What can we do?
“The key to moving forward is what we do with our discomfort. We can use it as a door out—blame the messenger and disregard the message. Or we can use it as a door in by asking, Why does this unsettle me? What would it mean for me if this were true?” ― Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism Slavery in New York State
Henrietta Penfield Rochester Gates
Fitzhugh Street. Charles Carroll Park. Hopkins Park. Williamson. Mount Morris. Pultneyville. Gates. Henrietta. Penfield. Our Rochester
297 Alexander Street
“I shall always feel more at home there than anywhere in the country.” Abolition and Education Underground Railroad in Greece
G.C. Latta House Quinby House Suffrage
17 Madison Street Innovation Civil Rights Leaders Disparity
“African American children in our region are more than four times as likely as whites to live in poverty. Both African Americans and Latinos are less than half as likely to own their homes as their white counterparts.” 2020 ACT Rochester Hard Facts Report Housing Segregation New York Schools are the most segregated
“The nation’s most segregating school district border divides Rochester from Penfield.” -2020 Life Expectancy “A child from Pittsford’s 14534 ZIP code born today will live up to nine years longer than a child from Rochester’s 14608 ZIP code
-Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency (FLHSA) 2017 Wealth Gap 2011 “In 2011, the median $111,146 white household had a net worth of $111,146, compared with $7,113 for the median black $7,113 household”
-NYT 2017 What can we do? Howard Coles The Voice Housing Study 1938 1942 Dr. Anthony Jordan “In Rochester the Negro death rate from all causes is 50% higher than that of whites. The Tuberculosis death rate among Negroes in Rochester is two and one-half times that of whites.” Speaking Out Against Racism in Healthcare 1947 UR Medical School allows 1 black medical and 1 black nursing student
Dr. Jacob Knox NAACP Harper Sibley NAACP “The housing situation always has been an enigma to the Negro. In Rochester only two areas have been gracefully made available for him. If any attempt is made to move out of the black ghetto the attempt is met with opposition.” ― Rev. Charles Boddie, Mt. Olivet Baptist Church Presentation Outline • Real Estate Industry • Restrictive covenants/racial covenants • Redlining • VA and FHA backed Mortgages • Urban Renewal and Displacement • Education 1910-1970: The Great Migration
Sanford FL Real Estate Industry: National Association of Real Estate Boards
For more than 30 years, the code read: "A realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood a character of property or occupancy, members of any race or nationality, or any individuals whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values in that neighborhood." Dr. Walter Cooper
“I then confronted the housing segregation in Rochester. In 1954, the wife and I answered ads for sixty-nine apartments and were refused at all of them.”
D & C 1969 1957 19th Ward: Dr. Alice Holloway Young, Real Estate Industry, & the local KKK
Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY 07 Feb 1986 1957 19th Ward: Harper Sibley
1910-1948 Restrictive Covenants Monroe County Legislator and County Manager 1939 Irondequoit: Belmeade, Thornton, Wyndale, and Newport Heights Tract
County Manager Clarence A. Smith 1936-1959 Brighton Kodak: Restrictive Covenants
Monroe County Clerk, Liber 1479 Page 314, Photo by Shane Wiegand 1939 Discriminatory Hiring at Kodak According to the February 1921 edition of Kodak magazine, “One of the prime objectives of the Eastman Savings & Loan Association is to encourage and aid as many as possible of our employees in purchasing and owning a home.” Greece: Dewey Stone Tract, Denise Road, & Marwood
-Monroe County Clerk Liber 1465 p. 542 Greece Latona Homesteads 1936 Subdivision Wide Restrictions in Greece "Latona Homesteads" Subdivision by Harry Haight. In 1936, developer Harry D. Haight filed the restrictive covenants to comer all lots in the Latona Homesteads subdivision in Greece. Within those covenants was a racial covenant stating, "No lot or dwelling shall be sold to or occupied by a colored person." Certificate of Restrictions, Sept. 11, 1936, Deeds Liber 1779 at Page 456. Brighton: Restrictive Covenants
County Clerk Liber 1293 p. 593
Pittsford: Restrictive Covenants
-Monroe County Clerk Liber 1245 p. 121 Spencerport N. Union Street Perinton/East Rochester 1938 Forest Lawn Coranado Beach Webster 1923 Irondequoit: Restrictive Covenants Penfield: Dayton Corners and Penfield Manor
