Readers interested in the history of our neighborhood will want to check out Sarah Becker's latest article in the Old Town Crier on Colross, the mansion which once graced the square block where the Monarch building stands today.
It seems that over the course of 130 years a succession of prominent Alexandrians — one of them a Mayor and grandson of George Mason — resided at Colross before the elegant stately home was dismantled and reconstructed in Princeton, New Jersey, where it still stands today.
We have been repeatedly told that our neighborhood has always been a poor and decrepit community. Now we are confronted by the ghost of Colross. How does this square with the image the City has been attempting to paint for years?
Were these notable and wealthy citizens of yesteryear somehow slumming it? Or is the story of this stately home, its occupants and distinguished visitors just another inconvenient example of a richer and more diverse past that politically-motivated City historians and archaeologists are reluctant to acknowledge?
It seems that over the course of 130 years a succession of prominent Alexandrians — one of them a Mayor and grandson of George Mason — resided at Colross before the elegant stately home was dismantled and reconstructed in Princeton, New Jersey, where it still stands today.
We have been repeatedly told that our neighborhood has always been a poor and decrepit community. Now we are confronted by the ghost of Colross. How does this square with the image the City has been attempting to paint for years?
Were these notable and wealthy citizens of yesteryear somehow slumming it? Or is the story of this stately home, its occupants and distinguished visitors just another inconvenient example of a richer and more diverse past that politically-motivated City historians and archaeologists are reluctant to acknowledge?
57 comments:
Saw the print version and walked over to the courtyard. Not a park really. If the author's right Thomson Mason's name is spelled incorrectly. Thomsen. What do ya expect from the city's Jim Crow types.
We're a little weary of city history mostly because it reads like political invention. We gave up when the Parker Gray District became the Parker Gray/Uptown District. If that's not romanticization then what is?
"We're a little weary of city history mostly because it reads like political invention."
Becker is known for her extremely accurate & extensive historical research. I don't know how anyone could characterize her article as romantic or political invention. The article is interesting window on the neighborhood's distant past. It's nice to know that our history is more than one of only poverty and segregation.
"We gave up when the Parker Gray District became the Parker Gray/Uptown District."
Me too. I’m among those who think the ward system might serve us better. Pick the issue-Jefferson Houston, transit, the Braddock/Bland planning process. Truth told I’ve never understood how during the ward years an allegedly black neighborhood could not elect a black Councilman. I get the poll tax that whites then voted only for whites but after the Civil War blacks supposedly outnumbered whites. The ward councilman in the 1940s was a white Potomac Yardmaster named John J. Ewald who lived at 410 N. Alfred Street not far from Bland, the Black History Museum and me. People remain stuck in the 60s and the city desperately needs to move on.
I don't begrudge the whole black history thing with respect to Parker Gray. It IS a part of our history and means a lot to some people. What I DO begrudge is that the City subsidizes it and forces it down out throats, to the exclusion of the rest of the neighborhoods history, i.e. that illuminated in the article. Two examples which come to mind are the naming of the streets in the James Bland Development (Melvin Miller Way, really?), naming of the rooms and pool at the rec center, and the public art project in front of the rec center, which is already named for charles houston.
This is unnecessarily divisive and honors only one small sliver of this neighborhood's past as well as the reality of its current makeup.
"...another inconvenient example of a richer and more diverse past that politically-motivated City historians and archaeologists are reluctant to acknowledge..."
Boomers may remember the term "let's you and him fight" from 70's pop psychology all about keeping two people fighting each other instead of focusing their energies on the real source of a problem: and race is soooo convenient an excuse it's easy for City to keep the fire light and fan the flames.
Everyone loses but the Dems.
"What I DO begrudge is that the City subsidizes it and forces it down out throats, to the exclusion of the rest of the neighborhood"
What I resent is the city's repeated use of outsiders to dictate lifestyle here. Personally I'd like the PG BAR abolished. Neither the Del Ray nor Rosemont historic districts have a BAR. Al Cox's Thursday presentation was off-putting. Old Town revised the regs not us. Cox thinks it is reasonable to repaint your house every four years and I don't. Especially not when better more durable building materials are available.
"...the City subsidizes it and forces it down out throats, to the exclusion of the rest of the neighborhoods history, i.e. that illuminated in the article."
