[Call to Order]
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THE THIRD CALLING TO ORDER THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HERE, WEDNESDAY, JULY THE 13TH, 2022 TAKING PLACE HERE AT CITY HALL AND OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM 1101 AND 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78, 7 0 1.
SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ARE PARTICIPATING BY VIDEO CONFERENCE.
AND WE'LL BEGIN WITH THE ROLL CALL, REFLECTING THAT IF I COULD BEGIN WITH THOSE HERE IN THE ROOM, INCLUDING MYSELF.
AS I MENTIONED, I WAS APPOINTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, NATASHA HARPER, MADISON, AND I'D LIKE TO PROCEED TO MY COLLEAGUE.
CAN WE SHARE YOUR GROSS AT PRESENT? THANK YOU.
I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND PASS IT TO COMMISSIONER FLOYD.
HI, THIS IS DAVE LLOYD, UH, WITH DISTRICT FIVE AND COMMISSIONER GATES, MALCOLM YATES WITH DISTRICT THREE AND COMMISSIONER ISLAND, MAXINE ISLAND WITH DISTRICT SEVEN AND COMMISSIONER THOMPSON BEAVERS.
HI, THIS IS NICOLE THOMPSON WITH COMMISSION, UM, WITH DISTRICT NINE AND VICE CHAIR, STEPHEN APODACA, STEVEN APODACA,
WELL, UH, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND KEEP GOING.
AS WE DO HAVE A QUORUM ESTABLISHED WITH THE FOUR COMMISSIONERS THAT ARE PRESENT, UH, AND THIS WILL COMPLETE OUR ROLL CALL.
WE'LL GIVE A COMMISSIONER TASK GROUPS A CHANCE TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIS PRESENCE AS WELL, BUT THAT WE'RE CALLED TO ORDER.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO IN OUR AGENDA TO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION AT THIS TIME THAT NO ONE HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.
SO GO AHEAD AND PROCEED THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – June 8, 2022]
AGENDA, THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JUNE 8TH, 2022, MEETING ALL THE COMMISSIONERS ONLINE, HAVE A COPY OF THIS FILE IN THE OUTLOOK INVITATION AND THOSE PRESENT HAVE ONE IN FRONT OF THEM.AFTER A BRIEF PERIOD, LOOK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED IN A SECOND CHAMPIONS, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED.
WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER THOMPSON, BEAVERS.
I SECOND THAT MOTION WITH THAT.
THEN WE CAN HOLD A VOTE ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS POSSESS, UH, UH, AS, AS PRESENTED, PLEASE SAY AYE, AND SHOW YOUR HAND.
LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT WE HAVE SIX VOTES IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.
IS THERE ANYONE WHO IS VOTING NEGATIVE? THANK YOU.
AND, UH, COMMISSIONER DUSKY DOES NOT ON, UH, WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE A VOTE ANNOUNCEMENT THIS TIME.
SO THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED BY A VOTE SIX IN THE AFFIRMATIVE AND ZERO IN THE NEGATIVE.
[2a. Shaping Austin: Racism and Urban Planning (Sam Tedford, Principal Planner, Housing and Planning Department)]
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL PROCEED TO ITEM TWO IN OUR AGENDA STAFF AND COMMUNITY BRIEFINGS.I LIKE TO BEGIN BY SAYING THAT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION, PARTICULARLY AS WE ENTERED INTO AN INFORMAL STAGE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR OUR NEW YEAR AND EVALUATING OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION STRATEGIC PLAN, WHICH WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL RESOLUTION IN 2014.
OUR FIRST PRESENTATION IS AGENDA ITEM TWO, A SHAPING AUSTIN RACISM AND URBAN PLANNING BY SAM TELFORD, THE PRINCIPAL PLANNER WITH THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
THANK YOU, CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS FOR HAVING ME TONIGHT.
I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE WE CAN GET MY SCREEN SO THAT EVERYONE CAN SEE IT AND THEN I'LL PROCEED.
COULD I GET JUST A CONFIRMATION WHEN Y'ALL HAVE GOOD VISUALS? THANK YOU.
AND AS THE AUDIO LEVEL OKAY FOR NOW.
UH, AGAIN, I'D LIKE TO THANK YOU ALL FOR HAVING ME TONIGHT.
UM, I HAVE CLEARED WITH THE CHAIR.
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A BIT OF TIME TOGETHER TONIGHT, SO I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR, UM, YOUR FOCUS AND ATTENTION AND HOPEFULLY SOME GOOD DISCUSSION AS WELL.AT THE END OF MY PRESENTATION, MY NAME IS SAM TEDFORD.
MY PRONOUNS ARE, SHE HURT AND THEY, THEM AND I WORK AS A PRINCIPAL PLANNER IN THE INCLUSIVE PLANNING GROUP AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
AND TONIGHT I'M HERE TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT SOME OF AUSTIN'S HISTORY, FOCUSING ON RACISM AND URBAN PLANNING.
AND I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE CITY FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS AND I'VE SLOWLY BUILT UP THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, I'VE WORKED IN PLANNING, UM, FOR MOST OF THE TIME THERE BECAUSE I FEEL IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT AS WE ENDEAVOR TO CREATE NEW PLANS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, THAT WE KEEP A FIRM GROUNDING IN WHERE WE'VE BEEN AS A CITY AND KEEP A REALLY CLEAR FOCUS ON, UM, ON, ON HOW WE'VE SHAPED THE CITY, UM, THROUGH OUR URBAN PLANNING, UH, TOOLS AND PLANS AND POLICIES OVER TIME AND BE REALLY CLEAR AND, UM, COURAGEOUS ABOUT TALKING ABOUT THE ROLE OF RACISM IN OUR HISTORY IN THE CITY.
AND SO, UM, MY OUTLINE TODAY, I HOPE TO GIVE A BIT OF A PRESENTATION ABOUT MOMENTS THAT I BELIEVE HAVE SHAPED AUSTIN'S HISTORY AGAIN, WITH THAT LENS FOR URBAN PLANNING.
UM, AND THEN I'LL SPEAK AND HOPEFULLY BE ABLE TO HEAR A BIT MORE FROM Y'ALL AS WELL ABOUT THIS CONCEPT OF INHERITING INEQUALITY AND THEN MOVE FORWARD AND HOPEFULLY LEAVE YOU ALL WITH SOME HELPFUL INFORMATION AND TOOLS AND DISCUSSION ITEMS TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN LEARN FROM THIS HISTORY TO BUILD A MORE EQUITABLE FUTURE FOR AUSTIN.
I WOULD LIKE TO ALSO START BY ISSUING A CONTENT WARNING AND LET FOLKS KNOW THAT THIS IS, THIS IS SOME HEAVY STUFF.
UM, THIS CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT AND ALSO VERY DIFFICULT TO HEAR.
UM, IT DOES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ACTIVATE TRAUMA, ESPECIALLY IN FOLKS WITH LIVED EXPERIENCES THAT DIRECTLY RELATE TO THIS HISTORY.
SO I WANT YOU TO KNOW, UM, THAT YOU SHOULD AND, AND CAN TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF DURING AND AFTER TODAY'S WORKSHOP.
UM, SO IF YOU NEED TO STEP AWAY FOR A MOMENT, I, I HOPE, UH, QUORUM WILL PERMIT IT.
AND, UM, I ALSO WANT FOLKS TO KNOW THAT THIS CAN AND PROBABLY WILL BE AN UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATION, BUT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KIND OF ACTIVATING TRAUMA AND FEELING UNCOMFORTABLE.
SO FOR A LOT OF US, THIS IS GOING TO BE A PLACE WHERE WE'RE IN LIKE OUR GROWING EDGE, WHERE WE CAN HAVE A LOT THAT WE CAN LEARN FROM AND REFLECT ON FEELINGS THAT CAN BE PRETTY UNCOMFORTABLE AND DIFFICULT TO MOVE THROUGH LIKE GUILT AND DEFENSIVENESS AND DENIAL.
AND SO I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU'RE NOT ALONE IF YOU FEEL THESE, UM, COMING UP.
AND SO I WILL ASK YOU THOUGH TO TAKE A MOMENT TO PAUSE WITH YOURSELF AND REFLECT ON THOSE FEELINGS BEFORE YOU RESPOND, BECAUSE THEY CAN OFTEN BE THINGS THAT THE RAIL REALLY MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE IN OUR HISTORY.
UM, AND SO WITH THAT, I'M, I'LL ALSO OFFER UP A TOOL THAT I HAVE FOUND CAN BE HELPFUL IN HELPING FOLKS MOVE THROUGH SOME DIFFICULT, UM, EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS THAT CAN COME UP.
AND SO I'LL SHARE THAT HERE IN A MOMENT.
UM, BUT BEFORE I GET TOO FAR ALONG, I ALSO WANT TO JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS PRESENTATION HAS BEEN PUT TOGETHER WITH THE HELP AND THE RESEARCH AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF MANY, MANY OTHER FOLKS BEYOND MYSELF.
UM, I HAVE TAKEN TO, UM, COMBINING A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT I'VE HEARD AND RECEIVED FROM OTHER RESOURCES, LIKE FROM OUR AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER, FROM THE EAST AUSTIN HISTORIC SURVEY FOLKS AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S EQUITY OFFICE PROFESSORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LOCAL MEDIA SOURCES AND, AND MANY, MANY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE ALSO SHARED THEIR STORIES.
AND SO THIS, UM, THIS IS NOT JUST MY INFORMATION ALONE TO SHARE WITH YOU, BUT I HOPE THAT YOU CAN SEE THE VOICES OF MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS REFLECTED IN THIS HISTORY AS WELL.
SO THOSE TOOLS THAT I FOUND CAN BE HELPFUL AS JUST A WAY OF TAKING NOTES.
UM, IF YOU LIKE TO TAKE NOTES ON PAPER, UH, I LIKE TO ASK YOU TO DRAW FOUR QUADRANTS.
