Urban Renewal Phenomenon Analysis

The article titled, “Root Shock: The Consequences of African American Dispossession”, penned by Mindy Thompson Fullilove, delves deep into the phenomenon of urban renewal. Now, the author goes on to elucidate how urban renewal was a process among many that went on to contribute to the de-urbanization of the cities of the United States. This happened during the last half of the 20th century (Fullilove 73). The writing highlights the fact that urban renewal was a very vital federal policy that went on to impact the lives of innumerable people of the United States. Hundreds of cities and thousands of communities were affected by this federal policy. The author goes on to argue that urban renewal aimed to clear the slum areas of the urban regions …show more content…
So, the urban renewal programs became synonymous with the notion of removal of the black people of the urban society. The removal of the black people from their homes led to a number of short-term effects. People were mostly affected by loss of social organization, loss of money, and were left in a state of psychological trauma. As a long-term impact, the collapse of political action left a mark on the lives of so many people from the black community. Moreover, social paralysis of dispossession was also a major long-term impact. Holistically, the urban renewal programs have a major impact on the African American community. The author is successful in exploring the various aspects of the issue at hand, and the readers get a clear picture of the entire …show more content…
These people had been subjected to segregation, slavery, lynching, and so on. However, in the second half of the 20th century the execution of the urban renewal programs by the federal government could be taken as an extension of the systematic violence that the entire black community living in America had been subjected to for centuries. Apart from this, the action also reflected the unreasonable perspective on the part of the government for the downtrodden people of the society. The African American people were not simply facing the brunt of being economically backward, but they were also been victimized by the innate white superiority that reflected in the massive urbanization and development. It can be said that the white community found development synonymous with their identity, while the slums became the identity of the African American people. The federal government was ready to strip the blacks of a part of their identity and send them off to other