African American Towns And Businesses The Unknown Story:

During many a discussions both on and off line, I frequently hear the often repeated comment that Blacks.."U.S" ones that is , have no tradition of entrepreneurship or sense of community, that model minorities , including Asians,Caribbeans and Africans are able to make a dollar from a dime after a brief plane ride, that they do not have a history of pulling together , they will look at the conditions many poor Black communities are in and wonder how on earth such communities stagnate, First off there are in fact longstanding successful AA communities that non talked about because it's boring, nothing to see here, no drive bys and gangs, in fact life is rather uneventful, so how do one explain those other communities that people love to get excited about.

In the beginning.

After mass emancipation many Blacks took to the road in one of the most massive internal migration in U.S history, from the agricultural south to the industrialized northeast in the early to mid-twentieth century, others stayed in the South , along the way some stopped and formed largely self sufficient communities, they pooled their resources and employed each other, they set up banks, insurance companies, Law firms, hotels etc, this was more of a necessity than ideas concerning "Race" , because banks rarely lend money to Blacks or insured them, but I am sure some pride came from the fact that they had their own.

Greenwood is a neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most successful and wealthiest black communities in the United States during the early 20th Century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street" until the Tulsa race riot of 1921, in which white residents massacred black residents and razed the neighborhood within hours. The riot was one of the most devastating massacres in the history of U.S. race relations, destroying the once thriving Greenwood community. Within five years after the massacre, surviving residents who chose to remain in Tulsa rebuilt much of the district. They accomplished this despite the opposition of many white Tulsa political and business leaders and punitive rezoning laws enacted to prevent reconstruction.
en.wikipedia.org...

Incidence like the above was to be repeated throughout the United States where ever successful and largely independent Black communities sprang up.
To be cont.

Flag and star for subject too often forgotten or never learned.
Very interested to hear more examples.

a reply to: Spider879

I was reading about greenwood just the other day. I was thinking about a thread on it! This is a lost conspiracy that it was destroyed/removed. S&F!!

This stuff continues today....

a reply to: reldra

Yep yep. Star for you.


People that criticizes blacks lack of 'initiative' fail to realize that blacks have tried numerous times to build their own, only to be met either with, domestic terrorism from white people, terrorism in the form of legislation, or terrorism in the form of covert operations from our government. (Google - FBI infiltrates pro-black movements)

After a while, Black Americans lose hope. Now that hope is lost, you have all these 'modern whites' trying to tell black people. Hey, just get up and do for your own. Hey, smart man, every time the black American tries to do for his own he is met with so much opposition that he has to cancel those plans.

Meanwhile, the same people leading this opposition are the same ones behind closed doors, protecting their own interests, denying people based on their race, and securing themselves economically. It is all nonsense, and I feel for the Black American. I think the Black American is the only cultural group in America that had its culture completely wiped, replaced with a 'consolation culture' by their 'masters' and it is the only group in America that is met with opposition whenever they try to create their own.

From Slaves To Bankers

Rev. William Washington Browne, founder of first black-owned bank The history of The Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers tells a fascinating story about the struggles and triumphs of a former Georgia slave who founded the first ever black-owned bank in America. Founded in 1888 by Reverend William Washington Browne, the bank opened the very next year with deposits on the first day totaling $1,269.28.
blog.blackbusiness.org...


Founders of Merchants & Farmers Bank in Durham, North Carolina

Capital Savings Bank, the first bank organized and operated by African Americans, was founded in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17, 1888.
hbcumoney.com...
A list of some of the Banks that survived the crash of the 30ts, mention must be made of this guy the Prince Of Darkness.

Jeremiah G. Hamilton (sometimes Jerry Hamilton) was a Wall Street broker noted as “the only black millionaire in New York” about a decade before the American Civil War. Hamilton was a shrewd financial agent, amassing a fortune of $2 million ($250 million today) by the time of his death in 1875. Although he was the subject of much newspaper coverage and his life provides a unique perspective on race in 19th century America, Hamilton is virtually absent from modern historical literature.

The main reason why many of the sharpest minds among Black ppl turned to politics instead of finance was because decisions were being made about them on a political level that negatively affected their lives and lively hoods, this focus on the political would hold many AA communities back, they simply had little choice.

originally posted by: FelisOrion
a reply to: reldra

Yep yep. Star for you.


People that criticizes blacks lack of 'initiative' fail to realize that blacks have tried numerous times to build their own, only to be met either with, domestic terrorism from white people, terrorism in the form of legislation, or terrorism in the form of covert operations from our government. (Google - FBI infiltrates pro-black movements)

After a while, Black Americans lose hope. Now that hope is lost, you have all these 'modern whites' trying to tell black people. Hey, just get up and do for your own. Hey, smart man, every time the black American tries to do for his own he is met with so much opposition that he has to cancel those plans.

