RICE UNIVERSITY Criminalizing Space
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
RICE UNIVERSITY Criminalizing Space: Ideological and Institutional Productions of Race, Gender, and State-sanctioned Violence in Houston, 1948-1967 by David Ponton III A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE Doctor of Philosophy in History APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE HOUSTON, TEXAS March 3, 2017 ABSTRACT Criminalizing Space: Ideological and Institutional Productions of Race, Gender, and State-sanctioned Violence in Houston, 1948-1967 by David Ponton III Criminalizing Space is a social history of ideas that explores various ways racial residential segregation affected the life chances of black Houstonians during the middle of the twentieth century. Jim Crow polices, custom, and living patterns marginalized black citizens from their white counterparts, negatively shaping the ways white people could relate to black people and the places they lived in. As Jim Crow slowly withered away, however, Houstonians struggled to redefine the meaning of race in ways that could be compatible with liberal individualism. Many came to rely on spatial logics. Spatial distance undergirded the social distance that stratified groups in a persistent racial hierarchy. It allowed for sustained Negrophobia, which included notions that black people were inherently predisposed or culturally conditioned to live in squalor, indulge in vice, and practice crime. For many white Houstonians, these were inherent in black spaces and justified the need for their containment through various forms of municipal neglect and abuse. Despite the efforts of black women activists, politicians, and philanthropists, the criminalization of black spaces had devastating effects on black people. It overexposed them to environmental hazards, poverty, violent crime, and police brutality. Spatial marginalization exacerbated the effects of these on black women, who faced sexual assault at the hands of police officers and employers as well as increased risks for assault and murder by their intimate partners in their own homes. And in contradistinction to its reputation as a progressive city, Houston did not relinquish Jim Crow without state-sanctioned violence. Residential segregation and so-called criminal justice were maintained as linchpins of the city’s new racial order as it looked toward the end of the twentieth century. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Beholden I am to so many gracious and loving people. Dr. Alex Byrd, thank you for being Literally the best advisor I could have hoped for. It’s quite a story, isn’t it: A high school teacher arriving at Rice University, hoping to get a doctorate but not entirely Convincing regarding what it would mean for him? Your initial belief, steadfast attention, and Kindness helped me realize a dream I didn’t even know I had. Likewise, to the remainder of my committee: Randall Hall, Lora Wildenthal, & Brian Riedel, I feel like I hit the jackpot of all things good. Each of you has been an encouraging, attentive, Vibrant participant throughout the duration of my graduate school career. Moreover, Each one of you has helped train me as a junior scholar, whether in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality or working at the Journal of Southern History. Make no mistake reader, as author of this work, in many ways I am merely synecdoche for An academic community that continues to support me. To my colleagues in history: Maria, Andrew (and Tara), Kelly, Wright, Wes— Thanks for your symbolic and material support and your generosity in offering it. Elizabeth Korver-Glenn and Junia Howell, my brilliant sociologists of housing, space, and Race: I look forward to continuing to work with y’all in perpetuity. Friends and family understand what the reader may not: the young David Ponton who grew up in Trenton, New Jersey had no aspirations—indeed, could not fathom pursuing a life of the mind. Undoubtedly, this project is a consequence of their labors, fears, struggles, anxieties, and love as much as it is of my own. Christian, Kiara, and Najee—my nephews and niece—this dissertation is an expression of my hope for you. Kiyana, Jermaine, and Daiquan—my amazing, inspiring siblings—this project is an expression of our shared frustrations and our resilience against the suffocating forces that created the ghettoes we managed to survive. Whither that resiliance? History suggests we can only know by looking backward. Indeed, my parents Sandra Marie and David Jr. are a wonder to behold. Tenacious, hard-working, loving, and protective; I hope that I am a reflection of the best in both of you. Every day I am grateful for the lessons I have learned from you: to listen before speaking, to believe in redemption, and to love beyond where it hurts. Surely, my list of family members and friends