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Here's my seditious CRT thread for this week and how came to co-lead a citywide forum.
In my hometown, a small group of real estate developers has submitted a proposal to wipe away most of the current ordinances that must be followed to build houses in my city. The proposal's acronym is "SCAD."
In my hometown, a small group of real estate developers has submitted a proposal to wipe away most of the current ordinances that must be followed to build houses in my city. The proposal's acronym is "SCAD."
07:02 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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The small group of developers proposing the ordinance massacre are mostly local white men who've been in the real estate business for many years.
The ordinances they want to change will impact most of my city's Black homeowners.
I am one of the Black homeowners that will affected.
The ordinances they want to change will impact most of my city's Black homeowners.
I am one of the Black homeowners that will affected.
07:06 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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I live in a US state where Dillon's rule is enforced.
Dillon's rule says that the state cannot dictate conditions under which a property owner can sell or use their land.
The rule was named after this man, Iowa Supreme Court Justice John Dillon.
Dillon's rule says that the state cannot dictate conditions under which a property owner can sell or use their land.
The rule was named after this man, Iowa Supreme Court Justice John Dillon.
07:13 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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When Justice Dillon made this ruling, Black Americans were newly freed. Few Blacks in my state owned real estate. The situation changed during the 1930s in North Carolina when many white farmers sold their lands to Black sharecroppers and moved to the cities. Whites moved for manufacturing jobs.
07:19 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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Many Americans are familiar with the term "Black Wall Street" that was used for many of the Black economic centers that grew in the US during the Reconstruction Period. (1870s-1890s). Americana know white Americans burned many Black Wall Streets in 1919. My hometown's Black center wasn't touched.
07:28 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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Because my town's Black Wall Street survived the Red Summer of 1919, many Blacks began to acquire more real estate. The Black real estate owners in turn sent money to their farming relatives for them to buy land too. NC whites became angered by the wealth and implemented anti-Black bldg ordinances.
07:34 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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If you've read this far, you're probably wondering if the bldg ordinances I reference were part of redlining. No. These building ordinances went beyond redlining. The ordinances in my town made it easy for whites to build and not so for Blacks. Dillio's rule went bye bye for Blacks.
07:44 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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An example in my town of a building ordinance created to block Black real estate ownership was a requirement that to build a single family home, the lot had to be a minimum of 1/2 acre. Many whites in my city's past had money to buy 1/2 acre lots. Many Black residents did not.
07:51 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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When Blacks started saving enough money to help each other buy 1/2 acre lots to build homes, past white City Councils implemented ordinances dictating the roof angles allowed on single family homes. The extra framing requirements made it hard for Blacks to build their own homes without a lot of debt
07:57 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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A final example of a building ordinance that hurt Black real estate owners in my city was the requirement that neighborhoods be allowed to form HOAs that made their own agreed upon property ownership rules. A Black homeowner could be stopped with even more bldg rules.
08:05 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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The building ordinances in my city used to block Black real estate ownership ended up causing many Black homeowners to form segregated neighborhoods with modest homes bordering the predominantly white downtown bustling with manufacturing activity. Then in the 1980s we lost our manufacturing.
08:11 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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When manufacturing jobs left my hometown, white Americans wanted to sell their real estate to anyone they could to move to the suburbs for professional jobs. Suddenly, the building ordinances they used to block Black real estate ownership became a headache.
08:18 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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In the 1980s and 1990s, the City Councils became more multicultural as white citizens moved out of my hometown. The ordinances blocking Black real estate ownership began to be eliminated. Blacks began buying real estate again. Black wealth grew again.
Can you guess what happened next?
Can you guess what happened next?
08:24 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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The multicultural City Councils in my town began routing taxpayer money from investing in the newly created Black communities to policing those communities. Building ordinances were relaxed so much that commercial buildings could be built within Black residential neighborhoods. Crime went up.
08:30 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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I know if you've read this far you're wondering how does this story about building ordinances relate to CRT. Critical race theory is the study of the way USA laws were used throughout our country's history to prevent Black Americans from economically, politically, and socially advancing.
08:35 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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When crime went up in neighborhoods with a lot of Black real estate ownership, the value of the real estate owned by Black citizens in my city nosedived. Suddenly, Black real estate homeowners found their properties valued for less than they purchased them for. Many Black homeowners held on.
08:45 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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After the dot com bust of the 1980s and with manufacturing jobs gone from my city, a group of white business men pitched the concept of turning my hometown into a tech hub like what was being built in Silicon Valley. They promised that this would bring money back to the city and rebuild it.
08:52 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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As technology companies began to move to my hometown, white Americans began to return to the city in a trickle. "Let's make the building ordinances friendlier to these returning homeowners." But standing in their way were Black homeowners with lots of devalued real estate. Whoopsies!
08:58 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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So many white real estate developers began to prey upon Black homeowners in my city. They talked the Black owners into selling their properties for pennies. The developers would then build multi-million dollar luxury condos and apartments and sell them to out-of-state corporations.