Meanwhile, the same people leading this opposition are the same ones behind closed doors, protecting their own interests, denying people based on their race, and securing themselves economically. It is all nonsense, and I feel for the Black American. I think the Black American is the only cultural group in America that had its culture completely wiped, replaced with a 'consolation culture' by their 'masters' and it is the only group in America that is met with opposition whenever they try to create their own.

Absolutely. The facts are here and easily available, yet many people will continue to stereotype.

This is a thread that should really be stickied or archived in a special place on ATS.

a reply to: Spider879

Great piece of info.... thanks.

From Slave To Maufacturer

The C.R. Patterson & Sons Company was a carriage building firm, and the first African American-owned automobile manufacturer. The company was founded by Charles Richard Patterson, who was born into slavery in April 1833 on a plantation in Virginia. His parents were Nancy and Charles Patterson. Patterson escaped from slavery in 1861, heading west and settling in Greenfield, Ohio around 1862. At some point after his arrival in Ohio, Patterson went to work as a blacksmith for the carriage-building business, Dines and Simpson. In 1865 he married Josephine Utz, and had five children from 1866 to 1879. In 1873, Patterson went into partnership with J.P. Lowe, another Greenfield-based carriage manufacturer. Over the next twenty years, Patterson and Lowe developed a highly successful carriage-building business. In 1893 Patterson bought out J.P. Lowe’s share of the business and reorganized it as C.R. Patterson & Sons Company. The company built 28 types of horse-drawn vehicles and employed approximately 10-15 individuals. While the company managed to successfully market its equine-powered carriages and buggies, the dawn of the automobile was rapidly approaching. Charles Patterson died in 1910, leaving the successful carriage business to his son Frederick who in turn initiated the conversion of the company from a carriage business into an automobile manufacturer. The first Patterson-Greenfield car debuted in 1915 and was sold for $850. With a four-cylinder Continental engine, the car was comparable to the contemporary Ford Model T. The Patterson-Greenfield car may, in fact, have been more sophisticated than Ford’s car, but C.R. Patterson & Sons never matched Ford’s manufacturing capability. - See more at: www.blackpast.org...

It is said in some circles that George Washington Carver gave the idea of the "Plant" to his friend Ford, based off how plants replicates, however I cannot find second and third source info on that, but he did worked with Henry Ford on other projects, and their's seemed to be a lasting friendship, but just imagine if Carver and Patterson met and the story true, it is possible the primer auto make would have been the Patterson family.

So what happened after such a promising start, one you have the physical destruction of many such prominent communities by hostile forces, zoning laws that restricts Black commerce, expanding beyond their base communities was made difficult by both social and legal means, in many cases over passes were built to isolate many Black communities, these crowded Ghettos would in time create an underclass with it's own ethos, much of it with negative consequences especially with the introduction of Heroin and Cocaine , in this environment few are able to escape it, most just live it and a few exploit those who do stay.

How To Create A Ghetto.

Although the law has addressed the exclusionary impacts of racially restrictive covenants and zoning ordinances, most legal scholars, courts, and legislatures have given little attention to the use of these less obvious exclusionary urban design tactics. Street grid layouts, one-way streets, the absence of sidewalks and crosswalks, and other design elements can shape the demographics of a city and isolate a neighborhood from those surrounding it. In this way, the exclusionary built environment—the architecture of a place—functions as a form of regulation; it constrains the behavior of those who interact with it, often without their even realizing it. This Article suggests that there are two primary reasons that we fail to consider discriminatory exclusion through architecture in the same way that we consider functionally similar exclusion through law. First, potential challengers, courts, and lawmakers often fail to recognize architecture as a form of regulation at all, viewing it instead as functional, innocuous, and prepolitical. Second, even if decision makers and those who are excluded recognize architecture’s regulatory power, existing jurisprudence is insufficient to address its harms.
www.yalelawjournal.org...

One have to wonder how many pulled off such daunting climb despite obstacles placed both legal and social before them ,

a reply to: Spider879

Not the only incident where entire communities were harrassed and/or killed for being black people living in America.



Good thread.

a reply to: Spider879

Hillary Clinton contributed to the further destruction of Black Communities in this country.

a reply to: starwarsisreal

Very damming video, and it only reinforces the reasons why so many AAs are side tracked into the political rather than the economic arena, as I had said before when decisions being made affects you in a very negative way that's where one spends much of one's energy to the detriment of all else, and btw the prison industrial complex was worked out along time ago to stifle free labor in favor of slave labor with the advent of chain gangs, this industrial complex is now on steroids.

