W.C. Reid Center in Asheville may have a new home in the foreseeable future. Photo: Urban News.

By Sarah Williams

What is urban renewal? Typically, it involves the obliteration of businesses, the repositioning of people, and the use of eminent domain as an officially authorized instrument to repossess private property for city-initiated development projects. In the 1960s, James Baldwin famously renamed urban renewal “Negro Removal.”

If we look at what took place in Asheville during the 1960s and 1970s, we might be inclined to agree with Baldwin. The landscape of Asheville has changed tremendously over these 40 years. Many African Americans were displaced, and some still are; African American neighborhoods were destroyed for the sake of building new businesses and better roads; public housing, designed for transitional living, was bombarded with people looking for a place to live, becoming permanent, multi-generational living for many families.

That history of displacement demands that we scrutinize today’s “urban renewal” plans for our city. Though a few reminders of the past remain, most of Asheville’s African American history has been virtually obliterated; with so little evidence remaining, it can be easy to question whether black people played any positive roles in the evolution of this city.

Will the few remaining places such as the YMI Cultural Center, Stephens-Lee Center, W. C. Reid Center, and the Senior Opportunity Center still be a part of the topography of Asheville ten years from now, or will they go the way of the ghosts of the East End? Will existing neighborhoods still be an integral part of Asheville?

According to the article “Eminent Domain” found in the online legal dictionary (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com), “government has the right to take private property through the power of eminent domain. To exercise the power of eminent domain, the government must prove that the four elements set forth in the Fifth Amendment are present: (1) private property (2) must be taken (3) for public use (4) and with just compensation.” This is legal, but is it humane? Will private owners be able to maintain their quality of living by receiving just compensation?

“Taking, the second element, refers to the taking of physical property, or a portion thereof, as well as the taking of property by reducing its value. Property value may be reduced because of noise, accessibility problems, or other agents. Dirt, timber, or rock appropriated from an individual’s land for the construction of a highway, for example, is taken property for which the owner is entitled to compensation. In general, compensation must be paid when a restriction on the use of property is so extensive that it is tantamount to confiscation of the property.”

Sherman Williams, a member of the board of Reid Center, spoke about previous urban renewal projects in Asheville. “The effects on African American families were close to devastating. Because families were scattered, some relationships were destroyed. Some had to move to affordable areas which sometimes meant moving to the outskirts of the city.

“The spirit of entrepreneurship was killed,” he explains. “There were many African American-owned businesses on The Block and Southside. They are just a memory now. Redlining took place, meaning people were not able to get financial assistance; therefore, people were not able to grow businesses.”

Asked about the taking of property in West Asheville for construction of the I-26 connector, Asheville City Councilman Dr. Carl Mumpower stated, “I am not aware of any current I-26 connector alternatives that will not impact on West Asheville, including Burton Street and other areas.”

He also responded to the concern that, just as African Americans lost many historical landmarks during earlier urban renewal projects, more will disappear in this round. Such African American landmarks as Stephens-Lee High School, businesses on The Block and Southside, and homes in the Valley Street area have been removed from the geography of this city, leading to the fear that anything that African Americans have identified with will eventually become just a memory. For example: What will happen to the Reid Center, formerly the Livingston Street School?

Assuming the YMI Cultural Center remains, what will happen to its effectiveness if a new arts center is built?

Dr. Mumpower stated, “I am not aware of a plan to destroy the Reid Center. Unfortunately a plan supported by the City Council majority to build an expensive new facility down the street will distract from our potential to renovate the Reid Center.”

Dr. Mumpower identified other cultural factors that he believes have had far more destructive impact on the black community than urban renewal.

“It would be my suggestion that a single mother rate of 70% has done more to harm the black culture in Asheville than any other factor. A second harm has been the herding of traditional black neighborhoods into public housing, which has in turn become havens for drug activity and related crimes, and recruiting stations for black youth whose futures are corrupted by these influences. I believe the willingness of the black community to condone and enable drug dealing in public housing and other vulnerable neighborhoods is a form of child abuse. The rest of us, who buy drugs, ignore our drug problem as long as it stays hidden in public housing, and do not support our police in strong enforcement, are equally accountable.”

“Preservation of black heritage in Asheville is in the hands of the black community,” he says. “I am not aware of any resistance to such and would note that we have a black Mayor who fills the city’s primary leadership role.
“Going forward, I am concerned that the continued deterioration of our economy will reach a crisis state that affects everyone in our city – regardless of color. We will have the choice of continuing themes of blame, victimization, and entitlement or working together toward survival and recovery.”

Roderick Simmons, Director of the Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, shared the department’s position on the status of the Livingston Street School as a community center. In a written statement he asserted, “Last month City Council approved the department’s request to move forward with the W.C. Reid Community Center $2-million-dollar plan for new construction that will meet current grant obligations and build the new center on the Livingston Street Park site. There are no plans at this time to tear down the current center.
“Once the new center opens we will have a series of community meetings to discuss the future of the Livingston Street School and have open dialogue letting the community decide what is the best use of the old school.

“We decided to recommend the two million dollars for new construction because we would get more mileage out of our limited funds, and we would not displace our current center programming. My concern is, if we displace the current programming for a year while renovating the eighty-year-old school, it would be hard to get the community program back to its current level. This is a heavily used community center, and we did not want to take the chance on losing community support. Also, there is a level of community concern that this project will not come to fruition. In order to build community trust, we believe that building on a new site would allow the community to see the new building going up, which builds trust and gives us time to discuss the future of the old school with the community.
“The first phase of Reid Center construction will have dedicated space for a theater, four multipurpose classroom spaces, and an office which will accommodate the cultural arts programming component. A gymnasium and a water feature could eventually be added in a future phase which may accommodate additional programs such as sports, senior programs, after school, visual arts classes, dance classes, aerobics, yoga, board meetings, special events and other seasonal programs.

“Since the existing center will not be closed during construction of a new facility, core services such as the after-school program will continue.”

African Americans are going to have to join together to make decisions about where we go from here. If we are to become a positive and progressive presence here in Asheville, we will have to work for it and support each other.