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By Mike Cuenca | June 24, 2002
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The headline on your story about the new book of Lawrence history
should have read: "Lawrence: different, but definitely not any better."
A hundred years ago, Lawrence was actually a much more welcoming city
for blacks than it is for any people of color now. There might not be
as much overt racism and violence now, but the city has driven out as
many blacks as possible, torn down their businesses, and made Lawrence
the haven for upper-middle-class white flight that it is now.
At the turn of the century, the block of Massachusetts Street between
what are now Sixth and Seventh Streets was a black business area. It's
gone. At that time, the block between Seventh and Eighth on Vermont was
a black business district. That's gone. Similarly, the black business
district between Vermont and New Hampshire on Ninth Street is gone.
Today, the black businesses and professionals that once heavily
populated Lawrence have, with the exception of only a half-dozen or so,
been driven away, and the black community that in 1895 represented 22
percent of Lawrence's population has fallen to only 5 percent in 2000.
In fact, today all of Lawrence's minorities combined are less than the
black population percentage of 100 years ago.
Lawrence is not ethnically diverse. It's white, and over the past 100
years it was purposefully made that way by the powerful people who have
controlled the university, the local government, and the local economy.
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Originally published by the Lawrence Journal-World.
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