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Lesson
Plans - Urban Renewal |
The Fillmore
Neighborhoods:
The Hidden Cities of San Francisco
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TITLE:
Urban Renewal
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PDF:
DOWNLOADABLE FILE (see PDF Instructions) |
GRADES:
11-12 |
SUBJECT AREA(S):
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- U.S. History
(Twentieth Century)
- American
Democracy
- Language
Arts
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OVERVIEW:
How could public policies created to improve a neighborhood end up
destroying its vital fabric? Urban renewal policies enacted in San
Francisco's Fillmore district in the 1950s-60s provide a vivid case
study in public policy, federal and local government, and citizen
activism. This important history sheds light on present-day urban
renewal policies, such as empowerment zones and welfare-to-work. |
STANDARDS
PROGRAM SEGMENTS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
MATERIALS & TIME
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
EXTENSIONS
ASSESSMENT |
PROGRAM
SEGMENTS:
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- 0:22-0:28
Conditions in the Fillmore after World War II; Urban Renewal Act
of 1949
- 0:35-0:43
incentives for local government to gain federal money; local political
players
- 0:43-0:52
A-1 plan; forced removal of residents (eminent domain); impact
on the mostly Black community
- 0:53-1:10
A-2; activism of WACO; first legal victory by community group
in US history; promissory notes unused; lingering rage
- 1:10-1:22
Herman's death; end result: Black Removal; no economic investment;
Jim Jones and Jonestown
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LEARNING
OBJECTIVES: |
- Students
will understand economic, cultural and political forces that undermined
a thriving African American community.
- By examining
the history of the Fillmore district, students will evaluate urban
renewal policies, including: goals, constitutional rationale (eminent
domain), cultural assumptions, economic strategies (including
cost/benefit analysis and incentives), and impact. [HSS Gr. 11
St. 1; Gr.12 Econ. St. 3 & 4; Gr. 12 Am.Dem. St. 4 & 5]
- Students
will evaluate a current urban renewal policy and debate its strengths
and weaknesses based on the lessons of history. [HHS Gr. 11 St.
11, LA St. 2 & 5]
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MATERIALS:
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- The Fillmore,
part 4 of The Neighborhoods of San Francisco
- the World
Wide Web
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TIME:
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3-4
class periods (60 min. each) |
PRE-VIEWING
ACTIVITIES: |
Have
students:
- Write the
following quote on the board or overhead and have a volunteer
read aloud: "Without adequate housing for the poor, critics
will rightly condemn urban renewal as a land grab for the rich
and a heartless push-out for the poor and non-whites."
- Have students
write down their best guess at the meaning of "urban renewal."
Discuss answers. What do students guess are the goals of urban
renewal? What are its dangers? According to the speaker, what
provisions could make urban renewal a success? What urban renewal
policies are in effect today?
- Introduce
The Fillmore documentary, explaining that this mostly Black neighborhood
in San Francisco was targeted for urban renewal in 1949. [Note:
If lesson #2 is noted used, it is advised to watch 0:22-0:34 of
the video also.]
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FOCUS
FOR VIEWING: |
Break students
into teams of 3 or 4. As students watch the video segments ask half
the teams to look for examples of people and arguments FOR urban
renewal. What was the rationale for those who supported it? What
were the goals and why did they see urban renewal as a positive
step for the neighborhood? Ask the other half of the teams to look
for those points of view AGAINST urban renewal. What was their position?
Why did they think it was such a bad idea?
back
to the top
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VIEWING
ACTIVITIES: |
Pause
the tape after segment 1. (after "It would be a crucial delay
- because in that time, the neighborhood tossed together by the war
would start, tenderly at first, to put down roots.")
- Ask the teams
to report any information gained.
- Discuss
Carlton Goodlett's statement: "Experience has taught minorities
if we don't start outright, we may not end upright." What
does he mean? What examples from history support his point?
Pause the tape
after segment 2 (after activist Mary Rogers says she didn't like the
worsening conditions)
- Ask the
teams to report new information.
- Discuss the
labels "slum" and "blight." Review the idea
of "incentives." How was proof of "blight" an incentive
for the city to gain federal dollars, and what were the criteria
(including "non-white population")? By contrast, why
was the label "slum" a dis-incentive to owners to fix
up their buildings?
Pause the tape
after segment 3 (after "The Fillmore didn't burn like Watts or
Newark, but the rage ran just as hot.")
- Ask the
teams to report new information.
