There wasn’t initially much of a middle class in America. There were varying degrees of land-owning rich people and everyone else trying to scrape by. The most commonly attributed force associated with creating the middle class was the creation of government-backed housing programs providing VA and FHA loans to people who otherwise wouldn’t qualify.
William Levitt was a pioneer in developing the first large subdivisions designed for returning WWII veterans, with the first Levittown constructed in a New York suburb starting in 1947. The first home sold for $7,900, and soon 17,000 units housing 84,000 people were produced and sold. Levittown had community centers, public pools, parks, and private meeting areas. It also had no Black people, as no returning Black veterans were given FHA or VA loans.
There were rules associated with living in Levittown; your grass had to be cut once a week, laundry could only be hung outside on carousel-style drying racks, and you couldn’t rent to Black people, though you could employ them to work for you. Every contract contained the following clause:
“The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race. But the employment and maintenance of other than Caucasian domestic servants shall be permitted.”
The FHA wouldn’t insure mortgages in Black neighborhoods or allow sales in white ones. Levitt claimed he wasn’t racist; it was a matter of economics. White people wouldn’t buy in a neighborhood where even one Black family lived.
“It was a question of economics. We can’t take on the functions of the government or the country. . . . As a Jew, I have no room in my mind or heart for racial prejudice.”
However, “I have come to know. that if we sell one house to a Negro family, then 90 or 95 percent of our white customers will not buy into the community. That is their attitude, not ours. As a company, our position is simply this: We can solve a housing problem, or we can try to solve a racial problem, but we cannot combine the two.” — William Levitt
There were several Levittowns, one in Maryland, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico. The second Levittstown was built outside Philadelphia in 1952. Just as white as the first one.
In August of 1957, after residents experienced five years of whiteness. A Black family, Bill and Daisy Myers, and their two children bought the home at 43 Deepgreen Lane for $12,150. While Levitt would not sell to Black people, nothing could prevent a home’s resale. The house had three bedrooms, central air conditioning, and a new washer and dryer. The Myers family moved in under cover of night. It was only a short time before the mailman knocked on the door, asking to see the owner. When Daisy announced it was her home, the mailman went door-to-door saying,
“It happened! Niggers have moved into Levittown!”
The Bucks County Courier Times newspaper reported what happened next.
“Small groups of agitated Levittowners are already gathering in front of the Myers home. Throughout the evening, the crowd continues to grow. By midnight, more than 200 shouting men, women, and children cluster on the Myers’ front lawn. A group of teens throw rocks through the Myers’ front picture window, and Bristol Township police officers are dispatched to the scene. Soon, the county sheriff arrives and orders the crowd to disperse. By 12:30 a.m., two adults and three teens had been arrested. Now, with the violence increasing, the sheriff wires the Pennsylvania State Police, asking for immediate assistance. His request states,” … the citizens of Levittown are out of control.”
While the crowds eventually died down, efforts of the neighbors to force the Myers out increased. Rocks were thrown through the Myers’ windows, and KKK was painted on the home’s exterior. The house next door became vacant and was used as the headquarters for attempts to force the family out. The home was nicknamed the “Confederate House” that flew the Confederate flag and played “Dixie” night and day from a record player.
The Myers family did have supporters; groups like the American Jewish Congress, the Quakers, and the William Penn Center organized a 24–7 patrol to protect the home. They would help clean up after the cross burnings and volunteer to babysit the Myers children.
The Myers family received letters of support from Martin Luther King, Jr., Pearl Buck, and Jackie Robinson. The FHA suggested they wouldn’t fund the New Jersey Levittown unless the racist clause was removed from the contract. Levitt refused to remove the clause and continued to sell segregated housing. The FHA backed down. Levitt, a Jewish man himself, built housing on Long Island, NY, in a community that barred Jewish people.
The Myers family lasted almost four years before moving away to York, PA, in June 1961. Multiply their experience times most communities in America, and you’ll understand how the creation of the middle class excluded Black families for decades. The movie A Raisin in the Sun detailed the attempt of the fictional Younger family and their move into the all-white Clybourne Park community. The Clybourne Park Improvement Association threatened the Youngers, who decided at the film’s end to move in and hope things got better after they refused an offer to sell and were then threatened if they stayed. We’ll never know what playwright Lorraine Hansberry had in mind for the family’s ultimate fate.
One might argue there is now a sizable Black middle class due in part to some of the programs intended to decrease the wealth gap the government helped create. It’s appropriate to look back and see how we arrived where we are and what wasn’t originally intended.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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