who have made this work possible through their emotional support is endless, though I’ll try to fit in as many as I can: Tilisia (who has played Words with Friends with me since I first told her I was leaving New Jersey back in 2012) and Aunt Monique and Uncle Reggie (both of whom gave me a place to lay my head on research trips). Uncle Robert, Aunt Cheryl, and Uncle Jake George, all of whom have made time for me through this process: thank you. Profusely, I give all of the heart emojis possible to my Aunt Sylvia Edwards (or, just Aunty), who always and only invokes images of love and care whenever I think of her. Representing Trenton, my friends Elizabeth Emmanuel, Shamelle Ingram, Roy Dean Johnson Jr., and Fonz Ford—y’all know how I feel about each of you. Everyone from Houston—Brandon Lewis, Richard Prather, Cecilia Oyediran, Lisa Daniels, Morgan Owens, Jaison Oliver, Meghan and David Holmes, Marie iv Kunthara—thanks for being the relief I needed from my academic life, and understanding when Introvert David couldn’t do much more than lay on the couch. My dear friends and colleagues from Ewing High School: Kelly and Sean Hammer, Danielle Miller, Mary Sedhom, and Alison Sipe, I treasure each of you. And of course, Dave Hurley, my supervisor in the social studies department at EHS: thanks for taking a chance on a bright-eyed college grad. Certainly, I have not forgotten my Princeton friends: Brandee Tate (who I count among the loves of my life) and Samantha Hyacinth (who brings me endless joy and sunshine). Yes, there’s a hidden message in all of this. Of course, I realize the length of these acknolwedgements is getting unruly, but take it as a sign that I truly believe that this project would not be possible without the folks who have shaped me as a scholar and as a person for as far back as I can remember. So thank you: to the primary and secondary school educators who changed my world in the most profound ways: Ms. Gross (third grade), Rosemary Leonard-Bethea, Doug Larkin, and Dr. Gloria Albright; to the undergraduate and graduate professors who whet my appetite for scholarship and showed me it was okay to labor toward what mattered most to me: Drs. Sarah Jane (Saje) Mathieu, Eddie Glaude, Cornel West, Erin Cech, Susan Lurie, Michael Emerson; to fellow graduate students who have been thoughtful and critical and have provided me some of the best reprieve from academia: Dr. Meina Yates-Richard, Denise Burgher, Maco Faniel, Jermaine Thibodeaux, and Zora Hamsa; to Edwin Breeden who introduced me to Rice on my prospective visit back in 2012 and has been a helpful colleague since; to Linda Spiro, Siu Min Yu, Ms. Ann (Bazile), Ericka Goudeau-Diliberti, and Anna Shparberg—the best librarians on either side of the Mississippi; to the brilliant educators at the Princeton University Program in Teacher Preparation—Drs. Jason Klugman, Torey Wilson, Todd Kent, and the great John Webb—I’m not sure you’ll ever understand what you’ve done for me; to the archivists who make it all possible—Joyce Thomas (TSU) and Hellena Stokes and Ingrid Grant (Gregory School); and to Houston Arts and Media, the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL) in partnership with the African American Library at the Gregory School in the Houston Public Library System, the Dolph Briscoe for American History, and the Texas State Historical Association for supporting my research. To the Partners of the Center of the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (CSWGS) at Rice University: your visionary dissertation fellowship was a true gift, and I look forward to becoming a partner as well to ensure that your legacy continues to benefit other Rice graduate students. To the Rice University History Department: you are the best. And there was no department, for me, without Beverly Konzem, Erin Baezner, Lydia Westbrook, and Lisa Tate. Dr. Bethany Johnson of the Journal of Southern History— thanks for always making me feel welcome to sit in your office and interrupt your quiet days. Beyoncé, thanks for producing two phenomenal albums while I was in grad school, and Frank Ocean, thanks for writing powerful music. Lastly, and you four should be expecting this by now: LaTasha Riddick, not a day goes by that your text messages and the sound of your voice fail to reinvigorate me; Malcolm Pyles (soon-to-be Chelliah—congratulations!), you’re a friend and a brother, and geez, I’m not going to cry as I write this; Tameka Blackshir, we’re star-crossed, it’s true; and Michael Koch, you came along just in time, and “the laws of the world never stopped us once cause together we got plenty power (super power).” CONTENTS Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................... iii Contents ......................................................................................................................................................