35 Comments

    1. MissionResident8875 on

      Same with the freeways in Michigan they curved them right through important black neighborhoods

    2. themightyspitz on

      Same with the unincorporated community of Willard in Northern Virginia, now Dulles International Airport.

    3. BehindtheCamera on

      This is all right out of the Robert Moses playbook. A truly despicable human being whose ideas have done immense harm long after his much too long and comfortable life ended. The Power Broker is a great read for anyone who wants to understand the decision-making behind a lot of civil projects that are purported to be for the general good, but almost always disproportionately harm immigrant and minority communities.

    4. Hot take Central Park shouldn’t be Central Park, having all the green space in one place defeats the purpose.

    5. The classic “why did they put this there?” but it’s just due to them destroying black communities

    6. socialcommentary2000 on

      From the 1800’s to about the 1970s, The West Side of Manhattan from the 70’s all the way down to the battery were all either: Railyards, Docks, Warehouses or industrial production facilities. They were never putting the park on the west side.

      People gotta learn some history.

    7. That’s where it was originally going to be placed but a bunch of rich white men didn’t want to give up their land.

      So they seized it from black people instead.

    8. Racist origin certainly, but isn’t it also better that it’s closer to the center of the island for somewhat equitable access to all? Property on the park is already beyond insane just imagine if you cut down access by half – plus all the bull shit they would probably throw up at that point like private access routes vs very inconvenient public ones because all the property owners could more easily collude… if you could wave a magic wand and put it anywhere you want without harming or displacing anyone I think you still want to put it in the middle.

    9. It’s crucial to mention that the city didn’t just take the land, they assassinated the residents characters to justify it. The media at the time ran a smear campaign calling Seneca Village a ‘shantytown’ filled with ‘squatters’ and ‘thieves.’ In reality, it was a thriving, predominantly Black middle class neighborhood where most people owned their homes. This wasn’t just about housing it was about disenfranchisement. Back then, Black men needed to own at least $250 in property to vote. By destroying Seneca Village, the city didn’t just tear down houses, they wiped out a significant hub of Black political power.

    10. Sometimes I wonder if good behaviour, being a law abiding citizen and being respectful is just a leash they put on you so that you don’t rock the boat and somehow upset the status quo.

      Because shit wasn’t won and claimed back in the day with good behaviour and being respectful. And the unfair apportionment of wealth and quality of life is not enjoyed and not enjoyed because of good behaviour and respect for others.

      This shit doesn’t change by being a good citizen and abiding by it

    11. Weird-Information-61 on

      White, black, or anywhere in between, poor people are often the victims of “much needed infrastructure”

    12. I recently learned that dulles airport is on land stolen from a black community called Willard

    13. Yeah the people in charge of these projects were racist af. Read about all the neighborhoods destroyed by the cross bronx expressway.

    14. ‘Why don’t black people build wealth inside their own communities?’

      Because every time we do they destroy it. Every time.

    15. Dear-Relationship666 on

      They did that to a lot of black people in Los Angeles…. took huge swathes of neighborhoods. Also, we had a lot of coastal land as it wasn’t considered valuable land decades back.

      Then they wanted it back… we all know how that went

    16. Pittsburgh had the lower hill district cleared out to make way for the civic arena and its parking lots. Now the arena is gone, but the land is still empty.

    17. tonya5mooch3113 on

      lol why does this feel like every family reunion ever, sb always spilling the tea on who did what

    18. SheepherderRare5102 on

      Seems village was 5 acres and had 250 people – 1/3 of whom were white. Jesus. Central Park is 800 acres.

      Act like it was wakanda

    19. Leather_Fix_9546 on

      lol wild to thik people were having picnics in there while the civil war was going on nearby

    20. Since you mentioned Lake Lanier, I have spent time there since my friend grew up on the lake and she told me that people have gone on dives and can still see gravestones from the actual graveyard that was flooded to make the lake. It’s so sad.

    21. Let’s add Washington Dulles Airport built over a thriving community called Willard VA and the Pentagon which was built over an Arlington VA area called Queen City while we’re at it.

    22. TheTresStateArea on

      Okay okay I have a stupid story about this twitter post.

      It was once shared in /r/nonpoliticaltwitter and fuckin OP and noone else understood what the fuck the context of central park was.

    23. TreeInternational771 on

      Things like this just serve as daily reminder how much America doesn’t give a damn about black folks. No atonement no remorse just telling us all to “move on” and that “it was so long ago”.

    24. Familiar-Dog-3596 on

      City of Atlanta under Kasim Reed condemned a historic African American church to build Mercedes Benz Stadium.

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