Mayor Lindsay Walks the Streets of Harlem

Steven A. Levine

Coordinator for Educational Programs

On April 4, 1968, a nation wounded both by the Vietnam War and the divisions it had created, and by outbreaks of civil unrest in its cities, faced the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  Pent-up anger and frustration in the African-American community led to rioting, looting and arson that destroyed vast swaths of neighborhoods in Washington, DC, Chicago, Kansas City, Newark and Baltimore.  In New York City, it was a different story.  Because Mayor John Lindsay and his staff had built relationships with the African-American community, Lindsay was able to travel to Harlem after the assassination and help calm an angry crowd, greatly limiting the damage done.  To learn more about the night of April 4 in Harlem, see the video interview with Lindsay aide, Sid Davidoff.

            Unfortunately, little has been learned from 1968 as can be seen from the horrifying events surrounding the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed, young black man in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri. This and the events that followed have brought systemic American racism to the forefront.  While there are many causes for the racism that led up to Michael Brown’s death, one of them was a lack of communication between the predominantly white local government police force and the African-American community.  Lindsay intuitively understood the importance of building these relationships, something that has been forgotten as American police departments have become increasingly militarized.

March on Washington and the War on Poverty: 50 Years Later

Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mayor Robert F. Wagner, 1964

Steven A. Levine
Coordinator for Educational Programs

After returning from the March on Washington this weekend, I have been reading people’s reminiscences and analyses of the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 50 years ago today.  One thing is clear: the goals of the March were not only to end legal apartheid in the United States, but to create as the Marchers demanded “that every person in this nation, black or white, be given training and work with dignity to defeat unemployment and automation.”  Education historian Diane Ravitch recalled in her blog that, “For that brief few hours in time, the theory was reality, and we knew that change was coming, that it was inevitable. The only question was not whether it would happen, but when.”  She then contrasted that moment to the present when “Much has changed, but not enough. Barack Obama is President, but poverty among people of color remains scandalously high and racial segregation is no longer treated as outrageous.”

Sadly our commitment as a nation and a city to tackling segregation and poverty have nearly vanished in the last 50 years.  Poverty in New York City has increased from 18.4% in 2008 to 20.1% in 2011, reflecting national trends, while President Obama and other politicians constantly reference the middle class and rarely mention the poor in their speeches.

In contrast, Mayor Robert F. Wagner’s speeches in the 1960s reflected a commitment to combating poverty unlikely to be uttered by a presidential candidate today.  Speaking at the United Neighborhood Houses on December 3, 1964, he laid out a long term commitment to New York’s anti-poverty programs,

"I would rather move slowly and build a firm foundation for action, bearing in mind the long-range and sustained nature of the effort that will be required . . . not just the semblance of action, but truly to prevail in the war against poverty, which means also to prevail in the war against discrimination and disadvantage."

Unfortunately, the war in Vietnam sidelined the War on Poverty and the Wagner’s “firm foundation” never received the necessary federal resources.  With the election of Richard Nixon in 1968, the War on Poverty ended and the 1975 fiscal crisis led to a massive austerity in New York City. 

What is unconscionable is that few of our politicians even acknowledge the widespread poverty existing in our society today and that our nation has spent the last ten years spending hundreds of billions of dollars fighting unnecessary wars leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people at home and abroad instead of expending these resources at home on education, health care and job creation.  Our politicians have always found it possible to open the nation’s checkbook to fight wars, but tell the poor that our nation cannot afford the necessary resources to change their circumstances.

Civil Rights in New York City: In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Steven A. Levine
Coordinator for Educational Programs

Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott are welcomed by Robert F. Wagner at City Hall upon King's return to the U.S. after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, December 18, 1964. 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

In the spring of 1963, Birmingham, Alabama was the focal point of the civil rights movement.  Mass demonstrations, sit-ins and protests led to the arrest of hundreds, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by the brutal police force of Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor. 

            With the nation's attention focused on Birmingham, New York's Fur and Leather and Machine Workers Union organized a Rally for Equality on May 28^th, 1963 to support the civil rights struggles in the South.  Scheduled to speak at the event was Mayor Robert F. Wagner. What was striking about his speech was not Wagner's support for the freedom struggle in the South, but for its focus on civil rights in New York City.  He declared "If all we are going to do for the freedom fighters of the South is to express our sympathy for them, that might be helpful, but it wouldn't be enough.  It might even be considered a little hypocritical?" 

He used the rally to recommit his administration to fighting discrimination in New York City, issuing an executive memorandum directing all city agencies and departments "to review and re-assess all their present programs and activities pertaining to equal rights and opportunities for all" with the goal of expanding them or launching new ones.  Wagner was sincere, but he was also responding to a growing civil rights movement organizing to desegregate housing and public schools, end discrimination in employment, and empower New York's growing African-American and Latino populations.

Wagner's speech was a harbinger for the increasing polarization of New York City on racial issues.  Even as he gave his speech, his office had created a folder for "hate mail" from people opposed to his civil rights initiatives and his support for the movement in the South. (Sample) Simultaneously, the slow pace of change was leading to greater anger and impatience in the African-American community.  A year later, the NYPD would be putting down an uprising/riot in the streets of Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, after an off-duty police officer shot and killed an unarmed African-American high school student.