, and the examination of the policies implemented and their ties to racism in housing policy at the time, we can determine both the invaluable cultural atmosphere that these neighborhoods had, and to what extent the removal of this vital community in Detroit led to contemporary issues in the city today.

Advisor

Samei, Siavash

Department

Archaeology; Africana Studies

Disciplines

Africana Studies | Archaeological Anthropology

Keywords

Africana Studies, Archaeology, Detroit, Michigan, Urban Planning, Structural Racism

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

Download

Share

COinS
 

© Copyright 2023 Jada B. Green