SO YOU HAVE YOUR PIECES OF PAPER DIVIDED INTO FOUR SECTIONS, OR IF YOU'RE TAKING NOTES VIRTUALLY YOU CAN ALWAYS JUST HAVE FOUR SEPARATE CATEGORIES.
UM, AND THIS WOULD BE WHERE I WOULD ASK YOU TO KEEP TRACK OF ANY, UH, THINGS THAT YOU'RE EXPERIENCING AS YOU LISTEN.
SO THAT'S ANYTHING THAT YOU'RE FEELING PHYSICALLY, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE GETTING REALLY HUNGRY FOR DINNER AND THAT'S COMING UP, THAT'S OKAY IF YOUR STOMACH DROPS OR IF YOU START, UM, GETTING REALLY HOT IN THE FACE, THAT KIND OF THING MIGHT ALSO COME UP THAT YOU CAN, UM, MAKE A NOTE OF THAT THERE, IF YOU'RE EMOTIONALLY GETTING REALLY DRAINED, YOU'RE GETTING ANGRY, ANYTHING LIKE THAT, YOU CAN ALSO KIND OF HELP, UM, KEEP TRACK OF HERE.
AND THEN MENTALLY, IF YOU'RE JUST GETTING REALLY BORED OF OUR CONVERSATION A DAY, THAT'S OKAY.
JUST, UM, JUST KEEP NOTE OF WHAT YOU'RE EXPERIENCING AS WE GO THROUGH THIS CONVERSATION.
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TO UPDATE THIS SLIDE AND I DIDN'T, SOMETIMES I SHOW THEM MAP HERE AT THE BEGINNING.WE'RE GOING TO SKIP THAT, UH, PIECE TODAY.
UM, BUT I WILL ASK YOU TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR PERSONAL OR YOUR OWN ANCESTRAL HISTORIES CAN INTERSECT WITH THIS HISTORY IN ANOTHER PART, UM, UH, KIND OF THINKING ABOUT HOW THIS RELATES BACK TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEN ALSO IN ANOTHER AREA, YOU CAN THINK ABOUT ACTIONS THAT INVOLVE THE CITY GOVERNMENT SPECIFICALLY, AND THEN MAYBE KEEP A LIST OF, OF OTHER KEY PLAYERS KIND OF POWER PLAYERS THROUGHOUT THIS HISTORY PRESENTATION.
SO I FOUND THAT IT CAN BE HELPFUL TO, TO FUEL SOME DISCUSSION TOWARDS THE END.
UM, IF WE KEEP SOME NOTES ALONG THESE LINES, BUT I WILL START HERE, UM, WITH A QUOTE THAT I REALLY, UM, VALUE FROM A LOCAL AUSTIN KNIGHT NAMED TAWNY WARD, DR.
TANYA WARD IS, UM, THAT WAS WRITTEN FOR A BLOG CALLED THE END OF AUSTIN.
AND, UM, I LIKE WHAT HE'S WRITTEN HERE BECAUSE I THINK MANY OF US, AND THIS IS AN ASSUMPTION HERE.
WE CAN HEAR FOLKS CHIME IN IF YOU, IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THIS, BUT YOU KNOW, SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF LIKE AUSTIN IS, IS OVER THE REAL AUSTIN IS DEAD OR THE SOUL OF AUSTIN IS GONE OR WEIRD.
AUSTIN IS OVER ANY, ANY NUMBER OF THINGS WHERE A LOT OF FOLKS FEEL LIKE AUSTIN HAS LOST SOMETHING OF VALUE OVER TIME.
UM, AND THE AUSTIN WE KNOW IN LIVE IN TODAY IS MAYBE, UM, FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM THE AUSTIN THAT WE LOVED.
TONY WARD ADDRESSES THIS SENTIMENT IN A PIECE THAT HAS ALSO BEEN TURNED INTO A ZEEN CALLED FINDING LOST IN, AND I FEEL ALOUD.
I'M JUST GOING TO READ THIS QUOTE HERE TO KIND OF SET THE STAGE FOR OUR CONVERSATION ABOUT HISTORY IN AUSTIN, UM, TODAY.
SO THE QUESTION IS, IS THIS THE END OF AUSTIN? HOW PRESENTS EWIS ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS ARE ALWAYS THE SAME PROCESS.
AUSTIN HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME.
IT WASN'T ALWAYS CALLED AUSTIN.
THIS CULTURAL TERRITORY IS OLD.
IN FACT, IT IS THE OLDEST CONTINUALLY INHABITED PLACE IN THE AMERICAS.
THE OLDEST ARROW POINT EVER FOUND IN NORTH FOR SOUTH AMERICA WAS FOUND AT THE GULF ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE NEAR ROUND ROCK AT OVER 14,000 YEARS OLD, THE OLDEST CONTINUALLY INHABITED SACRED SITE IN THE AMERICAS IS THE QUILT TO COTTON PRESENCE AT SPRING LAKE IN SAN MARCOS AT 12,000 YEARS OLD, AUSTIN SITS IN THE MIDDLE INSTEAD OF THINKING ABOUT AUSTIN ENDING, PERHAPS WE SHOULD THINK OF SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN LOST, SOMETHING WE ARE SEARCHING FOR INSTEAD OF AUSTIN, WHY DON'T WE CALL IT? LOSTON LOSTON HAS BEEN HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, AND I THINK IT WILL BE FOR THOUSANDS MORE, BUT ONLY WHEN PEOPLE CAN FIND THEMSELVES HISTORICALLY, POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY AS CONNECTED WITH A LARGER WORLD.
HOW CAN WE CONNECT LOSTON WITH THE END OF INEQUALITY AND WHAT WILL THIS BE? THE BEGINNING OF IT MAY TAKE A HUNDRED YEARS TO FIND OURSELVES.
WE MAY NOT SEE THE GREATER CHANGE IN OUR LIFETIME, BUT THIS PLACE WILL BE HERE LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE.
SO ON THAT NOTE, I WILL ALSO, UM, PROVIDE, UH, A LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, UM, BECAUSE BEFORE IT WAS AUSTIN, THIS, UH, THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF THE STATE OF TEXAS WAS A SMALL SETTLEMENT NAMED WATERLOO LOCATED ON A BLUFF OVERLOOKING THE COLORADO RIVER, BUT PEOPLE HAVE LIVED ON THESE LANDS WELL BEFORE, EVEN THEN.
AND SO WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE WITH RESPECT THAT THE LAND WE ARE ON IS THEIR TRADITIONAL AND ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS OF THE TONKAWA, THE LAPAN APACHE, THE SLED THAT THE PUEBLO, THE TEXAS BAND OF YAKI INDIANS, THE QUILT TACAN AND OTHER INDIGENOUS PEOPLES NOT EXPLICITLY STATED.
AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE LONG HISTORY THAT HAS BROUGHT US TO RESIDE ON THIS LAND AND TO SEEK, TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR PLACE WITHIN THAT HISTORY.
SO LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY POPULAR TO DO AND HAVE HISTORIES IN CELEBRATION AND TRADITION FOR MANY PEOPLE.
BUT I WANT TO ADDRESS MY INTENTION FOR DOING ONE TODAY, WHICH IS TO GROUND THIS SPACE IN THE FACT THAT THE STATE OF TEXAS AND AUSTIN IS A PRODUCT OF VIOLENCE AND DISPLACEMENT, DISPLACEMENT OF NATIVE PEOPLES, AS WELL AS DISPLACEMENT OF AFRICANS WHO BUILT THIS COUNTRY, STATE, AND CITY ALL ENSLAVED AND OTHERWISE EXPLOITED.
AND WHILE THERE ARE MANY OTHER LAYERS TO THIS HISTORY THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE COVERING, THIS IS ONE, OUR CITY IS BUILT ON THE DISPLACEMENT GENOCIDE AND EXPLOITED LABOR OF BLACK AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE.
AND SO WE'LL SEE THROUGHOUT THIS PRESENTATION AS WELL, BUT DISPLACEMENT IS NOT AN EXCLUSIVELY MODERN PHENOMENON.
AND WHILE IT'S DEFINITELY GAINED SOME POPULARITY IN OUR DISCUSSIONS IN THE PAST DECADE, MAYBE FORCED DISPLACEMENT ALONG RACIAL LINES HAS HAPPENED IN WAVES, THROUGH DIFFERENT PERIODS OF OUR HISTORY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF WHAT WE CONSIDER AUSTIN TODAY.
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AND BEYOND THAT, UM, THERE'S A LONG PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY THAT OFTEN GETS LUMPED TOGETHER.UM, AND THAT, UH, IS NOT ALWAYS GIVEN VERY MUCH ATTENTION.
UM, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE ROLE OF ENSLAVEMENT AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN THE CREATION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN SPECIFICALLY, UM, WE KNOW THAT EXPLOITATION OF THE LABOR OF ENSLAVED AFRICAN PEOPLE WAS PART OF THE ORIGINAL COLONIZATION OF TEXAS UNDER SPANISH RULE.
AND THEN DESPITE BEING OUTLIED OUTLAWED UNDER MEXICAN RULE FOR A TIME FOLLOWING THEIR INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN, WHO IS OUR NAMESAKE, UH, GAINED AN EXCEPTION TO THE LAW FROM THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT.
SO AS TO ENTICE WHITE SETTLERS TO MOVE TO TEXAS WITH THEIR SLAVES, SLAVERY WAS ALSO LEGAL IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS AND FREE BLACK PEOPLE WERE BANISHED FROM TEXAS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.
THE ENSLAVEMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE CONTINUED WHEN TEXAS JOINED THE UNITED STATES AND LATER THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.
AND FINALLY, EVEN AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, LEGALLY ENDED SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
WHITE PLANTATION OWNERS REFUSED TO RELEASE THEIR SLAVE WORKERS UNTIL FEDERAL TROOPS WERE SENT TO TEXAS TO ENFORCE THE PROCLAMATION TWO YEARS LATER.
