Problems and Future Directions of Residential Integration: The Local Application of Federally Funded Programs in Dade County, Florida

PROBLEMS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF RESIDENTIAL INTEGRATION: THE LOCAL APPLICATION OF FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS IN DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA John J. Dudas and David B. Longbrake* Given the current situation and present trends, it is quite likely that a successfully integrated society will not be forthcoming for at least fifty years. Such an estimate is not entirely unrealistic considering the lethargic nature of the movement and the many constraints placed in the path of integration. Even if every American committed himself to the principles of integration and mysteriously obliterated all remnants of racism today, such principles could not in fact be implemented until many current national, state, and local programs and policies were revised. (1) It is the purpose of the first part of this paper to analyze the current state of several federally funded programs in metropolitan Miami ( Dade County), Florida, with respect to their impact upon racial integration. The second part of the paper presents several alternative methods for stimulating urban residential integration through the local application of existing federal programs. TWO FORMS OF INTEGRATION. There are two aspects to the development of an integrated urban society. The first is a form of daytime, or 8 to 5, integration which can be termed Indirect Public Services Integration. The second may be termed Direct Residential integration. Indirect Integration involves the mixing of races at the level of public and semi-public services such as transportation, education, retail sales, and employment. For most urban Americans, this form of integration appears to be the most palatable. Indirect integration, for legal purposes at least, puts an end to segregation. Apparently, the implication in government support for indirect integration is that this activity will encourage a positive change in interracial attitudes, and thus aid in achieving the goal of an integrated society. (2) Only time can test this assumption. Indirect integration, although violently opposed at first, now appears to be gaining acceptance among whites. For many blacks, indirect integration may be sufficient, but for many others, true justice and equality will not be attained until the loopholes and excuses which have prevented residential integration are removed. (3) Even though indirect *Mr. Dudas is employed with the Community Improvement Program of Dade County and is a graduate student in the Urban Studies Program at the University of Miami, Coral Gables. Dr. Longbrake is assistant professor of geography at the university . The paper was accepted for publication in June 1971. 158 Southeastern Geographer integration is taking place in Dade County, direct residential integration is not. (4) Direct Integration refers to the integration of housing throughout all the neighborhoods of a city. Many blacks are moving from the older ghettos into the so-called "transition" areas of the city; (5) but mobility among the blacks does not have the same connotation of beneficial results as among the whites. In Dade Countv, for example, blacks move about within the city, a few by choice but most out of necessity. In the Central Miami Negro District alone (see NDP 3, Figure 1), 1850 black METROPOLITAN MIAMI BRQWABOCO. J DADECO CAROL CITY NORT H M IAM H IALtAM MIAMI CORAL GABLES KEY BISCAYNE SOUTH RICHMOND HEIGHTS -->, NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM SITES ¦¦ 1.Seminólo 2.Edison Pork 3.Centrol Miomi 4.Coconut Grove 5.South Shore ( Rejected} 6.South Miami 7.Perrine 8.Goulds 9.Model City 10. Central Hiaieah ( Rejected ) Figure 1 Vol. XI, No. 2 159 families were forced to vacate their residences between 1965 and 1970 as a result of expressway construction and urban renewal. (6) But rather than moving into the general housing market, as would be the case with whites, the displaced black family moved into already congested black areas of Dade County such as the Model City Area (see NDP 9, Figure 1). (7) Federal guidelines did not require integration to be an objective of the Urban Renewal and State Road Department relocation programs. A recently completed planning study of housing needs in Dade County clearly illustrates the discrepancies in mobility patterns between whites, Cubans, and blacks. The study found that when whites move within Dade County, the majority improve their living environment substantially. When the Cubans move within the area, the majority improve their...