If things continue on their present course, that is what future generations will be asking. Did you know that there was once a predominantly African-American city in Missouri named Kinloch?
The St. Louis Post- Dispatch ran a story on October 13, 1996 titled “Airport Buyouts Threaten Kinloch’s Churches.” It reported that the buyout abatement program began in 1984 when the community had about 5,000 residents and 33 churches. By 1996 there were only 2,500 people and 13 churches, but most had vowed to remain.
In recent weeks, the paper ran a story that stated, “In its heyday, this city was home to about 11,000 people and a thriving business district with everything but a bank. Now, it’s overrun with gutted-out buildings and streets filled with debris. According to 2010 census figures, about 298 residents remain.” The article centered on a dispute regarding the city’s new fire engine.
John Wright wrote a book, St. Louis: Disappearing Black Communities. “What I consider the original community, those have disappeared,” said Wright, former superintendent of Kinloch Schools and author of books on Kinloch, the Ville and African-American history in St. Louis.
“There were pockets all over the area like Black Jack. The majority of the population is African-American now, but the original pocket, the school, the church, the theater is gone.”
Kinloch Park was developed in the 1890s as a commuter suburb for whites, Wright documented in his book, though some land was reserved for blacks who came to work as servants.
“Located just outside of St. Louis, Kinloch was once a community locked off from the rest of the area by natural and man-made barriers. In spite of a lack of financial resources, it once provided its residents with a school district, city hall, post office, business district, and recreational facilities,” Wright wrote.
“Residents will recognize Dunbar Elementary, the oldest school for blacks in St. Louis County, Holy Angels, the oldest continuing black parish in the St. Louis Archdiocese, as well as former residents Congresswoman Maxine Waters and political activist Dick Gregory. Eventually, due to insufficient revenue, this once thriving community fell into decline, and is now struggling to keep its small town values and ideals alive.”
Kinloch is not alone. African-American communities are vanishing and people are concerned, at least those who are aware of the trend.
A short time ago The Washington Post reported that figures from the Census Bureau’s 2010 count are expected to show a continued shrinking number of African Americans in Washington, D.C., to just over half of D.C.’s 600,000 residents. Not only that, but many demographers predict that by the next census, the district will no longer have a black majority.
Recently in Atlanta, Bev Smith held a town hall meeting to discuss issues in the black community. She was joined by several black leaders including Dr. Ron Daniel, Rev. Lenox Yearwood and Dick Gregory to promote prosperity and wellness in African-American neighborhoods and to discuss why they are disappearing.
In Williamsburg, Va., a local paper reports “a once-thriving black community has been pushed to the margins of a city that has welcomed over 100 million tourists since 1932. It began 80 years ago with a renovation that removed black people from the historic center and confined them to segregated neighborhoods. Today, city planners and investors have made it hard for working people to live in a town where the bottom line of booming land values and corporate profits have replaced the old conventions of Jim Crow.”
Minister Louis Farrakhan in a speech on “The Disappearing Black Community-How Can We Get It Back?” said: “Love is at the root of community – real community. Social beings, as God created us, have to live according to certain values, norms, rules, regulations that promote peace between each other, so we have to get back to ‘How do we learn to love?’ You cannot love what you don’t know, or what you don’t understand. And the problem is that we are not being taught a sufficient knowledge of self that would allow us to love who we are, and how God created us.”
Keep an eye on Kinloch. The Ville or Velda City might be next. Where do you reside?
Please listen the Bernie Hayes radio program Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on WGNU-920 AM, or live on www.wgnu920am.com. And please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday Night at 10 p.m. and Friday Morning at 9 am on KNLC-TV Ch. 24. I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