Partial Subdivision Restrictions in Penfield "Dayton View" Subdivision by Harvey E. Dayton. In 1940, Penfield developer Harvey E. Dayton filed a declaration of restrictions covering all lots additions made in the Dayton View subdivision in Penfield. Within that declaration was a racial covenant stating, "Each and every lot shall be used by white persons only, not excluding bona fide servants of any race." Declaration of Restrictions, June 25, 1940, Deed Liber 2016 at Page 426. Gates: Restrictive Covenants Norman Huyck President of Rochester Builders Association
Brooklea Builder Norman Huyck Gates Acre Gardens 1939 Deed created by Early F. Case who would later be elected president of the Rochester Bar Subdivision Wide Restrictions in Gates "Acre Gardens" Subdivision by Earl Case. In 1937, Earl F. Case filed a uniform plan of restrictions on the "Acre Gardens" subdivision in Gates. Within that plan was a racial covenant stating, "No race nor nationality other than those from whom the premises are intended shall use or occupy any dwelling on the premises, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race or nationality employed by an owner or tenant." Uniform Plan of Restrictions, Sept. 10, 1937, Miscellaneous Liber 38 at Page 221. Rochester: Beechood, North Winton, & Browncroft
Monroe County Clerk, Liber 1501 page 106, Photo by Shane Wiegand Judge Reuben Davis 19th Ward “My wife and I were looking for a house. This was in 1958. We saw a house we liked on 135 Elmdorf avenue in Rochester just a block or so West of Genesee street.
The owner refused to sell to us because we were black. There was a restrictive covenant in the deed that these houses when built were not to be sold to the colored and Italians.” I was active in the NAACP at that time so a white friend bought the house and transferred it to me. So we had to go through those kind of devious methods in order to find housing.
I think that was pretty typical in the difficulty for getting decent safe housing even if you could afford. To my knowledge there were very few persons of color living in the towns. Very few in Henrietta, none in Pittsford, very few in Irondequoit, none in the town of Webster, the towns west of the city in Gates, Greece, practically none. Known Covenants Pittsford Rochester Irondequoit Greece Gates Brighton Penfield Webster Fairport East Rochester Source: Yale Environmental Protect Clinic 2020 Known Covenants Pittsford Rochester Irondequoit Greece Gates Brighton Penfield Webster Fairport East Rochester Source: Yale Environmental Protect Clinic 2020 New Deal: National Housing Act of 1934
Harris & Ewing, photographer / Library of Congress 1936 FHA Underwriting Manual (applied to VA loans) 1939 FHA Underwriting Manual- deed restrictions
“To be most effective, deed restrictions should be imposed upon all land in the immediate environment of the subject location . . . Recommended restrictions should include provisions for the following... Prohibition of the occupancy of properties except by the race for which they are intended." “Time and again, powerful and brilliant men and women have produced racist ideas in order to justify the racist policies of their era” -Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning “The ultimate goal of racism was the profit and comfort of the white race, specifically, of rich white men.” -Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race Redlining: Enforcing the National Housing Act of 1934 Assessor’s Report: Corn Hill Assessor’s Report: Pittsford Assessor’s Report: Beechwood and Meadowbrook Suburbs Greenlined 1960: 11 Individual people of color in Henrietta Source: Democrat and Chronicle 21 Feb 1994 The FHA and VA insured half of all new mortgages nationwide. The FHA and VA gave out over $119 billion in mortgage insurance
1947 Chief Rochester FHA Underwriter Alfred C. Gertis breaks ground on whites only veterans housing in Brighton. Over 35 Million families benefited from FHA and VA backed loans; 98% of them were white
Douglas Foxall at ES&L giving out the first GI Loan in NYS Normalizing Racism in Rochester Kodak Annual Minstrel Show Bethany Presbyterian 1935 Barnard Fire Dept Annual Show Greece CSD 1960 “This play will prove that grown-ups are not the only ones that can black their faces to perform by singing, dancing and wise cracking. Teacher Mrs. Betty Davis Greece Wesley Methodist Church 1958 Greece Grace Lutheran 1952 North Greece Fire Dept 1950 at Town Hall