"Romanticization cost Montgomery County, Maryland, a $2 million mistake.... former Montgomery County historic preservation supervisor Gwen Wright [essentially owns up to the political of the decision,] and now she works for Alexandria Planning and Zoning... under her former boss Farrol Hamer.
Another great article, Ms. Becker.
"...walked over to the courtyard. Not a park really."
Agree with you there, but City called it a park when residents west of Rt 1 fought for open space.
"We're a little weary of city history mostly because it reads like political invention."
Becker's article diplomatically makes the same point as you - City fabricates to justify its desire to dump on residents West of Route 1.
"our history is more than one of only poverty and segregation"
... "People remain stuck in the 60s and the city desperately needs to move on" ..."unnecessarily divisive.." "a $2 million mistake"..."now works for Alexandria Planning and Zoning..."
Duh!
"Personally I'd like the PG BAR abolished. Neither the Del Ray nor Rosemont historic districts have a BAR."
Amen! According to Washingtonian magazine Del Ray is hot and let's face it King Street's dying. Like the motorcoach rules the new regs are another example of Old Town's running the show. The city repeatedly fails to ask our opinion.
"Cox thinks it is reasonable to repaint your house every four years and I don't."
We live on Route 1 and never has anyone discussed environmental degredation. We get to eat the dirt, smell the fumes and feel the vibrations. Few of our houses are brick most are painted wood. If Old Town complains about environmental problems their wires are undergrounded. If we complain we're treated like racially insensitive fools. Liked the article. Just wish we had the same clout Colross' owners had.
"about keeping two people fighting each other instead of focusing their energies on the real source of a problem: and race is soooo convenient an excuse"
Probably shouldn't say this on King's b'day but the Black History Museum is partly at fault. It was born of the 60s-80s and like its members still lives in the 60s. It interprets none of the good stuff. Where is the street signage explaining Tucker? Instead it wants the Legion preserved. If the Museum cannot present balanced history accurate neighborhood history then let's cut its budget cut. Fund it when it finally matures.
Keeping in mind the recent JH debate:
http://www.danagoldstein.net/dana_goldstein/2011/01/on-mlk-day-some-thoughts-on-segregated-schools-arne-duncan-and-president-obama.html
American schools are more segregated by race and class today than they were on the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, 43 years ago. The average white child in America attends a school that is 77 percent white, and where just 32 percent of the student body lives in poverty. The average black child attends a school that is 59 percent poor but only 29 percent white. The typical Latino kid is similarly segregated; his school is 57 percent poor and 27 percent white.
Overall, a third of all black and Latino children sit every day in classrooms that are 90 to 100 percent black and Latino.
This is a sad state of affairs in a pluralistic society, and it is borne of two factors: 1) residential segregation and 2) purposeful drawing of school district boundaries to isolate middle class and white families from poor families of color
WELCOME TO ALEXANDRIA, where its more important to preserve the Legion than stop school segregation.
For several years I have written my feelings with regard to this website and some of the outrageous things I have read here. My thoughts have been neither mean spirited nor have they included anything that should be censored. So many times my writing has not been included. I thought this was an open forum whether you agree with most of the sentiments contained or not. How inappropriate is it to suggest that there are those who would rather preserve the American Legion building than eradicate school segregation? Why do we have to have one or the other? Why can't we eradicate and preserve. I think in a rational thinking mind, we can do both.
If the Legion is restored, can serve some progressive purpose, can preserve the history of the area and of a people, why is there such a negative outcry. It certainly seems suspect to me. It could be an after school space for students. It could be a
place for tutorial support. It could be a place for parents to come for educational services. Let's all put on our thinking caps in a positive way and release the continuous negativism and closed mindedness.
"Or is the story of this stately home, its occupants and distinguished visitors just another inconvenient example of a richer and more diverse past that politically-motivated City historians and archaeologists are reluctant to acknowledge?"
Read somewhere Old Town-type preservationists declined to let the city use the property as a school. So it was moved. If segregated education cannot be excused why is it being actively promoted now?
I think in a rational thinking mind, we can do both.
"If the Legion is restored, can serve some progressive purpose, can preserve the history of the area and of a people, why is there such a negative outcry. It certainly seems suspect to me. It could be an after school space for students. It could be a
place for tutorial support. It could be a place for parents to come for educational services."
