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One of the most historically ignorant criticisms of black communities is that they haven’t done anything to advance themselves economically.
One of the most historically ignorant criticisms of black communities is that they haven’t done anything to advance themselves economically.
Americans are finally learning about Black Wall Street and how other instances of racial violence and city planning stole wealth opportunities from black communities.
Here’s Nashville’s story.
Here’s Nashville’s story.
Tourists come to Nashville each year to enjoy the honky tonks on Lower Broadway. For 30 years Jefferson Street was the black equivalent of Lower Broadway.
Today, the street’s glorious history is largely erased, locals turn their nose up at the area, and the neighborhood is slowly becoming unaffordable and unrecognizable.
Jefferson Street is first remembered as a footpath-turned-wagon road between the Hadley Plantation and the Cumberland River. (1800s) It was also the site of contraband camps during the Union occupation of Nashville. (1860s) http://www.tnstate.edu/library/documents/jeffst.pdf
At the end of the Civil War, the street was transformed into an area that served the local black population. Here are some of the notable institutions:
Fisk Free Colored School is established by John Ogden, the Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and the Reverend Edward P. Smith for the education of free blacks. (1865)
Named after Union General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau, the first class is held on January 9, 1866. https://www.fisk.edu/about/history/
Mount Zion Baptist, founded by Reverend Jordan Bransford in 1866, finally moves to Jefferson Street after several relocations. https://www.mtzionnashville.org/ourstory
The Jubilee Singers save Fisk Free Colored School, which has rapidly deteriorated at this point, by purchasing a site and building Jubilee Hall. (1871) FFCS is rechartered Fisk University. (1872) http://www.jumpnashville.com/jump-history/
Meharry Medical College, a dental and medical college, is established by the Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. (1876) The school was originally part of Central Tennessee College. https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/meharry-medical-college/
Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College is founded. (1912) The notable black institution is eventually changed to Tennessee State University between 1968 and 1974. http://www.tnstate.edu/president/presidents.aspx
St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and School is founded by American St. Katharine Drexel. (1932) The church, which is the only black Catholic parish in the Nashville Diocese, and school are created to minister to the North Nashville community. https://stvincentchurchfamily.com/our-history
With North Nashville established, the Golden Age of Jefferson Street (1930s to 1960s) began. Black-owned businesses thrived during this time. Like Lower Broadway, these businesses provided local entertainment, hosted celebrities, and gave a platform to rising musical talents.
Here are a few:
Del Morocco is a black-owned music venue that employs Jimi Hendrix in its house band. Del Morocco and similar venues, like Club Baron and the Black Diamond, also attracts black celebrities like Ray Charles and Jackie Robinson. The club is eventually destroyed to for I-40.
https://www.facebook.com/JSSbooking/photos/a.264096587344205/563075054113022/?type=3&theater
https://www.tnledger.com/editorial/ArticleEmail.aspx?id=82791
https://www.visitmusiccity.com/walkoffame/stars/jimi-hendrix.html
https://www.tnledger.com/editorial/ArticleEmail.aspx?id=82791
https://www.visitmusiccity.com/walkoffame/stars/jimi-hendrix.html
The Ritz Theater is a popular place to watch a show near Fisk’s campus. It operates from 1937 until 1969. There are some plans to use the theater to help the local community, but these are dropped and the theater is destroyed around the time I-40 is constructed.
(Here’s a much more extensive list of old businesses, courtesy of Jefferson Street Sound. http://jeffersonstreetsound.com/museum/about-jss/)
(More on Jefferson Street’s influence on rhythm & blues during this time, all thanks to the businesses in the area. https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/11/13/nashville-rock-music-cemented-jefferson-street-and-elliston-place/754174001/)
(More on Jefferson Street’s influence on rhythm & blues during this time, all thanks to the businesses in the area. https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/11/13/nashville-rock-music-cemented-jefferson-street-and-elliston-place/754174001/)
If you notice, I-40 keeps coming up. Well, there’s a consensus that its construction marked the end the Golden Age of Jefferson Street and doomed an entire generation.
Here’s how:
Here’s how:
Construction of I-40 began in the 1960s.
Prior to its construction, planners spent a long time discussing the interstate’s route. One proposed route would bring the interstate near Vanderbilt University, an all-white school until it integrated in 1964.
Prior to its construction, planners spent a long time discussing the interstate’s route. One proposed route would bring the interstate near Vanderbilt University, an all-white school until it integrated in 1964.
The route was abandoned as it threatened Belle Meade, an all-white suburban community. The planners eventually decided on cutting through the North Nashville community.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/cover-story/article/21007855/history-repeats-itself-in-north-nashville https://www.vanderbilt.edu/celebratingblackhistory/look-back/
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/cover-story/article/21007855/history-repeats-itself-in-north-nashville https://www.vanderbilt.edu/celebratingblackhistory/look-back/
The community was initially kept in the dark about the route. When it did learn of the plans, activists tried to advocate against the construction, warning that it would harm black businesses by isolating them from their clients.
They formed the I-40 Steering Committee and even took their concerns to SCOTUS.
The appeal: “The complaint charges that construction of the highway segment as planned will cause substantial damage to the North Nashville community, erecting a physical barrier between this predominantly Negro area and other parts of Nashville.” https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/387/179/262311/
The committee lost their SCOTUS appeal and construction continued. (1968) http://www.tn4me.org/sapage.cfm/sa_id/248/era_id/8/major_id/12/minor_id/9/a_id/172
(The former location of Del Morocco, now an overpass. https://twitter.com/otisgibbs/status/514127979585495040)
Construction led to the destruction of 620 black homes, 27 apartment houses, and 6 black churches. Within a year of the completed project, property rates declined significantly and black businesses, now separated from their customers, were forced to close after suffering serious
financial loss. Other consequences of construction: noise, air pollution, disrupted traffic flow, separation of residents from their churches, schools, and businesses.
Some believe the construction project’s location was chosen purposefully to slow school desegregation. https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/Planning/docs/trans/EveryPlaceCounts/1_Highway%20to%20Inequity.pdf
North Nashville lost its wealth, but it suffered greatly from the project in other ways. Approximately one generation later, 14 percent (1 in 7) North Nashvillians born between 1980 and 1986 were incarcerated in their 30s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/14/where-americas-future-prisoners-are-born/
This figure comes from a Brookings Institute study on the link between childhood poverty and crime. https://www.brookings.edu/research/work-and-opportunity-before-and-after-incarceration/
One potential explanation of the high incarceration rate includes ‘biological stressors associated with poverty.’ https://wpln.org/post/why-did-so-many-kids-born-in-north-nashville-in-the-80s-go-to-prison/#stream/0
TL/DR: After 100 years of community advancement and significant contributions to the American music scene...
a highway crippled the wealth of an entire black community and led to high incarceration rates in the following generation because planners determined it was more expendable than the surrounding white communities.