WE NOW CELEBRATE AS JUNETEENTH.
UM, BUT THERE'S A VERY LONG HISTORY OF THE WAYS THAT ENSLAVED PEOPLE AND SLAVE AFRICANS, UH, WERE USED TO BUILD THE CITY THAT WE LIVE IN TODAY.
I'M GOING TO ZOOM FORWARD OR TO A DIFFERENT ANGLE, TO THINK ABOUT PLANNING IN A WAY THAT WE MORE OFTEN THINK ABOUT TODAY.
SO THE OFFICIAL PLANNING HISTORY OF BOSTON REALLY BEGAN IN 1839 WITH THIS PLAN OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
IT WAS CREATED BY JUDGE EDWARD AND WALLER, WHO WAS THE FIRST MAYOR OF AUSTIN.
AND THIS WAS CREATED THE YEAR THAT AUSTIN BECAME THE CAPITAL OF TEXAS.
UM, THIS PLAN DESIGNATED A GRID THAT REMAINS MOSTLY INTACT DOWNTOWN TODAY AND DESIGNATED LAND FOR THE FUTURE CAPITOL BUILDING FOR FOUR PUBLIC SQUARES, A PENITENTIARY, A COURT HOUSE, A JAIL, AN ARMORY, AND A HOSPITAL, AND A CREATED BLACK PEOPLE WERE LEGALLY CONSIDERED PROPERTY IN TEXAS STILL.
AND ABOUT 47% OF AUSTIN'S FAMILY HEADS OWNED SLAVES.
HOWEVER, 26% OF AUSTIN'S TOTAL POPULATION WERE ENSLAVED.
SO I'M GOING TO, I'M GOING TO JUMP AROUND.
I'M NOT GOING TO SPEND A WHOLE LOT OF TIME IN THE CIVIL WAR AREA ERA, BUT MOVING TO POST, UM, EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, POST CIVIL WAR, WE ACTUALLY SEE THE EMERGENCE OF FREED PERSONS OR FREEDMAN'S COMMUNITIES, UM, THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS THAT ARE FORMING.
UM, THESE ARE, I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON THE ONES THAT WERE FORMED IN AUSTIN.
SO, SO THESE WERE COMMUNITIES, UM, WITH NAMESAKES THAT YOU MIGHT STILL RECOGNIZE OR HEAR AROUND AUSTIN, UM, SUCH AS CLARKSVILLE, MAYBE WEEKSVILLE, WEAVERVILLE, UH, PENTONVILLE NAMED AFTER THOMAS KITCHEN, MASON TOWN, GREGORY STOUT, GREGORY TOWN, AND MANY OTHERS HERE THAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE LIST.
AND THESE WERE SETTLEMENTS THAT WERE ESTABLISHED BY FORMER SLAVES AFTER THIS LITTLE CIVIL WAR AND INTERSPERSE THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF BOSTON.
SO IF YOU CAN SEE ON THIS MAP HERE, UM, LET'S SEE IF THE LASER POINTER IS GOING, GONNA WORK.
UM, THIS HERE IS THE LAKE LADY BIRD LAKE, COLORADO RIVER HERE, AND YOU'LL SEE SETTLEMENTS, UM, FAR IN SOUTH AUSTIN AND LARGE AREAS.
THIS SETTLEMENT HERE IS ACTUALLY JUST AROUND, UM, WHERE BARTON SPRINGS IS TODAY.
THE ZILKER NEIGHBORHOOD TODAY IS HERE AS CLARKSVILLE.
AND THEN THERE'S A CLUSTER OF, UM, SOME THAT ARE KIND OF IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN AND SOME JUST EAST OF WHAT IS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TODAY.
UM, SO THESE SETTLEMENTS WERE AGAIN FORMED BY FORMER SLAVES.
THEY'RE OFTEN MADE UP OF FAMILIAL UNITS AND KIND OF RELATED FAMILY MEMBERS.
UM, BUT THESE WERE COMMUNITIES, UM, MOSTLY MADE UP OF, OF BLACK FOLKS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN TODAY.
AND THEY WERE INTERSPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, AND THIS IS JUST ABOUT AS INTEGRATED AS AUSTIN HAS EVER BEEN.
I'LL TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT DOING TEEN OR THE CELEBRATION OF JUNETEENTH AND THE EMANCIPATION ASSOCIATION BECAUSE, UH, SOME OF THESE IMAGES ARE JUST REALLY FANTASTIC TO BE ABLE TO SHOW OFF.
UM, BUT THIS ALSO WILL COME UP LATER AGAIN, AS WE TALK ABOUT HOUSING IN AUSTIN, BUT, UH, THE AUSTIN EMANCIPATION ASSOCIATION HERE IN THE IMAGE ON THE LEFT, UM, ACTUALLY PURCHASED LAND, UH, THAT THEY DUBBED EMANCIPATION PARK IN 1907, WITH THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF CREATING A PLACE FOR BLACK AUSTINITES TO CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH AND TO GATHER IN COMMUNITY ON BLACK OWNED LAND.
THIS LAND WAS LATER SEIZED THROUGH IMMINENT DOMAIN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SEGREGATED PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT KNOWN AS ROSEWOOD COURTS.
UM, SO THIS WAS AN EFFORT OF COURSE, BY THE LOCAL COMMUNITY TO, UM, TO CELEBRATE A
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CELEBRATION OF THEIR LIBERATION ON LAND THAT WAS OWNED BY THEM.AND IT WAS LATER SEIZED BY, UH, THE, THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT HERE TO BUILD A SEGREGATED PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT.
UM, I'M GOING TO TALK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT AUSTIN CHANGES IN AUSTIN CITY GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE, UM, BECAUSE IT WAS NEWS TO ME, AT LEAST FOR A TIME THAT IN THE AUSTIN'S FIRST BLACK REPRESENTATIVE WAS ACTUALLY, UM, ESTABLISHED IN 1871.
I HAD SORT OF BEEN UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT BURL HANCOCKS WHO WAS, UM, AUSTIN'S FIRST ELECTED BLACK CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, WAS, UH, UH, FIRST WAS THE FIRST BLACK CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, LIKE A CITY REPRESENTATIVE AT THE AUSTIN LOCAL PEPPERMINT LEVEL, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY A FULL CENTURY BEFORE THEN WE HAD HENRY GREEN MADISON WHO WAS APPOINTED BY RECONSTRUCTIONIST GOVERNOR ED DAVIS IN 1871.
UM, BUT THIS WAS WHEN AUSTIN WAS UNDER A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
SO IT WAS CALLED OUR MAYOR ALDERMANIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
AND, UM, IT ACTUALLY IS PRETTY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE KNOW TODAY AS OUR CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT BASED LIKE THE 10, ONE BASED SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, BECAUSE THERE WERE A SERIES OF AREAS OF THE CITY CONSIDERED WARDS, AND THOSE WARDS VOTED FOR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES, UM, KIND OF IN THAT DISTRICT BASED APPROACH.
AND SO UNDER THIS FORM OF GOVERNMENT, WE ACTUALLY HAD TWO AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO HELD SEATS UNDER, UM, HENRY GREEN, MADISON I MENTIONED, WAS APPOINTED.
AND THEN WE HAD ONE ELECTED BLACK OFFICIAL WILLIAM D. WILSON IN 1883, HOWEVER, AND JUST AFTER THE TURN OF THE CENTURY IN 1908, UH, AND THEN FOR MANY, MANY DECADES AFTER WE ADOPTED A COMMISSIONER FORM OF GOVERNMENT, UM, AND THEN MAYOR AND FOUR COMMISSIONERS, UH, ELECTED AT LARGE.
UM, AND WHILE THERE WERE SOME CHANGES TO THIS PARTY, TO THE PARTICULARS OF THIS FORM OF GOVERNMENT OVER TIME, IT WAS REALLY GENERALLY THIS AT-LARGE ELECTION FOR ALL OF OUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS.
AND SO THIS WAS ADVOCATED FOR NAMELY BY ANGLE AUSTINITES WHITE AUSTINITES, UM, AND, AND MORE SPECIFICALLY BUSINESSMEN, UM, LIKE AP WOOLDRIDGE AND COLONEL
AND SO THEY ADVOCATED FOR THIS CHANGE TO AN AT-LARGE ELECTION AND IT WAS SO, UM, IS ANYONE ON THE CALL? AND I HOPE WE CAN DO THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE INTERACTIVE.
I'M USED TO HAVING THIS MORE DISCUSSION-BASED UM, DOES ANYONE HERE KNOW WHAT THE GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT WAS, OR HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS TERM? I HAVE, BUT I'M CHEATING BECAUSE I SAW YOUR PRESENTATION FOR LEADERSHIP AUSTIN EARLIER THIS YEAR.
LIKEWISE, I COULDN'T HEAR WHO WAS TALKING.
UH, THIS IS COMMISSIONER GARCIA AT DISTRICT FOUR.
WELL, WOULD YOU, WOULD YOU, UM, GO AHEAD AND TELL US WHAT, UH, THE GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT WAS, OR IF YOU, WHAT YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF IT WAS, UM, THE, UH, GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT OF HAVING, UM, A PERSON, TWO PEOPLE, A BLACK PERSON, AND I'LL LET YOU KNOW PERSON ON CITY COUNCIL, BUT WITHOUT ANY, UM, WITHOUT HOLDING IT TO ANY LOSS.
SO THANK YOU FOR IT, FOR FOLKS WHO HAVEN'T HEARD OF IT, THERE WAS JUST THIS IT'S KIND OF HARD TO PIN DOWN EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS, AND NOT EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW TO EXPLAIN IT, BUT THERE WAS THIS AN INFORMAL GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT AND AUSTIN CITY POLITICS FOR A TIME, UM, MOSTLY AFTER THE 1960S.