This combination from the burning of eight of the largest prosperous AA communities in the 1920ts robbed AAs of a different kind of future that would have been built on , assets and wealth being passed down to this day, left alone and given the time to develop organically even independent from significant white or government involvement, I doubt if we would be talking about welfare queens, predator children or permanent underclass, for they were well on their way to developing viable communities.

I have been saying this since I came here, when there is something good to say about the African Americans, Muslims or other minorities, thread like these get very little stars and flags but when you can paint them in a bad light, a thread will light with up stars and flags.

Great thread.

a reply to: FullBloodedNative

Stars and Flags are great and I appreciate them, but for me putting the info out there and sharing it with others is a win regardless..

S and F.

People misinterpret lack of initiative for lack of opportunity or repression.
Great read.

a reply to: Spider879

Every year in grade school we had a unit on Kansas history and it alway had a bit on Nicodemus.

Nicodemus, Kansas is the only remaining western community established by African Americans after the Civil War. Having an important role in American History, the town symbolizes the pioneering spirit of these ex-slaves who fled the war-torn South in search of "real” freedom and a chance to restart their lives. This "ghost town" has since gained recognition as a National Historic Site.

Heading to KansasIn the late 1870’s the black population of the South was extremely restless, as the Reconstruction following the Civil War failed to bring the long awaited freedom, equality and prosperity. Instead, they were racially oppressed, poverty-stricken, debt-ridden and starving.

At this time, along came a white man by the name of W.R. Hill, who described a "Promise Land” in Kansas to black families in the backwoods of Kentucky and Tennessee. Hill told of a sparsely settled territory with abundant wild game, wild horses that could be tamed, and an opportunity to own land through the homesteading process in Nicodemus, Kansas.

The town site of Nicodemus was planned in 1877 by W.R. Hill, a land developer from Indiana, and Reverend W.H. Smith, a black man, forming the Nicodemus Town Company. Reverend Smith became the President of the Town Company and Hill, the treasurer. Named for a legendary figure that came to America on a slave ship and later purchased his freedom, the two founders aggressively promoted the town to the black refugees of the Deep South. The Reverend Simon P. Roundtree was the first settler, arriving on June 18, 1877. Zack T. Fletcher and his wife, Jenny Smith Fletcher (the daughter of Reverend W.H. Smith) arrived in July and Fletcher was named the secretary of the Town Company. Smith, Roundtree, and the Fletchers made claims to their property and built temporary homes in dugouts along the prairie.

The town still exists, but it's a shadow of what it was. They hold a celebration every year when descendants of the original settlers return.

The settlement itself was a thriving town with prosperous farmers, but it was mostly killed off by the Dust Bowl and Depression like so many other farming communities in that region of the US.

a reply to: ketsuko

Thank you so much great addition Ketsuko ..

I wonder if the extremist right winger who believe in welfare queens will read this. BUT BUT WHAT ABOUT BLACK ON BLACK CRIME?!(sarcasm)

a reply to: christophoros

Ahem, I generally am accused of having that label. So clearly, I did read this.

This is really great. I am glad that the truth about the Riots is now out. The government had planned it, and the evidence is against them. They actually moved the survivors into refugee camps, and then held a land run of the burned down homes and properties. Made the black people clean up the wreckage of their own homes, the ones that stayed that is, and then auctioned off the land to white people. Then Jim Crowe happened, and the KKK took over the city. They didn't have the means or the time to regroup. They actually did this when all the men were off at war. They bombed the city when there was only women and children, the weak, so they would have no opposition.

They buried them in mass graves. And when it was brought up in supreme court in 2000, they justices claimed they waited too long and "sat" on their rights. Which is complete bs. They could not even find anyone to take the case because of how messed up and corrupted it all was. They wouldn't even let the survivors talk in court, they closed the case before they could! This level of government corruption is not being taught in schools, conveniently. And certainly deserves to be on ATS. Thank you for bringing this very serious issue to attention.

By the way, I live in Oklahoma. The state that this atrocity, and Genocide took place in. Call it Ethnic cleansing if you will. But, this is why I do not trust blindly in government. Do not ever forget. Your government can and will turn on you when it is convenient for them. That is why we must stand together. Racism is just a divide that keeps us weak. Black. White. Hispanic. Asian. Middle Eastern. We are american. And we must stand together against racism and against corrupt governments. We can never let freedom of speech die. A lot of these people were so scared they fled the country. We can't let their memory be in vain.