Blackwell, A. G. (2019). A time of opportunity. Washington University, Center for Social
Development, 19-24.
Blackwell recounts her experience growing up in North St. Louis city just before the “white flight” epidemic began. Within two years of buying into the neighborhood, almost all their white neighbors moved out. Her newly formed Black neighborhood thrived in the shadows of Black businesses, schools, and restaurants. “Beautiful homes, brick houses, hardwood floors, stained glass windows, sloping lawns, beautiful trees on both sides of the street. It was a neighborhood of amenities”, (Blackwell, 2019, p. 1). As a fellow St. Louisan, I appreciate hearing a different story about North St. Louis than what exists now. Blackwell (2019) notes, “It is important to know that the Black community at that time in the development of the history felt it could do anything”, (p. 2). Her experience makes me wonder about the devastating effects of bigotry on those left behind. How many dreams were eclipsed by racial inequities?
Blackwell goes on to connect the idea of the curb-cut effect to understanding and solving racial inequity. “The fate of the nation is dependent on the very people who have been systematically left behind”, (Blackwell, 2019, p. 4). If we leave behind a large swath of the country, then we hurt the entire country in the long run. “Inequality may always be with us in some form or another, but it has become toxic. It’s hollowing out the middle class. It’s baking in poverty. It has stalled economic mobility. That is where we are now”, (Blackwell, 2019, p. 3). What is the true benefit of economic segregation? What do we gain by ignoring the needs of those who need help to prosper in this society? Blackwell (2019) states that “by 2050: 47% of the population will be White, down from 80% in 1980”, (p. 4). With the demographic shifting, it is in our best interests to create solutions that will help all of us.