UM, BUT THEN INTO THE NINETIES AND EARLY TWO THOUSANDS, FOR SURE, WHERE THERE WAS THIS INFORMAL AGREEMENT THAT WE WOULD HAVE ONE BLACK REPRESENTATIVE ON AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AND ONE LATINO, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND IT'S KINDA HARD TO TRACE EXACTLY HOW THIS WAS DECIDED AND WHO DECIDED THIS, BUT MANY FOLKS WILL POINT TO THE WAYS THAT OUR, UM, OUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY, SPECIFICALLY OUR CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE REALLY PLAYED A ROLE IN, IN DECIDING WHO THEY WERE GOING TO FUND, UM, FOR THEIR CAMPAIGNS.
AND SO THEY MADE SURE THAT THERE WOULD BE ONE, UM, PERSON OF COLOR OR ONE BLACK REPRESENTATIVE, ONE LATINO REPRESENTATIVE THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SUPPORT THEIR CAMPAIGNS.
AND THEN THEY WOULD MAKE SURE THAT THEY WEED OUT ANY OTHER COMPETITION IN THOSE RACES.
UM, AND THAT WAS KIND OF THEIR WAY OF ENSURING THAT THERE WASN'T ADDITIONAL COMPETITION FOR OTHER SEATS THAT WERE MORE GUARANTEED TO BE WHITE, UH, REPRESENTATIVES IN THE CITY.
AND SO THIS WAS VERY INFORMAL, UM, BUT WAS KIND OF THE UNDER UNSPOKEN RULE IN AUSTIN FOR MANY YEARS.
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT REFLECTED IN WHO WAS REPRESENTED ON OUR CITY COUNCIL FOR A LONG TIME, DESPITE AUSTIN'S CHANGING, UM, DEMOGRAPHICS.
WE REALLY DIDN'T HAVE MORE THAN ONE OR TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO WERE PEOPLE
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OF COLOR ON THE COUNCIL AT ANY GIVEN TIME UNTIL, UH, WE SAW ANOTHER CHANGE IN OUR FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN 2012, UM, WHICH IS STILL IN PLACE TODAY WHERE WE NOW HAVE THE TEN ONE ELECTIONS, UM, WHERE WE HAVE DISTRICT BASED REPRESENTATION AGAIN.AND, UM, AND JUST BY DEMOGRAPHICS ALONE, WE KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD A MUCH MORE REPRESENTATIVE CITY COUNCIL EVER SINCE THIS CHANGE IN CITY GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE, UM, HAS TAKEN PLACE.
AND SO THERE'S ONE WAY THAT WE CAN THINK ABOUT JUST, JUST REPRESENTATION ALONE AND POWER DYNAMICS AND HOW THAT HAS CHANGED BY THE WAYS THAT WE'VE CHANGED, HOW WE'RE GOVERNED AS A CITY.
UM, WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT SOME EARLY MEXICAN AND LATINO AUSTINITES, UM, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT HERE IN A MOMENT HOW BORDERS HAVE REALLY CROSSED OVER THIS COMMUNITY MORE THAN WHERE, UM, OFTEN THINKING OF MIGRATION AS A PIECE OF, YOU KNOW, AMERICAN HISTORY, UM, MANY, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER MEXICAN OR LATINO AUSTIN.
I HAVE HAD GEOPOLITICAL BORDERS CROSS OVER THEM MANY TIMES OVER, UM, IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH TEXAS' HISTORY AS WELL, YOU KNOW, THIS, UH, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT PARTS OF AUSTIN'S OLD FIRST WARD AND SETTLEMENTS ALONG SHOAL CREEK WERE PREDOMINANTLY MEXICAN AND MEXICAN AMERICAN.
UM, BUT WITH THE STABILIZATION OF THE COLORADO RIVER, DUE TO THE DAMS AND THE RISE OF OUR DOWNTOWN AS A CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, UM, THE VALUE OF LANDS ROSE AND MEXICAN AMERICANS WHO LIVED THERE WERE DISPLACED IN WAVES, UM, OVER SEVERAL DECADES.
WE ALSO KNOW THOUGH THAT, UM, IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO TRACK, UM, THIS PARTICULAR DEMOGRAPHIC AND, AND THIS POPULATION MANY TIMES, UM, CAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN RACIALIZED LIKE OTHER GROUPS AND HAVE BEEN DEFINED DIFFERENTLY AT DIFFERENT POINTS IN TIME AND AT DIFFERENT PLACES.
UM, SO THE DEFINITION OF RACIST, WELL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO SEE IS OFTEN DEPENDENT ON POLITICAL CLIMATE.
SO IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THEY WERE CLASSIFIED AS WHITES AND ALLOWED TO NATURALIZE BASED UPON THE 1848 TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO.
AND THEN IN 1930, WE HAD FOLKS LOBBYING FOR THEM TO BE CLASSIFIED SEPARATELY ON THE CENSUS SO THAT WE COULD THEN LIMIT THEIR IMMIGRATION AND REINFORCE THE DISTINCTNESS FROM WHITENESS.
HOWEVER, DURING WORLD WAR TWO, AS DEMAND FOR LABOR GREW, MEXICANS WERE AGAIN CLASSIFIED AS WHITE.
UM, AND THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON IMMIGRATION AS WELL.
AND THEN WE HAD SEVERAL PRECEDENT SET IN COURT CASES IN THE FIFTIES AND THE SEVENTIES THAT FOUGHT TO RECOGNIZE HISPANICS AS AN IDENTIFIABLE GROUP.
AND THEREFORE THEY COULD BETTER GUARANTEE, UH, EQUAL PROTECTIONS UNDER THE LAW.
AND SO THEN IN THE 1970S WITH THE US CENSUS, AGAIN, RECLASSIFIES THEM, HIS HISPANICS.
SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT CENSUS DATA, WHICH IS A PRETTY COMMON, UM, SORTS OF DATA, RIGHT, FOR US TO TRACK OUR POPULATION OVER TIME, YOU'LL SEE WHAT LOOKS LIKE THIS INFLUX OF MEXICAN AMERICANS OR HISPANIC FOLKS OR LATIN X FOLKS, UM, IN THE 1970 CENSUS.
AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THIS HISTORY, YOU KNOW, THAT IT'S REALLY JUST HOW WE'VE CHANGED CLASSIFICATIONS OF THESE FOLKS OVER TIME.
THAT MAKES IT REALLY DIFFICULT SOMETIMES TO TELL THEIR STORY WITH DATA ALONE, UM, TO GIVE SOME INSIGHT INTO AUSTIN'S EARLY ASIAN AUSTINITES.
UM, I LIKE TO GIVE THIS STORY, THIS VIGNETTE ON AN INDIVIDUAL NAMED JOE SINGH, WHO WAS BORN IN CHINA IN 1860.
AND HE CAME TO THE U S AROUND 1890.
HE EVENTUALLY SETTLED IN AUSTIN AND HE OPENED A LAUNDRY MAT ON WEST FIFTH STREET AND PROVIDED LAUNDRY SERVICE TO MANY STATE LEGISLATORS.
MR. SINGH WAS PROHIBITED FROM AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, AS WELL AS BUYING PROPERTY UNDER THE FEDERAL LAW.
THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT IN 1882 WASN'T REPEALED UNTIL 1943.
UM, HOWEVER, JOE DIED IN 1912 AFTER BEING HIT BY HIS CAR, BUT HE WAS HIT BY A CAR WHILE HE WAS RIDING A BIKE AT THE LIFE OF DOSING, ALSO EXTENDS INTO THE LIFE OF FRANCIS MORANO WHO HAD FOUR CHILDREN WITH HIM AND UNBEKNOWNST TO HER FRANCIS LOST HER AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP WHEN SHE MARRIED JOE SINGH AS A RESULT OF THE EXPATRIATION ACT OF 1907, THAT MANDATED THAT ANY AMERICAN WOMAN WHO MARRIES A FOREIGNER SHALL TAKE THE NATIONALITY OF HER HUSBAND.
AND SO, UM, I SHARE THIS STORY BECAUSE AUSTIN DOES NOT HAVE, UH, OR DID NOT HAVE A ROBUST ASIAN AMERICAN POPULATION FOR MANY, MANY YEARS IN ITS HISTORY.
AND A WHOLE LOT OF THAT IS DUE TO THE WAYS THAT WE WERE, UM, LIMITING AND RESTRICTING THE, UM, THE MIGRATION OF ASIAN, OF ASIANS INTO THIS COUNTRY AND, AND TEXAS AND AUSTIN, UM, THROUGH THESE VERY RACIALIZED LAWS THAT HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME THAT ALSO CREATED DISINCENTIVE FOR INTEGRATION WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.
SO EVEN THOUGH FRANCIS MARINO WAS BORN IN AMERICAN CITIZEN, SHE LOST HER CITIZENSHIP WHEN SHE MARRIED JOE SANE.
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OF THING MAKES IT REALLY DIFFICULT, UM, TO BUILD COMMUNITY, TO BE IN COMMUNITY, UM, WITH ASIAN AMERICANS ALSO FOR MANY YEARS IN AUSTIN.AND I RECENTLY, UM, STUMBLED UPON THESE, UM, ARTICLES ACTUALLY IN THE AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN THROUGH A COLLEAGUE OF MINE AT THE CITY'S PARKS DEPARTMENT.
UM, BUT THERE WERE ALSO TALKS IN, UM, YOU KNOW, IN WORLD WAR TWO ABOUT USING CITY OWNED LAND, USING PARKLAND, UM, FOR INTERNMENT CAMPS, FOR ASIAN-AMERICANS FOR JAPANESE AMERICAN, SPECIFICALLY FOR A TIME.
AND SO, UM, THIS, WHILE IT NEVER CAME TO FRUITION IN AUSTIN, AUSTIN DID NOT HAVE INTERNMENT CAMPS OF OUR OWN.
