THE
THE WORLD
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARED COVID-19 TO BE A GLOBAL PANDEMIC IN THE 1960S AS
BLACK FAMILIES MOVED INTO
DENVER'S PARKHILL NEIGHBORHOOD,
WHITE FAMILIES MOVED OUT.
BACK THEN PARKHILL BECAME A
BURGEONING MECCA FOR AFFLUENT
BLACK FAMILIES AS THEY FOUGHT
THEIR WAY TO LIVE IN
THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
NOW AS GENTRIFICATION SETS IN
THOSE ROUTES ARE HARD TO
RECOGNIZE TODAY.
IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN
STILL SEE THE SCARS
OF REDLINING.
A LOT OF THE WHITES WOULD REFER
TO THAT AREA AS A DARK HUE.
THAT'S WHAT THEY CALLED ONE
OF DENVER'S OLDEST
NEIGHBORHOODS HAS A PAST ROOTED
IN RACISM AND THE WHITE
SETTLERS DIDN'T WANT THEIR
NEIGHBORS TO KNOW THAT BLACK
FAMILIES WERE MOVING IN SO THEY
WOULD MOVE OUT IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE NIGHT AND IN THE BLACK
FAMILIES AND MOVE IN.
THEY LITERALLY WOULD WAKE HAVE
A NEW FAMILY IN THE HOUSE.
REALTOR VERN HARRIS INHERITED
PUBLIC REALTY COMPANY FROM HIS
FATHER MCKINLEY WHO WAS AN
EARLLY FACILITATOR OF SOME
OF THOSE HUSHED MIDNIGHT MOVES
IN THE 50S.
HE WAS ONE OF ONLY THREE BLACKS
TO HAVE A REAL ESTATE LICENSE
IN THE STATE OF COLORADO.
IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, GETTING
BLACK FAMILIES TO PARKHILL
WASN'T EASY AT ONE POINT IT WAS
AGAINST THE LAW.
DAD TELL STORIES ABOUT HIM
PUTTING DOGS ON THEM DURING
SEGREGATION BLACKS COULD ONLY
LIVE IN CERTAIN PARTS OF TOWN.
THE BOUNDARIES MOVED FROM
DOWNING STREET TO HIGH STREET
TO YORK STREET TO COLORADO
BOULEVARD SAY BLACK FOLKS
AREN'T ALLOWED TO MOVE EAST
OF THESE STREETS IS FIVE POINTS
FILLED UP WITH BLACK FAMILIES
AND THE BLACK POPULATION
INCREASED GRADUALLY BLACK
PEOPLE WHO COULD AFFORD IT
STARTED MOVING EAST SEEKING
BETTER HOMES AND SCHOOLS.
WHEN YOU GET INTO THE 19 EARLY
1960S WE'RE PUSHING
THE BOUNDARY OF COLORADO
BOULEVARD MOVING INTO TO
PARKHILL AND THERE WERE A LOT
OF CHALLENGES THAT WE FACED
WITH WHAT WE CALL REDLINING
DOUGHTERY GENTRY'S ON THE BOARD
OF THE BLACK AMERICAN WEST
MUSEUM AND HERITAGE CENTER.
SHE MOVED TO PARKHILL AS A
TEENAGER AND WATCHED HER FAMILY
AND OTHERS FACE
THE DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE
OF REDLINING.
THIS MAP CREATED BY DENVER'S
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENT IN 2019 SHOWS
THE HISTORY OF REDLINING IN
DENVER.
THAT'S THE DISCRIMINATORY
PRACTICE OF REFUSING FINANCIAL
SERVICES TO CONSUMERS BASED ON
RACE.
IT WAS MEANT TO KEEP BLACK
PEOPLE AWAY FROM AREAS THEY
WEREN'T WANTED LIKE MAJORITY
WHITE RELINED PARKHILL
GOVERNMENT HOUSING AGENCIES
ASSIGNED A GRADE FROM A D TO
DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS
REFUSING HOUSING LOANS TO
PEOPLE LIVING IN THOSE LOWER
GRADE NEIGHBORHOODS DESPITE
THE COLORADO STATE FAIR HOUSING
ACT OF 1957, WHITES WOULD
REFUSE TO SELL TO BLACKS
WHETHER YOU WERE TRYING TO
FINANCE YOUR HOME IF YOU WERE
TRYING TO RENT A HOME, TRYING
TO YOU KNOW, JUST LIVE IN THOSE
SPACES THERE WERE THERE WERE
ALWAYS DIFFERENT EFFORTS IN
PLACE TO KEEP US OUT.
