As we celebrate Black History Month, it’s important to recall Austin’s own relationship with race, which is at the very least, complicated.
Following the Civil War, Austin became a hub for freedmen communities. Some are more well known, like Clarksville and Wheatville, but there have been 13 other freedmen towns in Austin, including the area that is now Westlake. However, in 1928, the city forced black Austinites to the east side, denying them utilities like running water if they lived beyond the border of I-35.
Even after segregation was fully outlawed in 1964, Austin’s progress towards integration was slow at best, and completely disregarded at worst. AISD schools were still effectively segregated until the 1970s when they were sued by the federal government for not complying with the Brown v Board decision. But instead of making an actual effort to integrate all schools, AISD’s response was to close two all-black schools in east Austin (Kealing Middle School and L.C Anderson High School) to force those students to attend all-white schools. These all-white schools, of course, were across the city, which began a long saga of bussing minority students to the other side of town that wouldn’t end until the 80s.
To prevent the federal government from getting involved again, they decided to turn many predominantly black and Hispanic schools into “magnet” schools and academies, investing in extracurricular programs to attract white families. These schools include Lively Middle School, Kealing Middle School, Lamar Middle School, Covington Middle School, as well as LASA, which was built on top of LBJ High School. For some schools, like Lively and Kealing, which have a fairly balanced demographic of students, this seems to have worked. But other schools, like Lamar, have now become predominantly white instead, pushing out disenfranchised students with their high standards for admission to their fine arts academy.
While it may seem like all of this was forever ago, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Today, African-American communities are still being mistreated by the city. Gentrification has taken over the east side, making Austin the only major American city with a decreasing black population. Black History Month isn’t just about remembering the past. It’s also about confronting the present. And when recalling all of Austin’s current issues—gentrification, the housing crisis, I-35 continues to divide the city, the list goes on—it becomes clear that we need to confront our present too.