UM, IT'S DEFINITELY GIVES SOME INSIGHT INTO THE KIND OF ENVIRONMENT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WAS, UH, THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT OR THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT, UM, FOR ASIAN AMERICANS IN AUSTIN AND IN TEXAS FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
AND THAT GIVES SOME INSIGHT INTO WHY WE DID NOT HAVE A ROBUST ASIAN AMERICAN POPULATION IN AUSTIN UNTIL AT LEAST THE NINETIES.
UM, SO I'VE GIVEN A COUPLE OF STORIES OR A COUPLE OF VIGNETTES AND, UM, SOME INFORMATION, BUT I HOPE TO ALSO BE ABLE TO BRING HOME THIS POINT THAT, UM, DEFINITIONS OF WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE WHITE HAS ALSO CHANGED OVER TIME.
WHITE AS A RACE DID NOT EXIST BEFORE COLONIAL AMERICA.
UM, AND THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF HISTORY HERE THAT I'M NOT GOING TO DIVE INTO VERY DEEPLY, BUT I WILL SHARE THIS STORY FROM, UM, OR THIS QUOTE, BUT JUST KIND OF BLOWS MY MIND EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT IT.
UM, THAT WAS GIVEN FROM A US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE IN 1922.
SO YOU CAN SEE AN IMAGE ON THE RIGHT OF WHO WAS ON OUR SUPREME COURT IN 19 20 20 IN 1922.
UM, AND SO THE COURTS, UH, V VARIOUS LEVELS OF COURTS WERE GIVING KIND OF, UM, DIFFERENT RULINGS ON WHO WOULD BE CONSIDERED WHITE IN THE EYES OF THE LAW, AND THEREFORE BE ABLE TO CALL APPLY FOR THINGS LIKE NATURALIZED CITIZENSHIP, UM, IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY AND AFTER A FEW KIND OF CONTRADICTING CASES AND OUT OF FRUSTRATION, ONE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE KIND OF DECLARED OFFICIALLY THAT WHITENESS SHOULD BE BASED ON QUOTE UNQUOTE, THE COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE WHITE MAN.
AND SO IN THIS WAY, WE SEE THAT THERE'S, UM, A LOT OF, UM, OPAQUENESS TO OUR DEFINITION OF WHAT IS WHITE.
AND THAT IS WHY I EMPHASIZE IT HAS BEEN POLITICIZED OVER TIME.
AND IT HAS CHANGED A LOT OVER TIME AS WELL.
UM, I'M GOING TO JUMP BACK AND FORTH A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE'RE GOING TO JUMP BACK INTO STUFF THAT LOOKS A BIT MORE LIKE AUSTIN'S PLANNING HISTORY.
AND SO, UM, I LIKE TO TALK THE AUSTIN STREET CAR SYSTEM BECAUSE I'M A REALLY BIG PUBLIC TRANSIT FAN.
UM, BUT ALSO, CAUSE THERE'S SOME INTERESTING NUGGETS HERE AS WELL THAT I'D LIKE TO SHARE.
SO IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW, AUSTIN HAD A POPULAR STREET CAR SYSTEM THAT RAN FROM ABOUT 1875 UNTIL THE EARLY 1940S INVESTORS IN THE STREET CAR WERE OFTEN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS, SUCH AS COLONEL MONROE, SHIPE WHO FOUNDED AND PROMOTED AUSTIN'S FIRST STREET CAR SUBURB, WHICH WAS HYDE PARK, WHICH IS THIS KIND OF LOLLIPOP LOOP HERE AT THE TOP OF THE MAP UNTIL 1906, THOUGH, THE AUSTIN STREET CAR WAS NOT FORMALLY SEGREGATED WHEN THE AUSTIN STREET CAR ANNOUNCED ITS INTENTIONS TO SEGREGATE THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN LED A BOYCOTT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.
HOWEVER, THE STATE OF TEXAS THEN RESPONDED SOON THEREAFTER AND MANDATED SEGREGATION ON ALL PUBLIC TRANSIT STATEWIDE, INCLUDING BUSES.
THIS WASN'T REVERSED UNTIL MANY DECADES LATER WHEN IT WAS OVERTURNED AFTER THE ACTIVISM OF ROSA PARKS AND THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT IN THE 1950S AND CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION IN THE SIXTIES.
AND SO I FOUND THIS FASCINATING THAT IN MANY WAYS, AUSTIN, AUSTIN SET A PRECEDENT FOR SEGREGATING OUR PUBLIC TRANSIT, UM, WAY BACK IN THE DAY WHEN IT HAD NOT ACTUALLY BEEN, UM, UH, A LAW BEFORE, BEFORE THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S, UM, MOVED TO, TO SEGREGATE THE STREET CAR.
AND YOU CAN SEE AN IMAGE HERE FOR 1913, WE'RE LOOKING NORTH ON CONGRESS AVENUE AND YOU CAN SEE THE STREET CAR THERE AND YOU'LL SEE MANY, UM, THINGS FEEL A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
UM, BUT MANY OF THE SAME SHAPES THAT EXIST ON THE STREETS STILL EXIST TODAY.
HOWEVER THINGS REALLY START TO CHANGE IN TERMS OF OUR CITIES, UM, BETWEEN THE EARLY 19 HUNDREDS IN THE MID 19 HUNDREDS.
SO I'M REALLY GOING TO CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION, THE RISE OF THE PRIVATE AUTOMOBILE AND HOW IT BEGAN TO SHAPE CITIES BY THE 1940S.
UM, WE STARTED PRIORITIZING THE PAVING OF STREETS OVER MAINTAINING RAILS FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT.
AND THIS STARTS TO ENABLE SOME FOLKS, UH, TO LIVE FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM THE CITY CENTER WHERE THEY WERE WORKING OR SHOPPING OR CONGREGATING, UM, AND STARTS TO ASSIST IN THE SEPARATION OF PLACES WITH DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE CITY.
SO IT WAS TRUE THEN FOR SURE, BUT IT'S EVEN TRUE NOW THAT NOT EVERYONE HAD ACCESS TO A PRIVATE AUTOMOBILE.
AND SO IN MANY WAYS, THIS STARTS TO SEE THE SEPARATION OF
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PEOPLE ACROSS THE CITY, UM, IN A WAY THAT WAS VERY MUCH DRIVEN BY WHO HAD ACCESS TO CARS AND WHO, UM, WAS ABLE TO GET AROUND THAT WAY.SO OUR OLD STREETCAR SYSTEM, UM, KIND OF ENSURED THAT FOLKS HAD TO LIVE WHERE THEY, UM, LIVE CLOSE TO THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED IN THEIR DAILY LIFE, WHETHER IT'S THEIR JOBS OR THEIR CHURCH OR THEIR SCHOOLS, OR THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT THEY WANTED TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS.
AND SO THEY WERE CLOSE EITHER BY THE STREETCAR SYSTEM AND MUCH OF BOSTON'S, UM, COMMUNITY AND THEIR BUSINESSES WERE LOCATED NEAR THE STREETCAR STOPS, UM, OR WHERE SOMEONE COULD TO WHAT THEY NEEDED OR TAKE A HORSE AND BUGGY.
SO THAT KEEPS OUR CITIES A LOT MORE COMPACT.
UM, BUT AS WE START TO SEE AUTOMOBILES, UM, RISING AND MORE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE GOING TO SUPPORT PRIVATE AUTOMOBILES, UM, WE SEE THAT THE CITIES, UH, GET BIGGER AND BIGGER AND MORE SEPARATED.
AND SO I MENTIONED HERE THE SEPARATION OF, UH, PLACES WITH DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE CITY.
SO, UM, WE'RE STARTING TO REALIZE THAT THERE'S SOME PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS WITH PLACING WITH LIVING INTO CLOSE PROXIMITY, TO SOME OF OUR INDUSTRIAL USES LIVING NEAR FACTORIES, UM, WITH THE POLLUTION AND THE NOISE.
AND SO WE START TO SEE SOME SEPARATION OF RESIDENTIAL AREAS FROM BUSINESS AREAS, FROM FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL AREAS.
UM, AND, UH, WE ALSO START TO SEE, I MEAN, THROUGH REALLY SPECIFIC PUBLIC POLICIES AND INCREASE IN THE SEPARATION OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE SPACE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, IF YOU KNOW MUCH ABOUT AUSTIN SISTER, YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD OF THIS PLAN.
UM, IT'S THE 1928 PLAN FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, IT WAS CREATED BY, UM, CONSULTANTS, KOCH AND FOWLER WHO I BELIEVE CAME OUT OF, UM, CHICAGO, AND IT DID MANY OTHER THINGS, BUT WHAT I'M GOING TO HIGHLIGHT AS SOME OF THE MOST INFAMOUS AND LASTING CHANGES THAT IT HAD ON OUR CITY, WHICH WAS TO CREATE THE QUOTE UNQUOTE NEGRO DISTRICT IN EAST AUSTIN, AND ALSO ENSURED MOST INDUSTRY WOULD BE PLACED IN EAST AUSTIN.
AND IT LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR REDLINING, DISPLACEMENT AND LONG LASTING RACIAL DIVIDES.
SO I HAVE HERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN AT A DIRECT QUOTE PULLED FROM THIS PLAN.
UM, AND SO THEY, THEY SAID THAT THERE'S BEEN CONSIDERABLE TALK IN AUSTIN, AS WELL AS OTHER CITIES IN REGARD TO THE RACE SEGREGATION PROBLEM.
THIS PROBLEM CAN NOT BE SOLVED LEGALLY UNDER ZONING LAWS KNOWN TO US AT PRESENT, PRACTICALLY ALL ATTEMPTS AT SUCH HAPPENED PROVEN UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
AND SO THEY'RE ACTUALLY REFERENCING A COURT CASE, A SUPREME COURT CASE THAT OVERTURNED RACIAL ZONING IN KENTUCKY IN THIS COURT CASE CALLED BUCHANAN VERSUS WARLEY.