In your rational mind we can preserve the Legion building while rationalizing service offerings consistent with a poorly educated low income neighborhood. The point is the neighborhood has not always been low income, you choose to celebrate Jim Crow yet never do your posts condemn the segregation that remains Crow remnants like Jefferson Houston School. You start with a reality you probably helped to create then just heap it on. The national application's interpretive period is what? 150 years? Yet we are supposed to lay prostrate for a building of marginal reputation constructed 15 years before the period ends? Colross was built in 1799 and a far better measure of changing times. Is there signage? No! Samuel Tucker lived and worked here his legacy is ignored. Is there signage? No! Why? Because he opposed segregated education. My guess. You need to preserve Jim Crow's legacy in order to confirm your rightful place.
"For several years I have written my feelings with regard to this website and some of the outrageous things I have read here."
Outrageous? What is your meaning of outrageous? That someone fined $25,000 for his handling of the ice house can successfully interfere with the activities of another?
"My guess. You need to preserve Jim Crow's legacy in order to confirm your rightful place."
Ouch! What are the pols now saying about civil discourse? Jefferson Houston School is an embarrassment but at the moment we can opt out. The Legion building is of marginal quality but just maybe it was your nursery school. The issue is the neighborhood's genuinely unbalanced interpretation the city's repeated use of the same people-people who no longer live here or moved out after civil rights to explain lifestyle. Especially when the dictation fails to include criticism of problems like the mostly segregated Jefferson Houston school.
"Why can't we eradicate and preserve. I think in a rational thinking mind, we can do both. "
The reason people get angry is they see blatant hypocrisy from those who speak so strongly about "preserving"
Where in God's name is all the so-called push to "eradicate" segregation in this neighborhood? Who and where pushes to eradicate it?
Its children and futures being crushed under the weight of City policies that keep promoting failing schools and failing housing projects and yet no one hears a peep about that, its just "preserve the Legion"
I am all for preserving the Legion and providing an integrated, freshly built school and safe, mixed income housing for all. Yet its like pulling teeth to get certain self-titled "leaders" to step up to the plate and push for that.
Adkins preserved for 10-15 more years, not a person complains. HUH? Have you lost your mind? Do you not understand how noxious of an environment that is, how it is damaging to children's futures?
People seem more interested in preserving buildings just to say "we preserved them" or to stick it to "newcomers" than they are interested in preserving history.
"If the Legion is restored, can serve some progressive purpose"
Only if someone is willing and able to pay for it. Please, let's be realistic. The City is neither willing nor able to fund this. And neither is anyone else.
We already fund a Black History Resource Center. Can we not have them preserve the memory of the Legion building through photographs, oral histories, etc? That way, you can achieve your goals and we can let poor Mr. Cromley develop the property he fairly purchased when nobody else wanted it.
By the way, where were you when they were demolishing Bland? Why didn't you suggest using those properties for an after school space, parental tutoring, etc? I'd genuinely be interested in why you feel The Legion is different from Bland. Both are rich in African American history.
"If the Legion is restored, can serve some progressive purpose, can preserve the history of the area and of a people, why is there such a negative outcry."
Hey, if you can buy it or find someone who will foot the bill, go for it. What I don't want to see is a deteriorating building, and I certainly don't want the city attempting to buy it the same time they keep raising my taxes. Let the private market work - if it's got value someone will see it and buy it. If not, let Mr. Cromley get on with his planned development development.
"Why do we have to have one or the other? Why can't we eradicate and preserve. I think in a rational thinking mind, we can do both. "
I dont know, why dont you ask ACPS leadership, the Mayor, and ARHA leadership why?
In a rational thinking world, we wouldnt even be in this situation. Yet they dont seem to factor logic or rationality into their decision-making.
"It could be an after school space for students. It could be a
place for tutorial support. It could be a place for parents to come for educational services."
Have any investors from those who oppose redevelopment stepped forward with an offer to buy the property? Have they lined up any financing to do so?
And has the Mayor and the City Council agreed to put forth City funds to pay for the purchase of the property to convert it into a usage that you speak of?
I am confused by your comment because in my understanding, none of the people who oppose Legion redevelopment have stepped forward with alternative financing, and no one from the City Council, including the Mayor, has pledged to use City funds to buy the property.
