Civil Rights & Earlham Archives

Aiken, Charles S. “Race as a Factor in Municipal Underbounding.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77, no. 4 (December 1, 1987): 564–579. 

            In this article, Aiken attempts to outline the migration of rural blacks to local municipalities like the Yazoo Delta instead of their annexation to residential areas under a racial lens. Federal housing programs, changes in agriculture and employment opportunities played a role in the redistribution of blacks which according to Aiken evidenced significant segregation. Aiken’s research outlines the trend of federal housing programs following the 1964 Civil Rights to systemically spatially redistribute blacks into inner city concentrations separate from the residential white communities. The author is forward about her thesis and uses proper research methods, i.e. maps of black redistribution, as evidence to support his claims. Aiken’s research was conducted during the late 1980’s, which is relevant to the context of this project.

Bonastia, Christopher. 2006. Knocking on the door: The federal government’s attempt to desegregate the suburbs. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

            In this book, Bonastia discusses the racial segregation of housing in America between primarily 1968 and 1973. This book was written to provide analysis to why desegregation efforts failed and why it was so difficult to desegregate America during the Civil Rights era. The author provides a lot of data from HUD which was a very active organization in monitoring housing in America. Bonastia provides the reader with a different insight to the housing disparity and dilemma of the Civil Rights era. The author provides information that is relevant to the context of the Civil Rights movement.

Dusen, Richard C. Van. “Civil Rights and Housing.” The Urban Lawyer 5, no. 3 (July 1, 1973): 576–589.

            In this article, Dusen sets out to bridge the gap between written housing laws and the application of the law in real life. As a lawyer and member of President Nixon’s administration, Dusen provided insight to the racially biased housing opportunities presented in America. He provides possible solutions to this problem created by the Nixon Administration and HUD which will create more equal and fair housing opportunities. This article provides reliable information that details the racialized housing inequalities that plagued America during the Civil Rights movement. Dusen’s arguments and methods were articulated and supported very well.

Grier, George W., Eunice S. Grier. 1966. Equality and beyond; housing segregation and the goals of the Great Society. Chicago: Quadrangle Books.

            In this book, the authors provide a narrative of segregated housing detailing how it happened and how federal legislations and policies prior to the 1960’s assisted with the segregation of housing.  Segregated housing gave rise to racialized “ghettos” which were predominantly occupied by African Americans. Such racialized ghettos affect the education, economy, and social structure of African Americans. Racial discrimination lays at the root of the aggregation of African Americans into these segregated ghettos. The authors both hold positions in the government focused on Civil Rights and poverty which make them credible sources in discussing housing segregation in relation to the Civil Rights movement. This book is within the context of the Civil Rights movement.

Hawley, Amos Henry, and Vincent P. Rock. 1973. Segregation in residential areas; papers on racial and socioeconomic factors in choice of housing. Washington: National Academy of Sciences.

            Hawley’s book provides insight to the segregation of residential areas in America. Hawley provides information that allows the audience to identify factors contributing to segregation and factors that are preventing the desegregation of residential areas. This book provides a structural framework of the housing dilemma of the Civil Rights movement. This book can be used as a foundation to build a plan to combat segregation and unequal housing opportunities in America. His inclusion of physchological surveys and census information makes his book a reliable source of information on the housing dilemma in the United States during the Civil Rights movement.

Konvitz, Milton R., and Theodore Leskes. 1961. A century of civil rights. New York: Columbia University Press.

            This book provides an overview to the Civil Rights movement and its development. This book discusses different federal and municipal legislation that contributed to the racial segregation and discrimination in housing which is important in understanding the role housing played in the Civil Rights movement. It was published before the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 which outlawed racial discrimination and demanded equal and fair housing to all citizens. The authors are both from a prestigious academic background which was evident in their thorough, descriptive analysis of the Civil Rights movement. The information presented in this book is relevant to the context of the housing inequalities during the Civil Rights era.

Ledbetter, William H., Jr. “Public Housing. A Social Experiment Seeks Acceptance.” Law and Contemporary Problems 32, no. 3 (July 1, 1967): 490–527.

            In this article, Ledbetter intimately analyzes public housing’s origin and how it works which has very significant racial implications. This article was written to provide an analysis of public housing to determine whether it is a program that can be beneficial to all members of society and whether it can become an accepted program. This provides support for my research because public housing is low income housing which phenotypically is high rise and high density. During the time of the Civil Rights movement blacks were by majority low income impoverished families. The addition of public housing created highly populated “ghettos” of blacks separate from the white residential areas which were well groomed. This paper by established attorney William Ledbetter hints towards the institutionalized segregation of blacks and whites by the federal government via the implementation of public housing. Ledbetter’s article applies to the context of this project and is very descriptive and well researched.

Momeni, Jamshid A. 1986. Race, ethnicity, and minority housing in the United States. New York: Greenwood Press.

            In this book, Momeni provides insight to the housing disparity between minorities and white Americans. She provides a detailed narrative of the history of the housing disparity in the United States by outlining how public policies affected minorities and the institutionalized residential segregation of minorities. This book was written in order to publicize how the housing situation during the 1980’s was derived from a long history of unfair housing provided to minorities in America. This relates to the Civil Rights movement because the unequal opportunities allotted to minorities during that era have had a lasting effect on current housing structures in America. This is credible information because it is a compilation of articles from professionals with varying backgrounds including geography, urban planning, sociology, etc.

Saltman, Juliet. “Housing Discrimination: Policy Research, Methods and Results.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science441 (January 1, 1979): 186–196.

            In this article, Saltman provides national HUD audit information that measures the extent and nature of racial discrimination in America. This article was written to quantify one of the most contributing factors to discrimination and segregation during the Civil Rights movement which is racial discrimination in housing opportunities. This article is useful in supporting my research because it details statistically how racial discrimination in housing is prevalent amongst varying geographical locations in the States. This research was well formulated and took into account several varying controls and standardizations that separated it from previous local audits. This article is within the context of the Civil Rights movement.

Shay, A. (2012, November). Housing discrimination « Publishing the Long Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved March 20, 2014, fromhttps://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/tag/housing-discrimination/

            This website provides information about housing discrimination during the Civil Rights movement by including synopsis of several court cases dealing with housing discrimination and information about the legislation involved with fair housing. The inclusion of synopsis of the court cases allows the reader an opportunity to conceptualize how serious an issue housing discrimination was during the Civil Rights movement. The author provides links to several other sources in order to support the information presented on the website and to allow the reader an opportunity to expand on the topics raised on the website. This is website is an excerpt from an archive done at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill about the Civil Rights movement. The author concisely and effectively discusses housing discrimination during the Civil Rights movement. 

By Desmond Adeniyi