SO THIS WAS SHORTLY AFTER CITIES ARE GIVEN THE ZONING POWERS.
THE ABILITY TO SEPARATE USES LAND USES ACROSS DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIC AREAS AND MANY CITIES, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH WHO WERE TRYING TO USE ZONING TO SEGREGATE PEOPLE ACROSS THE CITIES AS WELL.
AND SO THIS WAS OVERTURNED BY THE SUPREME COURT.
UM, AND SO AUSTIN IS SAYING HERE THAT WE HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND WE CAN'T SOLVE IT BY ANY ZONING LAWS, UM, BECAUSE THAT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
AND SO WHAT THEY DECIDED TO DO WAS TO CREATE THE NEGRO DISTRICT IN EAST AUSTIN.
AND THEY SAY, THIS IS ANOTHER DIRECT QUOTE.
THE SOLUTION OF THE RACE SEGREGATION PROBLEM WILL BE THE RECOMMENDATION OF THIS DISTRICT OF A NEGRO DISTRICT.
AND THEN ALL THE FACILITIES AND CONVENIENCES BE PROVIDED TO THE NEGROES IN THIS DISTRICT AS AN INCENTIVE TO DRAW THE POPULATION TO THIS AREA, THIS WILL ELIMINATE THE NECESSITY OF DUPLICATION OF WHITE AND BLACK SCHOOLS, WHITE AND BLACK PARKS AND OTHER DUPLICATE FACILITIES FOR THIS AREA.
SO THIS IS DURING A TIME WHEN THE LAW OF THE LAND IN AUSTIN WAS SEPARATE BUT EQUAL FACILITIES.
SO WE KNOW THAT THEY WERE BY NO MEANS ACTUALLY PROVIDED EQUAL FACILITIES, UM, BY DIFFERENT RACES IN THE CITY.
BUT THIS WAS THE JUSTIFICATION.
IT WAS PERFECTLY LEGAL TO HAVE SEGREGATED FACILITIES AND SERVICES, UH, FOR WHITE FOLKS AND FOR BLACK FOLKS IN OUR TOWN.
AND SO THIS ALSO WAS PRESENTED AS A KIND OF EFFICIENCY MEASURE THAT, UM, THIS WOULD BE A BEST USE OF CITY FUNDS IF WE JUST HAD TO PROVIDE ONE BLACK SCHOOL, ONE BLACK PARK, UM, AND NOT HAVE TO PROVIDE THEM ALL OVER TOWN WHERE OUR BLACK COMMUNITY IS KIND OF INTERSPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CITY AT THIS TIME.
AND SO, UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KIND OF KEEP IN MIND THAT THEY REALLY TRIED TO TAKE THIS.
THIS IS THE ONLY LOGICAL AND EFFICIENT WAY TO PROVIDE CITY SERVICES APPROACH.
UM, BUT THEY ALSO MAKE IT SOUND HERE.
LIKE THIS IS AN INCENTIVE BASED APPROACH.
THEY SAY THAT WE WANT TO PROVIDE AN INCENTIVE TO DRAW BLACK FOLKS TO THIS AREA.
UM, BUT THIS WAS BY NO MEANS JUST AN INCENTIVE-BASED APPROACH.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DID WAS REFUSE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, UM, OR FACILITIES TO PEOPLE OF COLOR TO BLACK FOLKS SPECIFICALLY IN OUR CITY DID NOT MOVE OR LIVE IN THIS NEGRO DISTRICT.
AND SO FOLKS LIKE IN THE CLARKSVILLE
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NEIGHBORHOOD, IF YOU CAN RECALL BACK TO THAT MAP WHERE I SHOWED AT THE BEGINNING WHERE FRIEDMAN'S COMMUNITIES WERE INTERSPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UM, ALL OF THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT WERE NOT IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN, WE'RE NOW NO LONGER ABLE TO GET CITY, UH, SERVICES TO GET THEIR TRASH PICKED UP THEIR WATER OR ELECTRICITY WOULDN'T BE CONNECTED OR WOULD HAVE BEEN SHUT OFF.UM, THERE WERE NO BLACK SCHOOLS ON THAT SIDE OF TOWN AND BLACK FOLKS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BE IN THE PARKS ON THAT SIDE OF TOWN.
AND SO IN THAT WAY, IT WAS REALLY NOT JUST AN INCENTIVE.
IT WAS A, THERE WAS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF PUNISHMENT FOR FOLKS, UM, WHO WERE, WHO WERE BLACK, WHO DID NOT MOVE ON, WHO WERE NOT DISPLACED AND MOVED INTO THE, UM, THE NEGRO DISTRICT ON THE EAST OF AUSTIN THROUGH THIS PLAN, THIS PLAN, HOWEVER REALLY STARTS TO, UH, GAIN MORE AND MORE MOMENTUM AND FURTHER, UM, UH, SOLIDIFY THE SEGREGATION OF OUR CITY WITH OTHER POLICIES THAT THEN LAYERED ON TOP OF IT.
SO THE 1928 PLAN, UM, CREATED THE NEGRO DISTRICT AND STARTS TO MOVE PEOPLE OF COLOR, MOVE BLACK COMMUNITIES INTO CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN.
UM, BUT THEN THESE ARE FOLLOWED UP BY OTHER POLICIES.
SO WE'RE LOOKING HERE AT A COUPLE OF MAPS MADE BY THE HOMEOWNERS LOAN CORPORATION IN 1934.
SO I'LL ACTUALLY DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE RIGHT HERE, UM, WHICH IS A RACIAL CONCENTRATION MAP.
AND SO THE LEGEND HERE SAYS THAT THE DARKER BROWN AREAS ARE NEGRO POPULATION.
THE RED AREAS ARE MEXICAN AND NEGRO POPULATIONS, AND THEN THIS NOT SHADED, THE INVISIBLE AREAS, OUR REMAINDER WHITE POPULATION IS LIVING HERE.
SO THESE MAPS WERE CREATED AT THE SAME TIME BY THIS QUASI GOVERNMENTAL, UM, GROUP CALLED THE HOMEOWNERS LOAN CORPORATION.
AND THEY STARTED BY IDENTIFYING WHERE IN THESE CITIES THERE'S MAPS LIKE THIS FOR MANY CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHERE OUR POPULATIONS OF COLOR LIVE AND IDENTIFYING THEM.
AND THEN THEY WERE FOLLOWED UP WITH THESE MAPS, UM, LIKE ON THE LEFT HERE.
AND LET ME NOW CONSIDER REDLINING MAPS WHERE THEY WERE TRYING TO DECIDE AND GIVE INFORMATION TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ABOUT WHERE IT WOULD BE SAFE TO MAKE INVESTMENTS INTO HOME LOANS.
AND SO THE U S AT THIS TIME IS, UM, REALLY TRYING TO MAKE INVESTMENTS IN IMPROVING HOME OWNERSHIP AS FOLKS ARE COMING BACK FROM THE WAR.
AND SO THERE DECIDED TO GUARANTEE HOME LOANS FOR MANY, MANY AMERICANS.
UM, AND SO, YEAH, THEY'RE PROVIDING PROTECTIONS ON THESE HOME LOANS FOR, UM, FOR MANY AMERICANS, BUT THEY RELIED ON THIS HOMEOWNERS LOAN CORPORATION TO TELL THEM WHERE IT WOULD BE SAFE TO MAKE THAT KIND OF INVESTMENT SO THAT WE DON'T DEFAULT OR THAT WE DON'T.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE FALL THROUGH ON A BUNCH OF HOME LOANS ALL AT THE SAME TIME, AND THAT COULD CAUSE A REAL ECONOMIC CRISIS.
AND SO THIS ORGANIZATION CREATED MAPS THAT DECIDED WHERE IT WOULD BE BEST AND DESIRABLE TO MAKE THOSE KINDS OF INVESTMENTS IN HOME OWNERSHIP AND WHERE IT WOULD BE AS A DISK FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO INVEST.
AND SO THIS AREA HERE IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN WAS DECIDED TO BE HAZARDOUS FOR INVESTMENT.
AND IT EXACTLY CORRESPONDS WITH THE AREA WHERE WE HAD CONCENTRATED OUR BLACK POPULATION IN AUSTIN.
YOU'LL SEE A FEW CUTOUTS OVER HERE FOR WHERE OUR CLARKSVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS.
THAT WAS AN AREA WHERE WE STILL HAD MANY BLACK COMMUNITY MEMBERS HOLDING OUT AND LIVING IN THAT COMMUNITY, DESPITE, UM, THE KIND OF CHALLENGES THAT WERE FACED BY OUR, UH, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UM, BY THEM NOT MOVING TO THE NEGRO DISTRICT.
THERE WERE A COUPLE OF OTHER AREAS LIKE WE'D SPILL AS WELL, WHERE WE HAD, UM, BLACK COMMUNITIES REMAINING.
UM, BUT THESE AREAS WERE CARVED OUT THEN AND DECLARED TO BE HAZARDOUS SPRING INVESTMENT.
SO THESE MAPS STARTED TO BLEED INTO MORE THAN JUST HOMEOWNERSHIP, BUT REALLY IT BECAME CHALLENGING, UM, FOR, UH, PEOPLE IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS ANY KIND OF INVESTMENT FOR SMALL BUSINESS LOANS OR HOME REPAIR LOANS OR ANY NUMBER OF THINGS, BECAUSE BANKS WOULD BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THIS MAP AND SAY, OH, THAT WAS DECLARED TO BE HAZARDOUS FOR INVESTMENT, BUT BEYOND THAT.
SO THOSE ARE A COUPLE OF PUBLIC POLICIES THAT VERY CLEARLY, UM, STARTED TO SEGREGATE AND, UM, AND HAVE ISSUES FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR IN OUR CITY.
UM, BUT THESE WERE DEFINITELY FOLLOWED UP ON AND LAYERED WITH ADDITIONAL REALLY RACIST REAL ESTATE PRACTICES ON THE PRIVATE MARKET SIDE.
