Assignment #8 The Housing Discrimination Maze

Eureka & Jackpot ! I know this quarter is nearing to the end; but my first historic primary document has been found by yours truly ! I feel like Indian Jones or something....

It's May 11, 1954 in the sunny Hayward east bay area and post-WWII is sociologically being shaped by determining factors throughout California. Housing covenants has limited forward progression for many minority groups through confining them from the American Dream. Many people have assumed that early-20th-century suburbs were enclaves for middle-class whites, a concept that carries a tremendous cultural impact yet is very stereotypical. People do not want to say why this neighborhood is "good" and the other is "bad," yet racism is the underlying answer. The suburbs were created to supply affordable housing, and ultimately provide a zone fore middle class whites to escape inner city ethnicity. The power of political rhetoric has limited the minority groups of San Lorenzo greater area.

A museum exhibit should be interactive, informative, and fun. When educating people about sensitive subjects such as racism, it is important to show the progression and outcome of the event. I suggest that we as historical curators create a Housing Discriminatory Maze. If you have ever been in a indoor maze, it may remind you of a hallway of a house or closet. As visitors walk through the simple maze, the came come across documents that show the concern of racial discrimination. Hence, my primary document find was not about San Lorenzo villages, but the social concern of housing discrimination in California reached the Daily Review of Hayward.

Depending on what path you take, you could hopefully end up down the progressive middle pathway. David Bohannon vision of planned neighborhoods with shopping malls, movie theaters, schools, and neighbors that look like you would be appealing. But in this maze you could come across a dead end avenue with restrictive covenants on walls and slum neighborhoods to retreat to. The dead end in the maze could end up ultimately end up in counties with poor facilities.

The Truth Hurts ( 1996 data) :
Rural African Americans:
• One in eight non-metro African Americans (12%) versus one in 10 whites (10%) lives in a county without a hospital.
• In majority African American counties, there are 6.2 physicians for every 10,000 residents, versus 8.7 physicians per 10,000 residents across all non-metro counties.
• Seven out of 10 non-metro African Americans (71%), versus six of 10 non-metro whites (64%), live in counties that are whole or in part Health Professions Shortage Areas (HPSAs).


Hopefully this maze will shed light on a difficult subject for some people to talk about. Housing discrimination is active in rural America and people should understand the history and side effects of restrictive covenants. Through a maze of restrictions, a visitor could end up in the best and worst counties of society regardless of their race or religion.

Assignment 7 :Racial Residential Segregation

Well up until this point in my blog I have attempted to re-create the San Lorenzo atmosphere during post WWII. Houses that were once only created on a grand scale and meant for the upper class no longer were the standard. Once the "ticky tacky" house was created and implemented by David Bohannon, San Lorenzo grew in size and residents worked for America's manufacturing establishments in the Bay Area. However,legal covenants and restrictions from the San Lorenzo Home Association clearly show the exclusion of minority inhabitants in the neighborhood. During the ground breaking phase of the first west coast suburbs, minorities such as Japanese and African Americans occupied the cities boundaries; excluding such minorities from a stable post World War II community only created problems for their upward social mobility.Builders such as Bohannon and Levitt would soon shape the vision of post World War II modern day living.

The movement of Black Americans to the suburbs has been in motion from the 1950's to 2000.However, the rapid acceleration in suburbanization during the 1950s was fueled by the deferred demand for housing created by World War II and the pre-war housing shortage. After the war, families began to spend their war years' savings for new housing; returning servicemen were able to easily secure housing loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing and Veterans Administration ( Housing pg. 72) Whether voluntary or involuntary, where we live determines our access to good jobs, educational opportunities, safety from crime, and upward social mobility.

Housing segregation is motivated by racial redlining through home associations, real estate agencies, and the people of the neighborhood. African American out-migration has been more apparent among the middle class; which was searching for similar beneficial neighborhoods. For example,in the 1960's blacks made up less than 1 percent of the total population of Newark,San Leandro, San Lorenzo,and Union city combined. (Black in School) These demographic restrictions are directly related to what the good life brings.

The answer to "So What" is that housing discrimination creates sprawl and concentrated poverty in neighborhoods that absorb the ethnic population. (Privileged places pg 11)Racial group differences in socioeconomic status characteristics are well documented.On average, Blacks and Hispanics complete fewer years of school and are concentrated in lower-status occupations, earn less income, and accumulate less wealth compared to whites. ( Racial Segregation) America has lived with discrimination and segregation for so long that effects have also become causes. These symptoms created predictable setbacks for struggling minorities to face.One question that still remains to be answered is did the restrictive covenants in San Lorenzo ultimately create a black Oakland ? In 1950 white made up eighty percent of Oakland population, but by 1980 only made forty percent. ( Black in School) I suggest that the racial covenants in San Lorenzo pushed African Americans into neighborhoods that would accept them.

Assignment 4,5,6 THE PEOPLE OF SAN LORNEZO

These past weeks of collecting primary research has been a challenging task of chasing down people that can lead me into the right direction. The process of gathering information began with Doris Marciel and the Hayward Historical Society. Their contributions gave me an understanding of the neighborhood and who was moving into San Lorenzo. Conducting a interview with Doris was a rather easy process since she is a well respected historian of this town and had much history to share. Much of the ethnic division of the town began with World War II evacuation of Japanese from the West Coast into internment camps. ( Images pg. 30) In 1942, over 100,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese living along the coast were called to relocate into "War Relocation Camps," following the attack at Pearl Harbor. The social uniqueness of San Lorenzo explains the ethnic immigration into San Lorenzo and ultimately why were they excluded from living in the villages.
My search for the covenant to San Lorenzo Villages began with the Scott Bohannon, the grandson of Dave " Big " Bohannon. Over numerous email conversations ,he was able to direct me to the records office in Alameda and contact a lady named Mariam. However, obtaining this document proved to be a disappointing challenge because of the numerous names of corporations needed, information which was not disclosed. Deeds to properties can be over hundred pages long of sophisticated rhetoric, but the women at the Alameda Records and Administrative building proved to be helpful ! This is the closest document I could obtain that outlined the requirements and restrictions during the 1946 expansion of San Lorenzo Villages, but at $2.00 per scan, this had to suffice.
The Japanese evacuation of WWII created many vacancies in local business and jobs in San Lorenzo. This absence allowed other migrants to inherit the typical unskilled jobs in San Lorenzo. " The bulk of Filipino migrants between 1907 and 1945 was compromised of young males who went to Hawaii, California, and Alaska and became part of the pool of cheap, unskilled labor. They were hired to fill in for the Chinese and Japanese who used to do these jobs..." We have learned from previous readings that the usefulness of considering different religious and regional identities allow the further understanding the level of diversity in California.
The Protestant identity and value's of 1945 San Lorenzo was strong and apparent in the newspapers and advertisements of the upcoming town. I invite you to step back into time and view San Lorenzo's ideal community by clicking on my primary document video!!! This is a portrayal of Protestant prosperity and ethnic limitations to a complex diverse region. Much thanks Diane Curry of Hayward Historical Society and Joe C. of CSU East Bay Library for helping me get this posted !