I just read an article in the Alexandria Gazette which made me sick to my stomach, particularly a quote from Mayor Bill Euille. The article was in reference to MLK, JR. day and the racial disparities in the City Public Schools. He said this:
"Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today."
Can he possibly believe that white parents aren't sending their kids to city schools because they don't want them in an integrated environment? I am, frankly, appalled that he would say such a thing. He should be ASHAMED.
This statement is even more inflammatory because the City schools, particularly J-H, fail to meet standards of learning and are some of the worst performing schools in the state.
And what of the black parents who choose to send their kids to private schools over the city schools? What's their excuse?
I shocked by Mr. Euille's remarks.
""Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today.""
Um, Mr. Mayor, perhaps it is you that is not ready. See what happens if you build an integrated JH environment. See how parents will flock to the school to support it.
"I shocked by Mr. Euille's remarks."
I am not shocked by anything this man says anymore. Its shameful and shameless but no one calls him out for it.
Integrated environment? Please Mayor, where are your efforts to create integrated mixed income housing in Alexandria? Its like pulling teeth to get you to agree to that
If you restore buildings as well as you fight to eradicate segregation...
"A Dream Deferred
Celebrating King’s legacy, even as racial disparities linger in public school system.
By Michael Lee Pope
Thursday, January 20, 2011
As public school children gathered at City Hall this week to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. for a poster contest Monday, many aspects of the famous civil rights leader have yet to become reality. Test scores show dramatic racial disparities, with black students lagging far behind white students. And the demographic profile of the school system show that many white families choose to send their children to private schools, creating a public school system that’s blacker than the general population of the city.
"This isn’t what Doctor King was fighting for," said Carlton Funn, chairman of the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage. "It’s not right."
Racial disparities in test scores have haunted the school system for many years, including the most recent crop of standardized test scores. White students are consistently the only group of students to meet all federal standards while black students lag behind, especially in math. According to last year’s scores, 92 percent of white students passed the math test while only 73 percent of black students were able to make the grade.
"It’s very disappointing," said School Board member Blanche Maness, a former elementary school teacher who graduated from an all-black high school in Brunswick County. "You see a lot more white parents showing up to town halls and public hearings than black parents, and that’s troubled me for a long time."
DESPITE KING’S dream that black children and white children would be able to join hands, the demographics of the city’s public school system do not represent the profile of the city. Census records indicate that about 40 percent of school-age children in Alexandria are white, yet only 25 percent of students in the public school system are white. And although 30 percent of school-age children in Alexandria are black, that group represents 37 percent of the school population.
"Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today."
School officials have been concerned about racial disparities for years, although each year a new crop of numbers show lingering inequalities. An analysis of the most recent set of standardized test scores in elementary schools shows that schools with higher percentage of white students tend to score higher than schools with a higher percentage of black and Latino students.
"It’s a shameful situation," said former School Board Chairman Ferdinand Day shortly after the test data was released in August. "There’s enough blame to go around to everybody, and we have a lot of work to do in this city."
AS PARENTS, STUDENTS and civil-rights leaders came together in the Vola Lawson Lobby of City Hall to examine posters created by schoolchildren to honor King, many expressed regret that racial disparities remain a fact of life in Alexandria. Some said the school system was not doing enough to address the problems. Others said that African-American families need to do a better job of being involved in the lives of their children.
"Integration did just as much to hurt us as it did to help us," said Randy Stephens, a member of the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage. "We used to have a community that had positive role models for black people, and integration took that away."
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If he really said that, Euille is a bigger racist than I thought.
"Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today."
It is difficult to see how this remark adds any value to the city's and parents' efforts to improve ACPS. Unless the Mayor's quote was taken completely and horibly out of context, he seems to be saying that parents who chose not to send their children to ACPS schools are racists.
Further, the statement would need to be based on the assumption that private-school students are uniformly cookie-cutter caucasoid kids. Otherwise there would be no point in arguing that private schools are not an integrated environment.
In fact this is not the case, private schools have students from many different backgrounds. At the school my daughter atends, one that is affilated with a church, there are students from multiple ethnic backgrounds, including recent immigrants. Most of the familes who attend are not affiliated with the church.
The families choose this route for multiple reasons; and in my discussions with new parents I have never heard any complaints about demographics at ACPS or other local districts. What I do hear is a concern about quality and rigor of education at ACPS and other public schools, a concern that modern public education is geared more towards socialization and child-centeredness than towards developing core skills and learning how to learn.