SO WE MENTIONED, UM, COLONEL MIN ROCHE IPE.
SO HE'S THE FOUNDER OF, OF HYDE PARK APPEAR NORTH AUSTIN.
UM, AND AT THE TIME HE'S PROMOTING THIS, UM, THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, THIS DEVELOPMENT IS MAKING SURE TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR WHITE PEOPLE.
AND SO THERE'S, HE SAYS EXTRAORDINARY INDUCEMENTS ARE OFFERED.
SO THERE'S A, THERE'S REALLY LUCRATIVE DEALS FOR REAL ESTATE IN THIS TIME IN THIS PART OF TOWN.
IF YOU BUY ONE LOT, YOU GET ONE LOCK FREE, THAT KIND OF THING.
UM, BUT THAT WAS EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE FOR WHITE PEOPLE AND THEY ACTUALLY ADDED IT AS, THIS IS POSITIVE THING THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIVE WITH, JUST ANYBODY IN THE CITY.
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THERE'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE HERE.I'VE PULLED FROM THE TRAVIS HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH IS IN CENTRAL SOUTH AUSTIN THAT SAID HERE THAT WE SELL ONLY TO WHITE PEOPLE.
UM, SO THEY'RE SAYING THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS RESTRICTED AND VERY HIGH CLASS.
THEY'RE ALSO OFFERING AGAIN, REALLY GENEROUS DEALS ON, UM, INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE AND IN HOME OWNERSHIP IN THIS PART OF TOWN, THEY'RE SAYING YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO MAKE A PAYMENT IF YOU'RE OUT OF WORK OR IF YOU'RE SICK.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THIS WAS ONLY AVAILABLE TO SOME FOLKS.
AND SO THERE'S THIS LITERAL HAND UP THAT, UM, THESE, THESE FAMILIES ARE GETTING TO MOVE INTO HOME OWNERSHIP, BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY NOT AVAILABLE TO COMMUNITIES OF COLOR IN OUR CITY.
AT THAT TIME, UH, LAYERING ON THIS, WE FOUND THEM ANOTHER WAY THAT THIS KIND OF SEGREGATION AND EXCLUSION WAS, UH, WAS LEGALIZED OR WAS IMPLEMENTED THROUGH OUR LEGAL, UM, KIND OF REALM THROUGH RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS OR DEED RESTRICTIONS THAT, UM, DEFINITELY INCLUDED RACIAL, UM, RESTRICTIONS.
AND SO THIS IS AN EXAMPLE FROM OUR ROSEDALE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT SAID, NO PERSON OF AFRICAN DESCENT SHALL EVER BE ALLOWED TO BUY OR HOLD IN ANY WAY, TITLE OR CONTROL OF ANY LOT OR BLOCK, BUT THIS SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO PREVENT SERVANTS FROM RESIDING.
THERE INS ALONG AS SUCH SERVANT QUARTERS ARE MAINTAINED UPON THE REAR OF THE PROPERTY.
SO THERE WERE ALSO MANY RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS THAT INCLUDED EXCLUSIONS FOR MEXICAN PEOPLE, FOR MEXICAN AMERICANS.
UM, THIS MAP ON THE RIGHT IS A REALLY GOOD EFFORT AT TRYING TO FIND WHERE THESE RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS ARE, BUT IT CAN BE REALLY DIFFICULT TO TRACK THEM DOWN TO FIND THEM.
SO, UM, UH, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GO, YOU KNOW, PAGE BY PAGE LOOKING AT, UM, EACH LOT'S KIND OF DEED RESTRICTION AT TIME TO SEE WHAT GOT BAKED INTO THERE.
UM, BUT YOU'LL SEE THAT MUCH OF CENTRAL AND NORTH AND WEST AUSTIN, UM, WAS INCLUDING THESE KINDS OF RACIAL RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS THAT MADE SURE THAT NO PEOPLE OF COLOR WOULD BE ABLE TO LIVE IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS OR OWN PROPERTY.
UM, AND THOSE WERE RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL OR UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN 1948, UM, BUT ALSO HAVE PRETTY CHILLING EFFECTS BECAUSE THEY CAN STILL EXIST IN THE DEED, EVEN IF THEY'RE UNENFORCEABLE.
UM, AND SO MANY PROPERTY OWNERS, ESPECIALLY PROPERTY OWNERS OF COLOR IN THESE TOWNS CAN BE, UM, PRETTY HORRIFIED TO LOOK AT THEIR DEED AND FIND THIS KIND OF LANGUAGE IN THERE.
OH, ADDITIONALLY, I SAY THAT WE KNOW THAT THE FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION, THE FAA F H A AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES OFTEN REQUIRED RESTRICTIVE RACIALLY RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO GET FHA BACKING OR LOANS FOR DEVELOPMENT AS WELL.
SO IT WAS NOT JUST OUT OF, UM, YOU KNOW, AN INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPER HOMEOWNER DECIDING TO PUT THIS KIND OF LANGUAGE IN THEIR DEED.
IT WAS ACTUALLY ENCOURAGED OR SOMETIMES REQUIRED IN ORDER TO GET THE LOANS TO DEVELOP THESE TYPES OF SUBDIVISIONS.
UM, BEYOND THAT, WE KNOW THAT, UM, AUSTIN ACTUALLY HAD THE FIRST PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT IN THE COUNTRY UNDER THE FEDERAL HOUSING, UH, THE FEDERAL PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION.
AND SO THIS IS AD ADVOCATED FOR BY, UM, LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, UM, AND SANTA RITA COURTS IN EAST AUSTIN WAS THE FIRST PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT IN THE COUNTRY.
UM, EVEN AT THE ONSET THOUGH, THESE PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS WERE RACIALLY SEGREGATED.
SO SANTA RITA COURTS WAS DESIGNED TO BE FOR RESIDENTS OF MEXICAN ROSA COURTS WAS DESIGNED TO BE FOR RESIDENTS OF AFRICAN DESCENT.
AND JOHN MORRIS COURT WAS GOING TO BE FOR WHITE RESIDENTS.
UM, WE ALREADY MENTIONED EARLIER ON IN THIS PRESENTATION, THAT ROSEWOOD COURTS WAS ACTUALLY BUILT AFTER THE CITY USE EMINENT DOMAIN TO CLAIM THE EMANCIPATION PARK.
UM, AND THAT WAS LAND THAT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY BLACK AUSTINITES AND USED AS A PUBLIC PARK TO CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH AND OTHER COMMUNITY GATHERINGS.
UM, AND SO THAT LAND WAS SEIZED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROSE WOOD FLOORS.
AND IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT CONTEXT TO KNOW THAT PUBLIC HOUSING DIDN'T ALWAYS NECESSARILY HAVE THE CONNOTATIONS THAT WE HAVE OF IT TODAY, UM, AFTER WORLD WAR ONE.
AND THEN AFTER WORLD WAR TWO, THIS, UM, MANY AMERICAN CITIES WERE FACING A REAL HOUSING CRISIS THERE WHERE THE SUPPLY OF HOUSING WAS REALLY LOW.
UM, AND IF WE THINK ABOUT SPECIFICALLY FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR, FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, ACCESS TO HOUSING WAS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT, UM, BECAUSE OF THE WAYS THAT WE'VE RESTRICTED, WHERE THESE PEOPLE COULD LIVE.
AND SO PUBLIC HOUSING WAS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S FIRST ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO FILL THIS GAP IN WHAT THE PRIVATE MARKET WAS PROVIDING BY CREATING MORE HOUSING.
AND SO MUCH OF OUR PUBLIC HOUSING WAS ORIGINALLY KIND OF MORE MIDDLE-CLASS HOUSING.
UM, AND IT WAS JUST A WAY OF GETTING MORE HOUSING ON THE GROUND IN MOST OF OUR, UM, US CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
BUT EVEN THEN, UM, THERE WAS AN INTENTIONAL EFFORT TO SEGREGATE COMMUNITIES IN
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PUBLIC HOUSING AS WELL.UM, WE HAVE FOLLOW UP ON OUR PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS, AND EVEN AS PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS ARE COMING UP ACROSS THE COUNTRY WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, HOUSING POLICIES, LIKE THE HOUSING ACT OF 1949, THAT HAD GOALS LIKE REBUILDING OUR NATION'S CITIES, ELIMINATING SLUMS AND BLIGHT AND PROVIDING DECENT HOUSING FOR ALL WHICH, YOU KNOW, AT FACE VALUE MAY SOUND LIKE PRETTY GOOD GOALS.
UM, BUT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE WAYS THAT WE DREW LINES AROUND CERTAIN COMMUNITIES AND ACTIVELY DISINVESTED AND PREVENTED THEM FROM ACCESSING OPPORTUNITY AND RESOURCES, UM, THROUGH MORE FORMAL INSTITUTIONS THROUGH OUR GOVERNMENT, UM, WE KNOW THAT IT'S REALLY SPECIFIC AND RACIALIZED, UM, PART OF TOWN THAT IS NOW GOING TO BE CONSIDERED A SLUM OR A BLIGHTED AREA AS WELL.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT, UM, WE DIDN'T REALLY EVEN LIVE UP TO THIS, UH, STATED GOAL BECAUSE WHILE A LOT OF FEDERAL FUNDING WENT INTO SUBSIDIZING ACQUISITION AND CLEARING OF SITES FOR REDEVELOPMENT, UM, BY TEARING DOWN SLUMS AND BLIGHTED AREAS, LESS THAN 1% OF THE FUNDING WENT TO ASSISTING RELOCATION FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN LIVING IN THOSE AREAS OR IN THOSE HOMES.
UM, AND THE IDEA HAD BEEN TO BE CREATING AS MUCH PUBLIC HOUSING AS WE WERE DEMOLISHING SLUM HOUSING.