“North Greece Fire Department and Auxiliary present their blackface extravaganza at the Town Hall” Greece Holy Cross Men’s Club Charlotte H.S. 1932 , 41, 51 Lead by principal West Irondequoit First Presbyterian Spencerport High School 1937 Webster Fire Dept. 1949 Jewish Youth Association 1943 RCSD School No. 5 Allendale Private School in Pittsford 1948 and 1949 Pittsford 1953 : Holy Name Society of St. Louis Parish Annual Minstrel Show
R.I.T. Delta Omicron’s Annual Minstrel Show 1951 Towns that hosted blackface minstrel shows Greece Brockport Sodus Point
Irondequoit Dansville Walworth
Webster Lyons Albion
Penfield Clyde Dundee
Fairport Seneca Falls Phelps
Pittsford Geneva Perry
Victor Marion Geneseo
Henrietta Ontario Nunda
Gates Newark Farmington
Churchville Penn Yann Palmyra
Canandaigua Hemlock North Rose Wolcott
Honeoye Falls Williamson 1961 NAACP Condemns Racist Shows
“Blackface minstrel shows must be banned from all public and private schools, churches and public buildings. To do otherwise [will] cripple permanently the attitudes of all the white youth involved in these community-accepted shows, toward all of the dark-skinned people of the world.” 1958 NYS Commission Against Discrimination
Governor Harriman 1950 Monroe County: 80% of people of color lived in the 3rd and 7th Wards “More than 1,600 units in both wards either had no bath or it was shared, and in more than 2,000 units there was more than one person per room.”
Democrat and Chronicle 1946 Constance Mitchell “We were living in a community that was bursting at the seams because there was not open housing.
When John and I bought our house on Grieg Street, the real estate agent told us, said, "I can't show ya houses west of Jefferson Avenue. It's just not open to blacks." So that we were confined, from Jefferson Avenue back to the river, to look for a place to live on the west side of the city.” 7th & 3rd Wards: 30% of all units no running water Lead Poisoning, Rats, Eviction Move in Violence & White Resistance Dick Ricketts Peter Tolliver 1960 Ellen Stubbs Greece 1963 1958: No FHA or VA loan given to people of color in any suburb 1950 to 1970, the population of the town of Pittsford jumped from about 9,400 to over 25,000 residents
-Bero Architecture Pittsford Historic Resource Survey 1960 - Pinehill Dr. Update 2017 People of color would have been denied mortgages for purchasing these homes. Urban Renewal and Displacement of 7th Ward 886 Families 3rd Ward: 850 Families
Plymouth and Troup Policing and Redlining 1964 Uprising: Caused by displacement, lack of running water, and police brutality –Vacca 1989 1964 Uprising: Caused by displacement, lack of running water, and police brutality –Vacca 1989 1968 Fair Housing Act 1972: Nixon orders Fair Housing Act to not be enforced
“I am convinced that while legal segregation is totally wrong that forced integration of housing or education is just as wrong.
I realize that this position will lead us to a situation in which blacks will continue to live for the most part in black neighborhoods and where there will be predominantly black schools and predominately white schools.” -President Richard Nixon 1972 Brown V. Board of Education
Little Rock 9 – Elizabeth Eckford 1957 Charlotte H.S. 1971 1966 150 White Youth Protest Open Enrollment RCSD School Integration 71-72
“Tension developed at Charlotte H.S. yesterday after three black girls were cut by flying glass on a bus that was stoned” Violence at Charlotte H.S. We're on the bus and as soon as we get to the graveyard on Lake Avenue, they would hide in the graveyard and there was a wall, and they'd come out from behind the wall and throw bricks, rocks, iron, anything they could find at the bus. They'd bust the windows, people would start screaming. -James Beard BSU President Interview with Justin Murphy Value of Integration When you're young and you're black and you come from a totally black environment and community, you learn something when you're immersed into a white culture and community that's automatic. You learn how to deal with white people in a way that's almost organic. I am so grateful, regardless of all that happened at Charlotte – all the tears, all the fighting, all the blood, everything – I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to meet people whether they were black [or] white. ... Because I didn't have any white friends. There were no white people in my community.
