Very interesting and provocative! Thanks, Sam, for continuing to uncover history that is just as important for us as adults as for children like Hudson.
A few years ago I had a conversation with a black woman who was in high school in 1968. After she shared what it was like to have the curtain pulled back and new opportunities open up, she talked about how it also marked the beginning of the end for so many once-thriving black businesses and neighborhoods—that it’s a very painful thing people still don’t want to talk about.
This reminds me of American Beach on Amelia Island, FL. It has a similar vibe where you can see the bones of the once thriving black commercial district. It is surrounded by wealth and development and you kind of have to go out of your way to check it out.
Very interesting and provocative! Thanks, Sam, for continuing to uncover history that is just as important for us as adults as for children like Hudson.
Thank you for continuing to read!
A few years ago I had a conversation with a black woman who was in high school in 1968. After she shared what it was like to have the curtain pulled back and new opportunities open up, she talked about how it also marked the beginning of the end for so many once-thriving black businesses and neighborhoods—that it’s a very painful thing people still don’t want to talk about.
Yes, it's such a sad and overlooked unintended consequence of integration. I missed it for a long time too.
This reminds me of American Beach on Amelia Island, FL. It has a similar vibe where you can see the bones of the once thriving black commercial district. It is surrounded by wealth and development and you kind of have to go out of your way to check it out.
Yes! I haven't been to American Beach, but in researching for this piece, American Beach was one of the closest parallels on the Eastern Seaboard.