Quote of the Day
Bedford Stuyvesant was a 100% white neighborhood from until the late 1930s when some blacks started moving in from the south and WI. By the 1950 it was 50/50 and in the 1960 and early 70s you still had some old white families in the area. Spike Lee shows us that in Crooklyn set int…
Bedford Stuyvesant was a 100% white neighborhood from until the late 1930s when some blacks started moving in from the south and WI. By the 1950 it was 50/50 and in the 1960 and early 70s you still had some old white families in the area. Spike Lee shows us that in Crooklyn set int he mid 1970s. In 80s and 90s it was hard to find a white person. Today on the Nostrand Ave A train platform it was about 40/60 the area is going back to the feel of the 1950s when it comes to diversity and I really think it needed. This will help us learn from one another and appreciate each other.
— by Amzi Hill in New Bed-Stuy More Like Old Bed-Stuy?
“Based on the 1900, 1910 and 1920 census even the maids were white mostly Irish women. Southern BS was 100% white. The 1930 census you see some black people mostly workers for wealthy families… look at Ancestry.com they have all the census records…”
You did not make a distinction between Bed-Stuy and “Southern BS” in your original post, as you do above. Furthermore, if there were “some black people mostly workers for wealthy families” in the area at the time, that means the area was not “100% white” at that time.
“Do you think they built these brownstones from black people in 1880s and 1890?”
I didn’t say that. But if there were a wealthy black person around at that time (and there were some), what in particular would prevent that perosn from purchasing a home in what is now Bed-Stuy?
“Weeksville is in Crown Heights…”
The site is located in what is now consider Crown Heights but earlier was considered part of Bedford Stuyvesant:
http://www.weeksvillesociety.org/node/3
Your “facts” are somewhat dubious. Let’s see some of the source data that helped form your theories. Something other than a reference to ancestry.com, that is.
I’m sure it’s a bit more complicated than that. also it seems that blacks moved in as whites moved out to further suburbs. Today whites are moving in and blacks are been pushed-out to further suburbs.
My building on Tompkins near the M-W stop might be an interesting representation of the newcomers to Bed Stuy – pretty much exclusively under-30, mostly white, with some african americans and asians, and one hispanic family. Oh, and one young lady of pakistani descent, which i happen to know because she’s my roommate, heh. There are some buildings along my stretch of Myrtle that seem to be basically all young white kids. So Wine Lover, they are certainly out there.
My grandpa lived all over brooklyn in the 20s and 30s and he and his family lived in bed stuy for a time, he went to high school here. he remembers the neighborhood as mostly white, but hey, he’s 85, so his memory might not be so great 🙂
Weeksville is in Crown Heights…
East New York… Based on the 1900, 1910 and 1920 census even the maids were white mostly Irish women. Southern BS was 100% white. The 1930 census you see some black people mostly workers for wealthy families… look at Ancestry.com they have all the census records…
Do you think they built these brownstones from black people in 1880s and 1890?
-Heck No
I know the original owners of my house the John Donovan Esq. would be shock to see me if he came back from the dead.
It was not 100% white. There were a lot slaves who settled in Bedstuy who were a part of the underground railroad.
Since the African American community of Weeksville dates back to at least the early 1800s and is considered part of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the claim that “Bedford Stuyvesant was a 100% white neighbhorhood” seems a bit ignorant, if not bigoted.
“Bedford Stuyvesant was a 100% white neighborhood”
100%? Based on what data?
I frequently drive and bike through Bed Stuy – usually every weekend – and I have yet to see more than a really occasional white person on the street. Also, recently went to check out a private school there, and there were no white children – all the kids were black.
I knowthat there are white people in Bed Stuy, but where are they? Does anyone have the real stats on this?