Reprinted with permission from The News & Observer, Raleigh NC

Hayti, settled in the 1800s around Fayetteville and Pettigrew streets, grew into one of the South’s major black business centers – “the black Wall Street” as it was known. By the 1960s, however, parts of the neighborhood had fallen into decline. Hoping to revitalize blighted residential areas, the state extended the Durham Freeway through the heart of Hayti in 1970. Many black-owned business were wiped out, and critics charge that city leaders never made good on promises to help displaced businesses rebuild.

Hayti, settled in the 1800s around Fayetteville and Pettigrew streets, grew into one of the South’s major black business centers – “the black Wall Street” as it was known. By the 1960s, however, parts of the neighborhood had fallen into decline. Hoping to revitalize blighted residential areas, the state extended the Durham Freeway through the heart of Hayti in 1970. Many black-owned business were wiped out, and critics charge that city leaders never made good on promises to help displaced businesses rebuild.

THE N&O: – What destroyed the Hayti neighborhood in Durham?

ANDRE VANN: – Urban renewal, to a great extent, led to the demise of one of the South’s most famous and noted neighborhoods, known as Hayti.

THE N&O: – Who was responsible for destroying it?

VANN: – Many of the city leaders, along with certain members of the African-American middle class, played pivotal roles in the removal of this community, supposedly in the name of progress. Which meant removing anything that fostered negative stereotypical images, be it older communities or dilapidated buildings. The freeway was coming through and the advent of Research Triangle Park coming about. So those two helped to fuel this movement to create the freeway, which in essence ran directly through the community.

THE N&O: – How were city leaders and middle-class blacks at work in the Hayti community?

VANN: – The term “progress” simply meant that you were seeking to move within the mainstream of American society, which meant that it was very much similar to what whites enjoyed at the time. Basically, African-Americans were seeking to be parallel with their white counterparts, which meant that one had to, in essence, acquiesce to many of [their] views and ideas. They were seeking to be accepted into mainstream society.

Many of the run-down and shoddy homes … in [Hayti], along with a number of buildings that were in decay, led to this image of a run-down community. And that was something that many of the [city] leaders, both black and white, did not want to project to the rest of the United States. They were seeking to model themselves as this New South community, similar to Atlanta, where they would seek to be progressive. They were seeking to get beyond the race question by looking to economics as a way to view the community.

It was the philosophy of Booker T. Washington, of picking themselves up by their bootstraps, that was still in existence. Many blacks hoped to be accepted by white society if they proved to be economically self-sufficient.

THE N&O: – It almost sounds as if you are saying that political leaders in the black community wanted to do away with Hayti.

VANN: – [The] middle-class African-American leadership wanted to do away with it. The masses, however, would tell a totally different story.

THE N&O: – What story would they tell?

VANN: – They would present the story that this was a self-sufficient community that catered to all the needs of the community, … that it was all the magic that existed in this image of Hayti.

THE N&O: – Was that accurate?

VANN: – That is where the image of “the tale of two cities” comes in. On the one hand, you had the image of the N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Co. You had the Mechanics and Farmers Bank. The Mutual Savings and Loan. You had all these businesses spreading the reputation of the community because these institutions were nationally known. But on the other hand, you also still had poverty. … You had prostitution, the numbers racket taking place there. Again, that’s where the negative image came in, and that’s where the elite members of the black community always had their hands on the other side. They were the ones who helped to make the decisions.

THE N&O: – In 1970, when the freeway came through, was there a Hayti left to preserve?

VANN: – In the memory of the masses, probably. That’s where the image comes in. But to some extent with the issue of urbanization taking effect, the issue of migration, and the lack of cohesiveness among residents in the community – all of that made it prime for the decline. It had lost its shine, to some extent.

THE N&O: – Did the self-sufficient, thriving community that people recalled exist anymore?

VANN: – It could be likened to a patient on a respirator breathing faintly. But it was still there.

THE N&O: – In what form could Hayti have been preserved?

VANN: – Hayti would have had to change or conform to many of the pressing issues that were confronting not just the black community but the entire South – and that was the question of urbanization, industry and, most importantly, the question of true integration, where blacks had more freedom and mobility to move about, to work wherever they wanted to work (to an extent) and enjoy the same rights and freedoms as their white counterparts. With integration, there are some things that were lost, such as the all-black close-knit communities, where all were seen as members of the same family.

THE N&O: – Can the traditionally black neighborhoods be preserved – and should they be in today’s world?

VANN: – I would say “yes” because the traditionally black neighborhood has always had a strong faith and belief in the role of religion, the role of education as an emancipator, and in family as the single and basic unit of the entire community.

People have the right to live anywhere they want to live – that’s an outgrowth of the civil rights movement – but by the same token, often times, unfortunately, people still feel more comfortable around people of their own ethnic background and similar socio-economic circumstances.

There should be some reminder of historic black neighborhoods, some form of remnants. Black neighborhoods serve as incubators of leadership and are one of the great pathways for social mobility for blacks in America. When you ask whether black neighborhoods should be preserved, automatically Princeville, N.C., comes to mind. It was the first incorporated black community in the United States, and is a perfect example of a community that should be preserved, not only because of its historical significance as the first incorporated town founded by free blacks in America, but also because of the great sense of pride and achievement that have flowed throughout that community and throughout the entire United States. That place should survive, and it should thrive.

My grandmother always said a biblical quotation: “Forget not thy historical landmarks.” I believe she had a black neighborhood and a black family and the people in the community in mind when she made that statement. I believe that, and I practice it.