Lucious Sutton disconnected the waterline, the gas line, and the sewer line for the home he’d built on Bauer Place on the northwestern edge of Evanston. He and his brothers removed the appliances and the furniture. They secured the windows. Then he watched as men he didn’t know— maybe they worked for the city, maybe for a property developer—jacked up the wooden house, set it onto a truck, and drove it a mile-and-a-half to the neighborhood the city had deemed more suitable for Black families. A sheriff stood by.
It was May 1929, five months before the onset of the Great Depression. Evanston, just north of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan, even then thought itself the ideal American town, with fine homes, a university, and a certain class. The city’s population had grown by tens of thousands in a decade, so that by the time Lucious and his wife, Minerva, were removed from their property, 63,000 people lived there, almost 5,000 of them Black. Homebuilding was lucrative, and the rules of segregation—some coded, some official—were well established. A 1921 ordinance allowed the city to limit where Black residents could live by rezoning residential blocks into commercial ones; racial covenants kept them away from other neighborhoods. More rules and restrictions were to come.
This story is from the May 31 - June 07, 2021 (Double Issue) edition of Bloomberg Businessweek.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 31 - June 07, 2021 (Double Issue) edition of Bloomberg Businessweek.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App
The rise of AI and the fall of Twitter could create opportunities for upstarts
Running in Circles
A subscription running shoe program aims to fight footwear waste
What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort
Nine wild secrets from the staff at Turtle Bay, who have to manage everyone from haughty honeymooners to go-go-dancing golfers.
Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge
Squid's ability to flourish in warmer waters makes it fitting for a diet for the changing environment
Brazil Yanks the Welcome Mat for Oil Investors
Foreign oil majors have filed an injunction to halt a new tax on crude exports
POINT OF FAILURE
Silicon Valley Bank's collapse exposed a weakness in tech and in the broader economy
Glencore Stays the Course With Coal
The commodities giant’s CEO says the fossil fuel is still necessary, even as he pursues minerals needed for the energy transition
Under Pressure
History shows that when the Federal Reserve is raising rates, an unexpected shock can trigger a recession
Where the Ax Will Fall Next
Another week, another round of job cuts—this time Meta Platforms Inc. is adding to the 11,000 people it fired in November with thousands more, Bloomberg News has reported.
The Case for Ditching Your Wallet
Bellroy's clever phone carrier keeps those last crucial cards close.