I recognize that this is a self-selective group that I am referencing. And I also recognize that many children of all backgrounds excel at ACPS. My argument is not with the ACPS parents or administration. My argument is with the Mayor assuming that a decision to send a child to private school is a decision against integration.
Are we really surprised by today's ACPS press release, the five schools chosen?
"Today, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the State Board of Education announced that 728 schools and nine school divisions earned 2011 Virginia Index of Performance awards for advanced learning and achievement. The incentive program, which was created by the Board of Education in 2007, recognizes schools and divisions that achieve excellence goals and far exceed minimum state and federal accountability standards. Five Alexandria elementary schools were recognized.
“The schools and divisions earning these awards have high-achieving students and teachers and leaders who are committed to innovation and offering new opportunities for learning,” McDonnell said. “I look forward to meeting some of the students and educators behind these success stories and congratulating them in person for their accomplishments.”
Charles Barrett, George Mason and Lyles-Crouch Elementary Schools received 2011 Board of Education Excellence Award for meeting all state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and making significant progress toward goals for increased student achievement and expanded educational opportunities set by the Board. Eight school divisions and 323 schools earned the Award, the second-tier honor in the VIP program.
James K. Polk and Samuel W. Tucker Elementary Schools received the 2011 Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award. One school division and 289 schools earned the Award for meeting all state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and are making progress toward the goals of the Governor and the Board.
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""This isn’t what Doctor King was fighting for," said Carlton Funn, chairman of the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage. "It’s not right."
No it was not. I would also add that Dr. King would probably look at the state of public housing in Alexandria and just shake his head. That is DEFINITELY not what he wanted or fought for.
"AS PARENTS, STUDENTS and civil-rights leaders came together in the Vola Lawson Lobby of City Hall to examine posters created by schoolchildren to honor King, many expressed regret that racial disparities remain a fact of life in Alexandria. Some said the school system was not doing enough to address the problems. Others said that African-American families need to do a better job of being involved in the lives of their children."
What always puzzles me about these articles is that there is never any tie-in to the fact that the city continues to maintain a subculture of poverty within its public housing system. This never gets mentioned in any article. WHY?
Its as if the toxic environment that children grow up in when they live in the projects has nothing to do with their educational achievement or social lives. We always looks to ACPS to come up with some magic solution, or the City to spend more money to make the disparities go away.
I can only imagine what African-American leaders of the past might think of the endless and stubborn devotion to current public housing policies that clearly don't work and produce tangible and obvious results.
"If he really said that, Euille is a bigger racist than I thought."
Was his approach to the Charles Houston Center not a racist's approach? Black racisim is a fact. Think how many whites Houston had on board when he first became legal counsel for the NAACP. Euille's an enabler who repeatedly relies on people who live outside the neighborhood to force feed his social policies. Randy Stephens no longer lives in Alexandria does he? More importantly former school board members like Mel Miller and Lynwood Campbell both black sent their kids to private schools. Is Pete Jones someone for whom a street should be named? Kids needs role models who will propel them forward. What Stephens fails to acknowledge is that he has segregated containment within Alexandria's public housing. What he doesn't have is the previous class mix. The blacks who were the influential leaders of the day Ferdinand Day for example moved from Parker Gray and left the tag alongs behind. Euille's no different. His Queen and Fayette development plan the Braddock plan confirms it.
Euille just represents the over-your-ass institutional dynamic that leads, people to perceive a fictional narrative, rather than actually confront and deal with complex urban problems as a cause for righteous concern. He gets people to perceive this fictional narrative as a means of keeping in place certain priorities and policies
""Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today.""
Here's my take. I don't think Euille actually believes this. Rather, he is just saying it to pander to his audience, a black crowd on MLK day. This, in my opinion, makes it even more disgraceful. He knows better, but he chooses to fan the flames of hatred, racism, and victimhood for his own political gain. And, sadly, at the expense of the black community.
I am not surprised Obama never called Euille to serve in his administration, like Euille boasted he would. Euille is no Obama, that's for sure.
""Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today.""
Mayor Euille, would you care to explain this remark?
""Some mayors are just not ready to build integrated environments," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Like me.""
