The piece explores the still-visible effects of discriminatory housing policies that affected Black families moving to Cleveland, which Michney described in his book Surrogate Suburbs: Black Upward Mobility and Neighborhood Change in Cleveland, 1900-1980.
Excerpt:
]]>Figures show the number of “non-white” residents grew from roughly 8700 in 1910 to more than 243,000 in 1959.
Reaction to this population explosion was blunt—and racist.
“White people, as more black people moved to Cleveland, were less willing to share space and live next to them,” said Michney. “They would react violently if African Americans started moving out of the area they considered acceptable.”
And thus, the practice of hemming in Black people into certain areas began. Lending institutions drew up maps that deemed largely white areas as good and minority areas as bad.
“If you trace the financial dimensions of it. These houses have not appreciated in value as much, so that’s had all kinds of effects,” noted Michney. “Any new development after 1920, you could basically expect to find deed restrictions, saying this property cannot be sold to a black person.”