09:02 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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The Black residents in my city have decided that enough is enough. They've told these white real estate developers to go away. Now, the developers want to wipe away almost all building ordinances "to allow Black homeowners to help solve the city's affordable housing problem". Say what?
09:07 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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The thing that the white developers proposing bldg ordinance removal didn't foresee was that Black residents, like myself, would analyze their proposal and spread the word: SCAD IS A SCAM.
The developers also didn't think Black residents in my city finally understood Dillon's law.
The developers also didn't think Black residents in my city finally understood Dillon's law.
09:11 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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White developers are essentially trying to buy up the 1/2 acre lots owned by Blacks worth $ millions by telling the City Council that they'll buy those lots and promise to build cheaper homes that are my more affordable for younger Black families to move into the city. "We're for economic justice!"
09:18 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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The building ordinances the white real estate developers want abolished will increase the rate of gentrification of Black neighborhoods and displacement of Black residents to the undersirable portions of my city.
How do we know?
I was one of the ppl in my city who did the mathematical analysis.
How do we know?
I was one of the ppl in my city who did the mathematical analysis.
09:24 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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I'll end my CRT thread with this last tidbit about my city.
The public forum I was honored to lead walked the audience through all its history of iurncity's housing policies. We made sure ALL residents of ALL RACES understood what caused our affordable housing crisis of today. Knowledge is power!
The public forum I was honored to lead walked the audience through all its history of iurncity's housing policies. We made sure ALL residents of ALL RACES understood what caused our affordable housing crisis of today. Knowledge is power!
09:32 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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Will the white real estate developers yelling, "Economic justice for all!" win their request to eliminate the building ordinances that once hurt my city's Black residents but which now could make the Black residents my city a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY?
I don't know, #Spoutible .
I don't know.
I don't know, #Spoutible .
I don't know.
09:39 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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Bonus material:
The Republican North Carolina State Legislature has decided that adherence to Dillon's rule of private property ownership rights applies to CERTAIN situations and NOT to others. The Statehouse is hinting it's ready to support the white real estate developers "helping" my city.
The Republican North Carolina State Legislature has decided that adherence to Dillon's rule of private property ownership rights applies to CERTAIN situations and NOT to others. The Statehouse is hinting it's ready to support the white real estate developers "helping" my city.
09:46 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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Double bonus material:
Older white residents who never left my city also don't want white real estate developers changing our city's ordinances. A couple of the whites citizens filed lawsuits claiming the free-for-all in bldg anticipated from minimal rules violates basic Constitutional rights.
Older white residents who never left my city also don't want white real estate developers changing our city's ordinances. A couple of the whites citizens filed lawsuits claiming the free-for-all in bldg anticipated from minimal rules violates basic Constitutional rights.
09:53 AM - Aug 27, 2023
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That ends my CRT thread. Thanks for reading!
09:56 AM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Thank you for this excellent report on Durham and for your work in the community. It’s a good outline of similar processes in play in other places, too.
04:42 PM - Nov 25, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Your thread is very informative. You sound like you're a God send for many people. The issues are complex and you've explained it so clearly that I understand what's going on. This needs to be amplified, because everyone needs to know about this.
12:15 AM - Aug 28, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Just look at San Francisco. All the laws that protected people fell off the books and realtors,
soop in and displaced everyone made a lot of money. These money men have ruined SanFransico.
soop in and displaced everyone made a lot of money. These money men have ruined SanFransico.
03:15 PM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Perhaps they got the last letter wrong (although only out by one)?
02:12 PM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Thank you - very informative. Underlines how important it is to vote for true democracy in every ballot race - even positions that do not seem to have a lot of impact.
12:43 PM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Just the kind of advocacy and historical information/context that must be amplified everywhere!! Thank you for this thread. The struggle for humanity, dignity, respect and agency continues unabated!
11:39 AM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Thank you for this very informative thread. It's a shame what white people in this country have done to Black communities. In Spout 17 you mentioned the Dot Com bust of the 1980s, I think that might have been a typo. The Dot Com bust that I'm familiar with was in the late 90s.
10:38 AM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Good morning.
Thank you for sharing this thread. It is an excellent example of how the goal post always change to make things harder for us and easier for them.
I'm sending good vibes to you and your city as you continue fighting this injustice. ✊🏽🤗
Thank you for sharing this thread. It is an excellent example of how the goal post always change to make things harder for us and easier for them.
I'm sending good vibes to you and your city as you continue fighting this injustice. ✊🏽🤗
10:32 AM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Thank you. What a great CRT lesson. Infuriating how with each triumph people were physically terrorized and robbed with “the fountain pen”.
09:10 AM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Now I need to research how my family obtained & why we sold the land we had in the 20th century. It went largely unimproved because of commercial zoning. I'm suspicious that zoning was purposely timed to make the land more expensive to keep than sell. It's strip malls now. Our equity: long gone.
09:03 AM - Aug 27, 2023
In response to Cynthia Williams.
Thank you for sharing this. I am trying to process this I don’t even know what to say !!!
08:10 AM - Aug 27, 2023