The mayor's comment was outrageous and inexcusable. Divisive pandering that reflects a consistent refusal to understand the real issue. How do you build a community that produces a higher performing school. Clearly throwing money at it isn't doing the job.
Problem is, at least according to some with considerable influence, the community in question isn't ever supposed to change, grow, or evolve in ways that would promote a solution.
""Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today.""
If you actually gave us an integrated environment to send our kids to, Mr. Mayor, I think you would be pleasantly surprised at the results.
"Samuel Tucker lived and worked here his legacy is ignored. Is there signage? No! Why? Because he opposed segregated education."
A big AMEN to your words!
And where ARE those pesky so-called preservationists when it comes to Tucker?
Nevermind.
"Some parents are just not ready to have their kids in an integrated environment," said Mayor Bill Euille. "Even today."
Is this why Euille's Alexandria allows the de facto segregation of Jefferson Houston?
Dunno which is more embarrassing -the Mayor or the Bd of Ed.
"We used to have a community that had positive role models for black people, and integration took that away."
How true. The Melvin Millers and Ferdinand Days got the heck out of Parker Gray when they had the chance and only the poor remain. Euille does not live near the projects he grew up in, either.
Now in the name of compassion they care for the ones that couldn't make it out - the ones that "can't be assimilated" as hizzhonor might say -- and their kindness perpetuates a black underclass.
Divisive pandering that reflects a consistent refusal to understand the real issue. How do you build a community that produces a higher performing school.
Bet he understands the real issue is that there are indeed losers and he kindly wants to support them one generation after another. And might point out that it was white-driven policy that closed Virginia's schools all through the 1950s creating an entire generation of uneducated black children to ensure a permanent underclass. In the process all Virginians got screwed.
For your information, the Millers tried very hard to stay in the Parker Gray area when they needed a larger home. The problem was that none of the white people selling their homes in Parker Gray would sell to an African American family. Check your facts before you make your charges.
"Check your facts before you make your charges."
Miller in 1967 lobbied Council to pass a local open housing policy. When the 1968 Civil Rights Act passed including open housing he bolted. What is fascinating is your reference to whites? Are you finally admitting that this neighborhood has not always been historically black? Parker Gray is an artificial construct and everyone but Faroll Hamer knows it. What the 1984 District reflects is a segregated educational history including the 1999 redistricting plan, 70s white flight also the black upper middle class, and the Jim Crow negative of segregated post war public housing.
"For your information, the Millers tried very hard to stay in the Parker Gray area when they needed a larger home. The problem was that none of the white people selling their homes in Parker Gray would sell to an African American family. Check your facts before you make your charges."
The Growler doesn't even know where to begin deconstructing this ludicrous comment. First, let's start with the facts according to Alexandria's Real Estate Assessment database. The Millers bought their present day home located west of Quaker Lane on one of Alexandria's most prestigious (and least diverse) streets in March 1971. Mr. Miller therefore left the neighborhood 40 years ago, moving three miles away. Not even close -- three miles away on the west side of town in a very affluent area.
Second, the Growler is aware of a number of examples of African-American individuals buying homes from whites in this neighborhood during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. These include at least two larger than average homes with basements.
Third, the commenter implies -- no doubt inadvertently -- that there were white homeowners here. If that is the case, how can the City claim this was an entirely black neighborhood in that era?
"Where is the street signage explaining Tucker? Instead it wants the Legion preserved."
I would love to see street signage re: Tucker's boyhood home and law offices. One would never know Tucker's boyhood home and his office with younger brother Otto are in the very heart of Parker Gray Historic District.
Can anyone who harps on preserving the eyesore known as the Legion enlighten me as to why they consistently decline to draw attention in Parker-Gray to Tucker or his remarkable post-Brown accomplishments in the courts? At least one of his desegregation cases involved local schools, including Cora Kelly.
The Millers only bought their house in the West End after years of trying to buy in Parker Gray. They had tree children and none of the houses larger enough to house their family would be sold to them by the white owners. I would also point out that a large number of the white owners did not actually live in Parker Gray. The Parker Gary Growl's absolute refusal to believe any true thing about any of the Afro-American leaders of the time is most telling. Most of you did not live in Parker Gray at the time these things occurred so how can you claim that only you know the truth? Some of us who have lived here for 50+ plus may just know a bit more.