When I started to develop friendships with those young white guys, I had a consciousness shift, and my revolutionary [attitude] of, ‘All white people need to just die’ – regardless of what was going on at Charlotte, I then knew – ‘Wait a minute, all white people aren't like that. I actually love some of these people.’ And I know that sounds crazy, but I'm grateful for that.
-James Beard Interview with Justin Murphy Segregation Today Concentration of Poverty Owner Occupied Homes Empire Justice: Home Purchase Loan Denial Rates by Census Tract 2013 Food Insecurity Rate Asthma High Blood Pressure Life Expectancy “Current residents of city neighborhoods that were historically redlined have a life expectancy five years shorter than those in neighborhoods coded green, the highest rating.” Covid-19 Four of the five zip codes with the most COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents were redlined. Wealth Gap 2017: “For every $100 that an average white family has in wealth, an average black family has $5.” –Yale 2017
Source: Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Corporation For Economic Development (CFED) 2016
Presentation Summary
•Real Estate Industry •Restrictive covenants/racial covenants •Redlining •VA and FHA backed Mortgages •Urban Renewal Owning and telling our story
“You have to commit to truth- telling first. You can’t jump to reconciliation until you tell the truth … You don’t have to go outside your own institution. You can begin your own truth telling.”
-Bryan Stevenson Antiracist Curriculum 1967 Antiracist Curriculum Project Mission Our team is committed to empowering students, teachers, and educational leaders with instructional resources on the local history of structural racism and civil rights in Monroe County. We support students and educators in the co-creation, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum that will allow students to explore and interpret our local history through rich primary sources. We want students to be critical consumers of information, share their unique perspectives, and work with others collaboratively to make claims supported by evidence. Ultimately, we want students to be informed in order to be active and engaged citizens in our community.
Vision Every high school graduate in Monroe County will learn about our local history as well as the contemporary realities of structural racism AND have an opportunity to build a more just and equitable community through their education.
Case Studies This curriculum has been designed as a series of Case Studies to fit into existing curriculum in local districts. The resources can be used as part of a Social Studies unit, in an interdisciplinary unit of instruction, or adapted to be a stand-alone unit. Advisory Board
Jennifer Bannister Ph.D. Development & Kesha James Teacher RCSD Collaborations Manager, Teen Empowerment Stephen LaMorte Social Studies Director RCSD Simeon Banister RACF Joanne Mattiucci Former Director of Professional Kevin Beckford Pittsford Town Board Development at RHCSD Jackie Campbell Terrance McCarthy Ed.D. K-12 Director of Humanities, WCSD Alliance Director, ROC the Future Shaun Nelms Ed.D. Superintendent, East High School Alex Castro CEO, PathStone Wade Norwood NYS Regent CEO, Common Ground Walter Cooper Ph.D. NYS Regent Emeritus Health Ashley Gantt Lead Organizer, NYCLU Sarah Peyre Ed.D Dean of UR Warner School Joan Coles Howard Former editor of the Jason Willis Ph.D., Director of Afro-American Studies, Frederick Douglass Voice Newspaper RCSD David Hursh Ph.D. Professor, Warner School Lawrence ‘Bo’ Wright Superintendent, RHCSD of Education Place based, culturally responsive, developmentally appropriate, antiracist curriculum Shared Definitions Restorative Practices Critical Thinking Boxing Protocol Inquiry
Mystery source
Common Source
Jigsaw Sources Local Activism Antiracist Curriculum Project: Rochester's Untaught History of Structural Racism & Resistance Discussion