One Night in Miami: A Deeper Look at the Racial History of Vice City
Miami is known as a colorful city, full of lively nightlife, Art Deco architecture, beaches galore, and rich Caribbean and Latin culture. The city today is not without its history, and Miami with all its vibrance is not immune from the racial prejudice and widespread discrimination that the rest of the nation has faced.
Black people have historically been seen as either entertainers or laborers. Slavery was a legalized institution for centuries, after, Black people still mainly held roles as workers (now freed and paid) and were seen at a lower status than their white counterparts. Beginning in the 20th century, in larger numbers Black people began to enter the entertainment space. Here they were accepted to a limit. They received adoration from white crowds, but as soon as their show was over, they were booted from the establishment to dine and dance in a more ‘low class’ ‘colored’ person venue. So were the Jim Crow Laws of the South.
In Miami, the oasis of the southern corner of our nation, this was no different. Famed Black performers from all over America would come to perform for the white elite at Miami Beach and were quickly dismissed. Performers such as Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, revered in modern times as some of the greatest artists to ever live, were made to feel like less than a dog. In this discrimination, the Black people of Miami-Dade were forced to cut out a city — to sleep, eat, perform, and indulge. Here Black Americans made a safe space, just their own.
Overtown, previously known as “Colored Town,” is one of the places the Black population, who had a great hand in building and industrializing Miami into what it is known as today, were sent to live. Seen as the ‘Harlem of the South’ the area was filled with Black-owned and Black-accepting businesses. Some denoted it as a ‘slum’, the association of the ‘ghetto’ as a minority-filled area. Because of segregation the idea of “separate but equal” was made false, and typically Black people were given lower-quality homes, businesses, schools, and healthcare facilities, if any at all.
Though not allocated much, a vibrant culture was created with a star-studded history. The Hampton House, a motel, was one of the green book safe places in the Miami area. Here many of the famous people who were not allowed to stay on the beach island could come to lay their head in peace and with kinfolk. Such celebrities include Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr. One such occasion is known by many.
One Night In Miami was originally a play by Kemp Powers and was later adapted into a movie directed by Regina King in 2020. This legendary night of “the greats” took place February 25, 1964, after 22-year-old Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, won the Heavy Weight Champion title against Sonny Liston. A famed fight, the win put Ali as truly the greatest and changed the trajectory of his life. In celebration, the iconic four are said to have a night of deep intellectual conversations on the civil rights issue facing Black Americans, and their roles in combatting it.
Unfortunately, during this same time, a major construction was underway that would wreak havoc and destroy this black community. In the 1960s, the government took possession of many businesses and homes across the Overtown area using eminent domain to build the gigantic I-95 highway, displacing thousands. A form of economic exploitation, this construction broke apart the neighborhood, lowering real estate value, stretching out the distance between businesses, and taking away the character and charm Black people had created, with large overpasses and major traffic sounds.
This is not the first time the US government has had a hand in the diminishing of Black neighborhoods’ value. During the ‘New Deal’ era the government created the Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC) which was in charge of appraising neighborhoods, based upon racist appraising practices. Areas in Miami-Dade where Black people lived were given some of the lowest ratings. This made it very hard for Black families to receive loans to buy houses, and trapped them in exploitative tenancy situations, at the mercy of white landlords. The housing they did have access to, due to segregation, was undeniably inferior. Areas painted in red on maps were “high risk” and dubbed suitable for Black people. Redlining, decades later, has ensured that historically Black neighborhoods have suffered physical decay, with low developer investment because of its continued prejudiced identity, and has intensified racial segregation.
Disparities were a problem in Miami, and still are. Black people make up 24.4% of South Florida’s population, this is over 1.2 million people (as of 2018). The acts of the past still haunt of, and the gaps created back then still exist. In South Florida, Black people make on average $18,000 less than their white counterparts. Nationally, the US Census released a data report on the 50th anniversary of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech showcasing data of Black Americans then and now. In many categories there were improvements, and in others, like home ownership, barely had any change at all.
We have come far as a country, there is no doubt, but we still have far to go. Miami for me has always been a place of rich culture, but often time the most prominent one is Latin. To learn a bit more about the hidden Black History we have in our little corner of the country, even though not pretty, makes me feel proud. I was able to visit Hampton House in person. It was closed from tours at the time, but just walking around the building up to its entrance I got goosebumps. Standing in the space greats have stood. The powerful voices who endured a life of hate and injustice unlike anything I have ever experienced and STILL persevered, fighting for a better tomorrow, is something worth honoring, remembering, and aspiring to be.