- Discuss:
What was different about A-2? What was significant about WACO's
legal victory, both locally and nationwide?
Pause the tape
after segment 4
- Ask the
teams to report new information.
- Look back
at the quote discussed before viewing. Who was the speaker? [Herman]
In light of history, how is his statement ironic?
- Discuss:
According to Charles Collins, what was the missing piece in trying
to revive the Fillmore neighborhood? [jobs] According to the video,
why were people attracted to Jim Jones and the People's Temple?
What happened in 1978?
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POST-VIEWING
ACTIVITIES: |
Have
students stage a Mayor's press conference announcing a new urban development
plan for the Fillmore.
- Give all
students the following mock press release: According to city assessment,
the slums of the Fillmore district are the city's first priority
for urban renewal. As required by federal guidelines, the city
has demonstrated blight measured by over-crowding, tuberculosis,
traffic accidents, and the non-white population. Urban renewal
will clear the slums of the Fillmore and take the city of San
Francisco into a new era of prosperity for all. The mayor will
present this forward-looking plan to the public tomorrow at __
o'clock.
- Assign roles
on 3 teams. (Invent new roles or duplicate roles as needed so
that each student has a specific role.)
- City
and federal government officials
- Federal
Housing and Urban Development Official
- Mayor
of San Francisco
- Director
of the Redevelopment Agency
- Fillmore
residents forced to evacuate
- Black,
White and Japanese American homeowners
- High
school student (of any race) who grew up in the neighborhood
- Black
ministers, shopkeepers, club owners, etc.
- The press
- Reporters
from The Sun-Reporter (a local Black-owned newspaper),The
San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington
Post, KRON TV, and others
- Give students
one class period in their groups to prepare for the press conference.
(This may also be assigned as homework with additional research.)
- City
and federal government officials: Prepare a statement of the
plan, the expected outcomes, and the federal and local government
roles.
- Residents:
Prepare a response to the mayor's proposal. Evaluate and critique
the criteria listed above as reasons for the plan. Prepare
your own plan for improving your community and questions for
the officials.
- Journalists:
Prepare questions for the government officials and/or residents.
Consider your audiences. What will they want to know? Why
does this case matter to other cities? What historical repercussions
could it have?
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EXTENSIONS: |
The
power of language:
- Identify
key or repeated terms in the Housing Act of 1949 and public discourse.
[e.g. slum clearance, blight, non-white population] Analyze and
interpret this text. What are the connotations and denotations
of these words? Or, what are the literal and figurative, or sub-textual,
meanings? Who are the speakers using them? How do labels come
to define issues, and how could different labels change the public's
perceptions of the issues? How do the media either reinforce these
labels or challenge them?
- Visit www.policy.com
and click on Urban Renewal to read about current issues in urban
redevelopment. Do a textual analysis of current discourse (key
and repeated terms that define the issues). [e.g. welfare-to-work,
empowerment zones, under-developed communities, inner city, tax
obstacles, deteriorating neighborhoods.] How have the words changed
and how have they stayed the same? What inferences can be made
about cultural shifts since the 1960s? What problems still remain
in the language of policy for the people impacted by it?
Current urban renewal
policies:
- Identify
a community in San Francisco or other city facing dislocation
similar to the Fillmore OR choose another present-day urban renewal
policy [such as empowerment zones or welfare-to-work] to research
at www.policy.com.
Search newspapers for coverage of the issue and, if possible,
find the text of the legislation that launched the policy.
- Prepare a
critique or defense of the policy based on the lessons learned
in the Fillmore, addressing economic and social issues such as
race, gender, and class. Present or debate to the class or online
at www.voxcap.com.
Connections-Other
neighborhoods and cities:
- Locate Watts
or Newark (mentioned in the video). Research what "burned" there
and why, evaluating how economic, social or political policies
in those cities contributed to the rage that erupted in those
communities. Compare and contrast with the Fillmore in San Francisco.
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ASSESSMENT: |
- Evaluate
students' participation in discussion.
- Invite students
to evaluate their own and peers' written and oral arguments.
- Encourage
students to work in groups to conduct research and develop arguments,
evaluating their contributions to the team effort.
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STANDARDS: |
This lesson addresses the following national content standards found in the McRel Standards Database: www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks.
Grades K-12:
United States History:
31. Understands economic, social and cultural developments in the contemporary United States.
Civics:
1. Understands ideas about civic life, politics and government.
14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life.
Language Arts:
Reading:
5. Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process.
7. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts.
Viewing:
9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.
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