How Gentrification in Raleigh, NC Puts African American HBCU History in Peril.
On May 3rd of 2019, the New York Times ran a story by Emily Badger who writes about cities and urban policy for The Upshot from the Washington bureau. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/us/unlocking-the-neon-green-door-to-gentrification.html?searchResultPosition=1 . She’s particularly interested in housing, transportation, and inequality — and how they’re all connected. She actually saw the trend that is playing out before the Raleigh City Council right now. I found the name of the article fitting considering the situation the Council finds itself “Unlocking the (Neon Green) Door to Gentrification”. How the city got here is interestingly political considering the stakes of less than 40 acres of prime downtown real estate in a neighborhood that just happens to be a minority of blacks and a major piece of African-American history in North Carolina and the Southeast United States. The players in this unfolding drama make it not only intriguing but full of the financial inequities facing the African-American community and its history.
The city put itself straight into the very survival of the oldest HBCU in the southern United States via a rezoning request that got by a questionable process of the city’s rezoning board and its failure to address the simplest urban planning standards that would affect the neighborhood historically and economically. The entire process before the zoning board was a shame and the evidence of that sham is overwhelming considering some of the players have a great deal to gain by allowing the zoning request to move forward.
The Raleigh Planning Commission and the Historic Development Commission are city-sponsored entities with official boards that are appointed by the city and the county, however, most of the seats are city appointed. It is interesting to look at how this rezoning application was presented and how the city’s own authorities on this rezoning came to two very different recommendations and how the rezoning application was ever approved the way it was written, without real transparency and without real stakeholder input about the integrity of the application itself, no real details are provided about the historical significance of the properties and their continued existence. The integrity of this process is called into question because of the discrepancy in the recommendations from each commission and only one commission addressed the historical significance of the application and its flaws. Raleigh City Council has a history of working with the colleges and schools within its limits to accommodate institutional zoning and progress without changing the character of the institution and that’s not giving Shaw University the same cooperation.
https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR13/managers-update-2022-14.pdfhttps://centennial.ncsu.edu/zoning/ file:///Users/michaelhall/Downloads/Memo%20to%20City%20Council%20%E2%80%93%20April%204,%202023%20%E2%80%93%20Shaw%20Assemblage%20JH%20&%20GW.pdf
https://centennial.ncsu.edu/zoning/https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/Z-018-21.pdf
The City Council is fully aware of the overwhelming look of conflict of interest within its own ranks concerning this rezoning and it is also why a majority of the alumni, of which I am a dues-paying member, consider this application and its process alarmingly akin to the gentrification of the campus and it’s history by corrupt stakeholders. One cannot deny how this looks to the alumni and why most of the alumni simply do not trust this process to be in the best interest of the university’s survival. The university is promoting this new “Shaw District” and most question not only the motives of the university but also of the executive committee of the board of trustees and employees associated with the university, as well as the real estate representatives the university has engaged and the motives of the council member duly elected to represent this historical district. All of these smoke signals indicate a fire is burning and the process needs to slow down and make sure, the historical value is honored if there is a fire, we have the time to put it out with the integrity of the process intact. There are two very alarming individuals that stand out in this process and both are associated with the city of Raleigh and give the appearance of malfeasance. During the last city council hearing on this rezoning, several council members made some significant comments concerning the request and most were definitely well intended. There is nothing wrong with slowing down a process to make sure integrity and transparency are tantamount to the success of the process. At present the city council has numerous issues before it that address discrimination against the poor and housing and it is obvious the city council is under pressure from developers and from the community as well, and this rezoning request is no different because this involves marginalized students of color and their ability to have a voice. This needs more study and clarity for all parties involved.
https://raleighnc.gov/planning-and-development/raleigh-historic-development-commission
https://raleighnc.gov/planning-and-development/raleigh-historic-development-commission
The Shaw Alumni and its ongoing fight with the administration and its Board of Trustees.
The university has had an ongoing battle with many of the alumni because of the appearance of mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility. The organization “Save Our Shaw” has tremendous support from the alumni and is more effective at conveying the wishes of most of the alumni than the official alumni association of the university, which has not taken a public stand for or against the rezoning. After speaking with many of the alumni and engaging them with the knowledge of the rezoning process, the university has run into unprecedented headwinds. That is evident in the last city council meeting where the rezoning request went before the council, the council was faced with overwhelming opposition and was deluged with speaking engagements that the mayor had to uncharacteristically restrict public comments that were in opposition to the request as it is written. Many extenuating circumstances are involved in this rezoning and the city council is fully aware of these circumstances, from the graves on the campus which hold the remains of the founder and his wife, and the ancestor of the founder came before the city council and expressed his opposition to the rezoning as it is written, to the historical significance of the buildings on the campus.
If this rezoning has merit and is not gentrification but is indeed the opportunity for Shaw University to take advantage of its valuable land and its strategic location, then it should have enough strength to endure a delay in a vote of confidence to make sure the city council is the transparency of the developers and the players behind the scene. The evidence by this administration to slowly shut the university down deserves closer scrutiny from all stakeholders. I contacted several alumni and this is their take on the rezoning:
“I am a 1995 Graduate of Shaw University. As I stated to Dr. Dillard and to WRAL TV, my opposition is Shaw University is not showing a Campus Plan. Therefore Shaw University is not telling the truth to the community and the alumnus.”
Carol Holloway, Former Raleigh/Wake, Chapter President
“The unwarranted sale of Shaw University’s public radio station WSHA fm just months before it celebrated its 50th anniversary was a travesty. This was a serious blow to the University’s academic programs, for the students who lost a critical hands-on learning practicum, and to the alumni who were nurtured and trained at WSHA fm to go on to become prolific, highly regarded broadcasters in the media industry. The community, campus, and alumni still feel the sting, particularly because there was no justified gain. Given the track record of the current Board of Trustees and the administration, the alumni are fearful that the rezoning of the campus will lead to the loss of Shaw’s precious historical buildings.”
Edith Lee Thorpe, Shaw University Class of 1981. Former General Manager of WRVS, Elizabeth City State University, WNCU, North Carolina Central University, and WNSB, Norfolk State University.
“In recent years, friends of Shaw University and her graduates have witnessed the sale of our beloved radio station WSHA. We’ve seen student enrollment decline while it grows at most other HBCUs and now we’re seeing the main Women’s Residence remain closed. I recently learned that the student body was sent home during Homecoming Weekend. These things and many other troubling revelations about the possibility of losing historic buildings as well as the entire campus to gentrification are the main reasons so many of us oppose This Rezoning Request. The fact that the University could only get seven people to speak in favor of This Rezoning Request says quite a lot when two of the seven are paid by the University. We encourage the city council to vote no on This Rezoning Request.”
Norman Elliott ‘81
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089619875375