HOWEVER, WE KNOW THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, FAR MORE HOUSING UNITS WERE DEMOLISHED THAN THEY WERE THEN WERE CREATED AS A RESULT OF THIS ACT.
AND SO THIS IS WHY URBAN RENEWAL BECAME KNOWN BY MANY COMMUNITIES OF COLORS, URBAN REMOVAL AND SLUM CLEARANCE REALLY BECAME THIS MEANS OF MOVING BLACK FOLKS FROM POTENTIALLY VALUABLE REAL ESTATE IN OUR TOWN.
UM, I THINK IT CAN BE REALLY INTERESTING TO LOOK AT, UM, THE CREATION OF OUR INTERSTATE HIGHWAY OR, YOU KNOW, OUR, UM, BELOVED AGE 35 HERE IN AUSTIN, UM, WAS A RESULT OF THIS FEDERAL AID HIGHWAY ACT OF 1956.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT AS A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INTERSTATE AND DEFENSE HIGHWAYS.
SO THAT WAS KIND OF, UM, POSED AS THIS WAY THAT WE COULD QUICKLY EVACUATE URBAN AREAS IN THE EVENT THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE, UM, NUCLEAR WAR.
SO THAT HAD BEEN THE WAY THAT IT WAS, THESE WERE DEFENSE HIGHWAYS.
AND SO THEY WERE, UM, GIVEN A LOT OF FUNDING, MORE FUNDING THAN WE HAD EVER PUT INTO ANY KIND OF TRANSPORTATION ENDEAVOR AS A COUNTRY.
UM, BUT THESE FEDERAL FUNDS THEN DEFINITELY STARTED OR CONTINUED TO FAVOR PRIVATELY OWNED VEHICLES OVER PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
AND THEY REALLY STARTED TO ALSO SUBSIDIZE THE SUBURBANIZATION OF OUR URBAN AREAS.
SO WE'RE MAKING INVESTMENTS IN HOMEOWNERSHIP IN THESE SEGREGATED AND SEPARATED SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES, UM, AROUND THE RING OF KIND OF OUR CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTS IN AUSTIN.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE CREATING, UM, INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO, TO CHANNEL LARGE AMOUNTS OF COMMUTERS OUT FROM THE SUBURBS INTO, UM, INNER CITIES.
THESE, UM, PROJECTS ALSO WENT INCREDIBLY OVER BUDGET.
UM, THEY WERE ESTIMATED TO COST 27 BILLION, WHICH WAS AGAIN, THE LARGEST INVESTMENT WE'D EVER, UM, AIM TO MAKE INNER TO OUR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE AS A COUNTRY.
UM, BUT THEY ALSO WENT WAY, WAY OVER BUDGET.
UM, AND THEY'RE STILL AROUND TODAY, STILL REQUIRING A LOT OF MAINTENANCE AND INVESTMENT TO KEEP THEM RUNNING.
UM, THIS IS AN IMAGE, THIS IS AN AERIAL IMAGE OF WHAT USED TO BE WHERE I, 35 IS TODAY WAS CALLED EAST AVENUE.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT WAS KIND OF THIS LARGE BOULEVARD.
IT WAS STILL A VERY POPULAR THOROUGHFARE IN AUSTIN, BUT IT HAD THESE LIKE TREE-LINED STREETS AND PARKS SPACES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE, UM, AVENUE HERE.
AND THE RED LINE SHOWS WHAT WOULD BECOME
SO I'M GOING TO GO BACK AND FORTH A COUPLE OF TIMES.
SO YOU CAN REALLY TAKE THIS IN WHAT USED TO BE, UM, EAST AVENUE AND THE COMMUNITY IS TO, UH, IMMEDIATELY TO THE EAST OF EAST AVENUE, SPECIFICALLY, THESE WERE IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN CALLED, UM, PART OF THE NEGRO DISTRICT.
THESE WERE PREDOMINANTLY PEOPLE OF COLOR.
UM, THESE WERE BUSINESSES THAT WERE OWNED BY BLACK AND LATINO FOLKS.
AND, UM, AGAIN, THE, THE GOVERNMENT USE EMINENT DOMAIN TO CLAIM A LOT ABOUT LAND SO THAT WE COULD EXPAND I 35 HERE.
UM, AND IF YOU'RE KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES, YOU'LL KNOW THAT WE'RE ALSO TALKING ABOUT A NEW EXPANSION OF
UM, EVEN TODAY, UM, I MENTIONED THAT, UH, THE 1928 PLAN LED SOME GROUNDWORK FOR PLACING INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN EAST AUSTIN, BUT IT WAS THEN FOLLOWED UP WITH ADDITIONAL PLANS.
AND LATER IN THE FIFTIES THAT DESIGNATED LARGE SWATHS.
SO EAST AUSTIN FOR INDUSTRIAL ZONING, UM, AND THIS REALLY HAD THE EFFECT OF GUARANTEEING THAT OUR MOST POLLUTING INDUSTRIES WERE LOCATED IN PRIMARILY COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, UM, AS RESULTED IN HAZARDOUS LIVING CONDITIONS FOR FOLKS.
UM, THIS IMAGE ON THE LEFT HERE IS FROM SOMEBODY WHO LIVED NEAR THE TANK FARMS IN AUSTIN, WHICH, UM,
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IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ABOUT, OR REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK UP SOME OF THAT HISTORY, UM, BUT IT WAS LOCATED DIRECTLY BEHIND THIS PERSON'S HOUSE.THEN THEY'RE SMALL CHILDREN AND THIS TANKS WERE ACTUALLY LEAKING TOXIC CHEMICALS INTO THE GROUND AND INTO THE WATER INTO THAT, UH, COMMUNITY.
UM, BUT THESE, THIS WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE KIND OF INDUSTRIAL ZONING THAT WE HAD PLACED IN EAST AUSTIN.
UM, SO BEYOND JUST THE ACTUAL HEALTH IMPACTS, THERE WAS ALSO THE EFFECT THAT IT LOWERED PROPERTY VALUES IN MUCH OF EAST AUSTIN AND ESPECIALLY IN THE HOMES ADJACENT TO INDUSTRIAL USES.
UM, AND THEN WE SAW MANY OTHER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS SHOW UP IN EAST AUSTIN, SUCH AS THE TANK FARM, THE HOLLY STREET, POWER PLANTS, UM, LARGE RECYCLING FACILITIES, LANDFILLS.
THE AIRPORT USED TO BE IN EAST AUSTIN WHERE MUELLER IS TODAY.
AND SO MANY OF THESE HEAVY INDUSTRIAL USES WERE IN PLACE IN EAST AUSTIN BECAUSE OF POLICIES THAT WERE ADOPTED BY OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT THAT ALLOWED THEM TO DO THIS.
UM, I THINK I'LL SPEND A WHOLE LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT, UM, EDUCATION, UH, HERE, BUT I ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK UP SOME OF THE HISTORY OF AUSTIN'S OLD ANDERSON HIGH SCHOOL, UM, WHICH WAS CLOSED IN 1967, UM, BECAUSE IT WAS DEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TO DESEGREGATE.
AND SO OLDER THAN HIGH SCHOOL HAD BEEN A PRIMARILY BLACK SCHOOL IN EAST AUSTIN THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, MANY FOLKS REFERRED TO AS JUST THE PRIDE AND JOY OF EAST AUSTIN, IT WAS A REAL, UM, GYM AND A REAL HEART OF THE COMMUNITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, SCHOOLS CAN STILL TODAY PROVIDE A LOT OF A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND BELONGING AND BE KIND OF THE CENTER OF THE TOWN.
UM, AND SO THAT WAS DEFINITELY THE CASE OF OLD ANDERSON HIGH SCHOOL.
UM, AND WHEN THIS SCHOOL WAS UNABLE TO DE-SEGREGATE, AS IN, THEY COULD NOT ENTICE, UM, WHITE STUDENTS WHO WERE ZONED TO GO TO THIS SCHOOL TO ACTUALLY SHOW UP AND GO TO SCHOOL THERE.
UH, THE SCHOOL WAS CLOSED AND FORMER OF STUDENTS WERE THEN BUSED TO DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOLS IN OTHER PARTS OF TOWN.
UM, I ALSO AM GOING TO JUST SHARE THAT.
I HOPE THAT YOU CAN LOOK INTO SOME OF THE HISTORY HERE, UM, THAT IS PRESENTED IN THIS AUSTIN PBS SERIES CALLED AUSTIN REVEALED.
THEY'VE DONE A SERIES WHERE THEY DO SOME DEEP DIVES INTO DESEGREGATION AND EDUCATION, NOT JUST OF AUSTIN'S BLACK SCHOOLS, BUT ALSO SOME OF THE HISTORY OF OUR LATIN X COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN AND THE CHICANO CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AND WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE AND TRYING TO ADVOCATE FOR MORE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATION, UM, FOR OUR LATIN X COMMUNITY.
UM, AND SO I'LL ENCOURAGE YOU TO, TO FOLLOW SOME OF THESE LINKS.
UM, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ON THAT SUBJECT, UM, THERE'S ALSO CLEARLY A CONNECTION THEN FROM SOME OF OUR EDUCATIONAL HISTORY AND SOME OF OUR OTHER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES HERE AND TO LEADING TO THE TECH CENTER THAT WE HAVE BECOME IN MANY WAYS ARE INTO BUILDING THE TECH INDUSTRY IN AUSTIN THAT WE HAVE, AS WE KNOW THAT MANY PUBLIC INVESTMENTS WENT INTO EFFORTS TO EXPAND AUSTIN'S TECH ECONOMIES, AND YET THOSE PUBLIC BENEFITS WERE NOT EQUITABLY RECEIVED BY ALL AUSTINITES.
AND WE KNOW THAT AUSTIN'S TECH INDUSTRY IS A PRIMARILY WHITE WORKFORCE EVEN TODAY, DUE TO BARRIERS AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND OTHER FACETS OF