For your information, the Millers tried very hard to stay in the Parker Gray area when they needed a larger home. The problem was that none of the white people selling their homes in Parker Gray would sell to an African American family. Check your facts before you make your charges.
Sat Jan 22, 03:45:00 PM EST
when all else fails, reach for the race card --- don't leave home without it.
How would this comment make any sense if Mr. Miller ended up moving to one of the most lily white areas in the city?
I get so tired of these references to a "black" neighborhood or "white" homeowners. We are all homeowners and we are all neighbors. We need to do what's best for the children of Parker Gray and it's current residents, not worry about the sensitivities of folks who got up and moved somewhere else.
What we have now is not the best environment for our kids or for our neighborhood, it's getting there little by little but we still have over concentrated pockets of poverty and a failing segregated school.
I fail to understand how preserving the Legion in its current state helps the current neighborhood, or keeping Adkins as is for the next 15 years.....
The folks that argue otherwise perplex me....don't your realize saving the Legion wont prevent the problems of a permanent underclass that is poorly educated and has few job prospects?
"The Parker Gary Growl's absolute refusal to believe any true thing about any of the Afro-American leaders of the time is most telling. Most of you did not live in Parker Gray at the time these things occurred so how can you claim that only you know the truth? Some of us who have lived here for 50+ plus may just know a bit more."
Another nonproductive conversation begins. Reminds me of an oral history we recently read. A gent probably of your generation claimed a chinese restaurant operated near Queen and Fayette Streets during his youth. Yet no city directory confirms his fact. Fact: Mr. Miller did little to help Jeffeson Houston during the 1999 redistricting. Rumor: Mr. Miller was a paid consultant during the 1999 redistricting process not unlike Lee Quill is a paid Jefferson Houston consultant today. Let's move on to more constructive debate.
Didn't Sarge buy his restaurant at least the property from whites now renting the building to whites?
Didn't most of Queen Street's QSABA Board-African Americans all-send their children to private schools? Thompson's children went to Sidwell Friends did they not? Obama sends his children to Sidwell Friends because in his words District's schools are inferior. Get over the race baiting! Jefferson Houston is inferior too!
Moving out of a neighborhood doesn't mean you love it any less. It simply means, in most cases, that you have found something that fits your needs (size, etc) a little better.
Why are individuals of color criticized for wanting to live in another neighborhood? Of course people want the best their money can buy. Once they move, what crime is it to still want to support activities and the people living in the old area. Everyone wants to live where their money gets the greatest amount of services. This does not make them sell outs. It simply means they want the best for their families if they can afford it. Give the Miller bashing a rest.
"Give the Miller bashing a rest."
I remember when we went on a Mayor's walk through the neighborhood a few years ago. A large part of the neighborhood's complaints pertained to crime and nuisance activites in and around the ARHA properties. We had attempted to address these problems through ARHA but were wholly unsuccessful. When we pointed this out to the Mayor, Melvin Miller literally rolled his eyes at us. Totally offensive and counterproductive.
Here's the reason for the Melvin Miller bashing. For whatever reason, Melvin Miller moved from the neighborhood. Totally his choice and nothing wrong with that. But things have changed a lot since then. He may have been aware of what went on here years ago, but those of us who live here NOW know better what's going on today because we live it every day. Yet the City leaders continue to listen to people like Melvin Miller over those of us who actually live here. It's infuriating, especially since Mr. Miller can be such a hypocrite.
"Everyone wants to live where their money gets the greatest amount of services."
I guess the residents of Parker Gray who want the exact same thing don't count in your book, though.
Would you say Parker Gray residents are provided with a great amount of "services" for their tax dollars?
"Why are individuals of color criticized for wanting to live in another neighborhood?"
Pray tell why are people of non-color criticized for wanting to improve the current neighborhood?
"Moving out of a neighborhood doesn't mean you love it any less. It simply means, in most cases, that you have found something that fits your needs"
Nobody grudges Mel for moving upward. We blacks were divided on many issues but we was supposed to remain as one. Mel was involved in politics even in law school a junkie sort of and he repeatedly teamed with Mrs. Lyles someone with not much neighborhood support. Eudora wanted all the homes to remain low income and we repeatedly voted her down. Still Mel kept coming back. He's overstayed his welcome that's all.
Why is a copy of the archaeology firm's findings not on file with Barrett Library Special Collections? Seems a little suspicious.
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