The Demise of Segregation and the Origins of Divergence in South Africa and the American South
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2008 Crossing the Rubicon: The Demise of Segregation and the Origins of Divergence in South Africa and the American South Kyle Thomas Rector University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Geography Commons Recommended Citation Rector, Kyle Thomas, "Crossing the Rubicon: The Demise of Segregation and the Origins of Divergence in South Africa and the American South. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2008. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/342 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kyle Thomas Rector entitled "Crossing the Rubicon: The Demise of Segregation and the Origins of Divergence in South Africa and the American South." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geography. Charles Aiken, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Thomas Bell, Bruce Ralston, William Bruce Wheeler Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kyle Thomas Rector entitled “Crossing the Rubicon: The Demise of Segregation and the Origins of Divergence in South Africa and the American South.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geography. Charles Aiken, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Thomas Bell Bruce Ralston William Bruce Wheeler Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) Crossing the Rubicon The Demise of Segregation and the Origins of Divergence in South Africa and the American South A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee Kyle Thomas Rector May 2008 Copyright © 2008 by Kyle Thomas Rector All rights reserved ii To Susan, who loved me in spite of the dissertation Dis klaar! iii Acknowledgments There are many people to whom I am grateful for making the production of this dissertation so rewarding. To begin, I would like to thank my Dissertation committee, Thomas Bell, Bruce Ralston, William Bruce Wheeler, and especially my chair, Charles Aiken, for their patience and guidance during the writing of this document. I also wish to thank the Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Fund, W. K. McClure Fund for the Study of World Affairs, and National Security Education Program for providing funding that enabled me to undertake dissertation research in the Republic of South Africa. For my time in South Africa, I would like to thank Ben and Frikkie Swart for welcoming me into their home and making me feel like a member of their family. I also wish to thank Hanalie Barnard and others at the University of the Free State who eased my transition upon arrival in South Africa and provided me a base from which to undertake research. For their help in data acquisition, I would like to thank the staffs at the Bloemfontein Deeds Office, Telkom Directory Services, and the Bloemfontein Office of iv the South African Surveyor General. The greatest debt, however, is owed to my wife, Susan, and my parents General and Mrs. Lloyd Rector. My parents' help in data collection in Wilmington, North Carolina, and encouragement throughout have been invaluable. Finally, I wish to thank Susan for not only helping to collect data for the project and edit this document but also for giving me encouragement when I needed a push forward to overcome the numerous obstacles that have delayed the completion of this effort. v Abstract South Africa and the American South have long shared historical and socioeconomic commonalities. Of these similarities, their histories of governmentally-mandated racial segregation are what most often led people to draw comparisons between the two areas. Likewise, South Africa and the American South for much of the 20th century were considered atypical or exceptional when compared to their geographically proximate neighbors. Hence, research by Fredrickson, Cell, Sparks, and others identify how these two areas, though halfway around the globe from one another, have mirrored and impacted one another. With the demise of governmentally-mandated segregation in both areas, it is worth asking whether South Africa and the American South will continue to be similar to one another while being exceptional vis a vis their neighbors or whether this trait will fade. This dissertation uses a mixture of quantitatively-based research focusing on the cities of Bloemfontein, South Africa and Wilmington, North Carolina and more general qualitative analysis for South Africa and the American South to examine patterns of change vi during the transition from segregation to post-segregation periods in each region. It is argued that the end of segregation in South Africa and the American South may well have irrevocably set them on diverging paths as each becomes increasingly like their geographically proximate neighbors. vii Table of Contents Chapter Page Section 1: Introduction 1 Introduction.......................................2 2 A Comparison of the American South and South Africa......................................24 Section 2: Overview of the Study Areas 3 The American South Study Area of Wilmington, North Carolina....................................46 4 The South Africa Study Area of Bloemfontein.......89 Section 3: Research Results 5 Analysis of the Residential and Business Landscapes of Wilmington, North Carolina, During the Late Segregation and Early Post-Segregation Periods.........................136 6 Analysis of the Residential and Business Landscapes of Bloemfontein, South Africa, During the Late Apartheid and Early Post-Apartheid Periods...........................186 Section 4: Conclusions 7 Perceptions Versus Reality.......................235 8 The American South as a Road Map to South Africa's Future or a Divergence of Paths?........256 Bibliography............................................272 Vita....................................................290 viii List of Tables Table Page 3-1 Wilmington Subregions and Neighborhoods, 1970.....49 3-2 Wilmington Population Density Per Neighborhood, 1970..............................................74 3-3 Wilmington Percentage Black Population Per Neighborhood, 1970................................78 3-4 Wilmington Mean Family Income Per Neighborhood, 1970..............................................81 3-5 Wilmington Median Years of Education Per Neighborhood, 1970................................85 4-1 Bloemfontein Subregions and Neighborhoods, 1998...93 4-2 Bloemfontein Population Density Per Neighborhood, 1991...............................115 4-3 Bloemfontein Racial Composition Per Neighborhood, 1991...............................120 4-4 Bloemfontein Mean Per Capita Income Per Neighborhood, 1991...............................123 4-5 Bloemfontein Per Capita Median Education Per Neighborhood, 1991...............................128 5-1 Wilmington Real Estate Activity Normalized by Neighborhood Area, Late Segregation Period (1955-1964)......................................141 5-2 Wilmington Real Estate Activity Normalized by Neighborhood Area, Early Post-Segregation Period (1965-1970)...............................144 5-3 Wilmington Change in Real Estate Activity, Late Segregation (1955-1964) to Early Post-Segregation (1965-1970) Periods.............147 5-4 Wilmington Real Estate Values by Neighborhood, Late Segregation Period (1955-1964)..............151 5-5 Wilmington Real Estate Values by Neighborhood, Early Post-Segregation Period (1965-1970)........154 5-6 Wilmington Change in Real Estate Values, Late Segregation (1955-1964) to Early Post-Segregation (1965-1970) Periods.............158 5-7 Wilmington Businesses Per 1,000 Hectares of Neighborhood Area, Late Segregation Period (1955-1964)......................................161 ix List of Tables (cont.) Table Page 5-8 Wilmington Businesses Per 1,000 Hectares of Neighborhood Area, Early Post-Segregation Period (1965-1970)...............................165 5-9 Wilmington Change in Business Activity, Late Segregation (1955-1964) to Early Post-Segregation (1965-1970) Periods.............168 5-10 Socioeconomic Variables Used in the Correlation Analysis for Wilmington..............177 5-11 Wilmington Correlates to Change in Real Estate Activity, Late Segregation (1955-1964) to Early Post-Segregation (1965-1970) Periods.......178 5-12 Wilmington Correlates to Change in Real Estate Values, Late Segregation (1955-1964) to Early Post-Segregation (1965-1970) Periods.............180 5-13 Wilmington Correlates to Change in Business Locations,