BUT FOR YEARS BLACK FAMILIES
THOUGHT THE RESISTANCE AND
RESOURCES FOUGHT THE FLAT OUT
RACISM.
ONE OF MY FRIENDS HAD FLIERS
PUT ON THEIR DOOR TO GET OUT.
THEY HAD SWASTIKAS ON IT AND BY
THE 1970S MOST WHITE FAMILIES
LEFT DUE TO WHAT WAS CALLED
THE BLACK INVASION AND PARKHILL
BECAME A BLACK HAVEN ACCORDING
TO THOSE WHO LIVED THERE.
YOU LITERALLY HAD PARKHILL
NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE ALMOST
100 PERCENT WHITE AND THEN IT
GOT TO THE POINT WHERE IT WAS
PROBABLY 90 95 PERCENT BLACK.
IN RECENT YEARS PARKHILL HAS
BEEN DOMINATED BY
GENTRIFICATION MEAN I LITERALLY
REMEMBER WHEN THOSE HOUSES OVER
THERE WERE SELLING FOR, YOU
KNOW, 30000 DOLLARS AND NOW YOU
CAN'T I MEAN IF YOU FIND A
HOUSE FOR 400 500 THOUSAND,
THEY'RE PRETTY MUCH SCRAPING IT
AND AND PUTTING UP ANOTHER
HOUSE SO THEY REALLY KIND
OF PRICE EVERYBODY OUT OF THE
PROPERTY TAXES OR PRICING FOLKS
OUT LIKE THOSE FAMILIES.
TERRY GENTRY GREW UP WITH A
FRIEND WHO BOUGHT HER HOME 35
YEARS AGO NOW RISKS LOSING IT.
SHE'S UNDER THE THREAT
OF GETTING OF LOSING HER HOUSE
BECAUSE SHE CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY
THE TAXES BECAUSE THEY EXCEED
HER ANNUAL INCOME OR RETIREMENT
INCOME.
THE SCARS OF REDLINING STILL
EXIST.
THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE
NEIGHBORHOOD IS ALWAYS BEEN
WHITER AND WEALTHIER THAN
THE REST.
THE STRIPED AREAS SHOW
THE HISTORICAL RED LINING RATES
IN DENVER, THE BLUE STRIPED
AREA OF SOUTH PARK HILL WAS
LABELED BEST FOR THE NORTH.
IT WAS STILL DESIRABLE.
THE GREEN STRIPED AREA THE MOST
NORTHERN PART OF PARKHILL WHICH
WAS DEEMED HAZARDOUS BACK THEN
HAS SOME OF THE HIGHEST
INEQUITY IN THE CITY TODAY.
AND YOU ASK HIM A QUESTION YOU
SAY LIKE WELL HOW DID YOU END
UP OVER HERE?
AND THEY'LL GO WELL THIS IS
WHERE THE REALTOR SENT ME THIS.
THEY SAID THEY THEY ACTUALLY
SAID THIS IS WHERE A LOT OF THE
BLACK PEOPLE FROM WHITE TO
BLACK TO WHITE AGAIN THESE LONG
TERM PARKHILL RESIDENTS SAY
DIVERSITY NOT DIVISION IS
THE KEY TO UNLOCKING THIS
NEIGHBORHOOD'S GREATEST
POTENTIAL.
BUT WE HOPE TO SEE HAPPEN IS
THAT WE CAN GET BACK TO
THE PEOPLE LIVING WHEREVER THEY
WANT TO LIVE.
THAT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE A
CHALLENGE.
ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL
BE A CHALLENGE.
IN 1961, PAKULAK ACTION
COMMITTEE FOUGHT TO FIND A
SOLUTION TO THE FEAR AND
PREJUDICE AROUND INTEGRATION.
THE COMMITTEE WAS MADE UP
OF BOTH BLACK AND