DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965 | Report on Urban Renewal Programs and Their Effects on Racial Minority Group Housing in Three Iowa Cities

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Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965

Report on Urban Renewal Programs and Their Effects on Racial Minority Group Housing in Three Iowa Cities - Page 4

[table transcribed top to bottom, left to right]

Status of Relocation
For One Member Families

Total

White

Nonwhite

404

Moved without asking for help

27

?

?

Applied for help in relocation

377

363

14

Relocated in standard dwellings

376

362

14

Unknown

1

1


The representative of the NAACP protested that the houses into which nonwhite families moved were substandard, and that these families had moved into neighborhoods which were marked for renewal and that there had been little dispersal. He asserted that many families had moved before they could receive help from the Urban Renewal staff because of a lack of information as to their status. This situation was due to a lack of adequate communication between the Urban Renewal staff and the nonwhite families to be displaced.

There followed a discussion concerning the responsibility of the Urban Renewal officials to inform families to be displaced of the plans, the timetable for implementing the plans, and of the responsibility of the Urban Renewal staff to help them secure standard housing. The Urban Renewal staff asserted that, under the circumstances, it had done an adequate job in informing people to be displaced of the development of the program. While the council of Social Agencies representatives conceded that the lack of housing available to nonwhite families had made the relocation job difficult, they felt the Urban Renewal staff had not understood the people with whom they were dealing. They pointed out that holding did not constitute and adequate effort at communication. This is an area in which a member of a minority group, a social worker, or an individual who was both, would have been of help in communicating with the people to be displaced.

The problem of whether the Urban Renewal staff had done an adequate job is complicated by the fact that sections of a freeway were started at about the same time the Urban Renewal Project began. Many of the people involved, particularly people renting houses and apartments, did not know which project was responsible for their being displaced. A great deal of hostility was expressed, and some is still being expressed, toward the concept of Urban Renewal. A lack of communication is responsible for this situation.

4

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[table transcribed top to bottom, left to right] Status of Relocation For One Member Families Total White Nonwhite 404 Moved without asking for help 27 ? ? Applied for help in relocation 377 363 14 Relocated in standard dwellings 376 362 14 Unknown 1 1 The representative of the NAACP protested that the houses into which nonwhite families moved were substandard, and that these families had moved into neighborhoods which were marked for renewal and that there had been little dispersal. He asserted that many families had moved before they could receive help from the Urban Renewal staff because of a lack of information as to their status. This situation was due to a lack of adequate communication between the Urban Renewal staff and the nonwhite families to be displaced. There followed a discussion concerning the responsibility of the Urban Renewal officials to inform families to be displaced of the plans, the timetable for implementing the plans, and of the responsibility of the Urban Renewal staff to help them secure standard housing. The Urban Renewal staff asserted that, under the circumstances, it had done an adequate job in informing people to be displaced of the development of the program. While the council of Social Agencies representatives conceded that the lack of housing available to nonwhite families had made the relocation job difficult, they felt the Urban Renewal staff had not understood the people with whom they were dealing. They pointed out that holding did not constitute and adequate effort at communication. This is an area in which a member of a minority group, a social worker, or an individual who was both, would have been of help in communicating with the people to be displaced. The problem of whether the Urban Renewal staff had done an adequate job is complicated by the fact that sections of a freeway were started at about the same time the Urban Renewal Project began. Many of the people involved, particularly people renting houses and apartments, did not know which project was responsible for their being displaced. A great deal of hostility was expressed, and some is still being expressed, toward the concept of Urban Renewal. A lack of communication is responsible for this situation. 4