Community clearcutting and the enigma of truth: a historical case study in urban renewal, structural violence and cultural trauma in Columbia, MO
Abstract
American cities are systems of complex organisms shaped by many forces. How cities and towns are organized, planned, and developed bears the fingerprint [s] of planners and policymakers who have shaped them. At the root of many of these practices and policies that justify developmental expansion and spatial isolation within American cities is racism, brought forth by legacies of racial bondage, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, and historical discrimination. However, little attention has been made to landscapes associated with collective historical-cultural trauma brought forth by urban renewal in smaller post-colonial cities. Embedded within Columbia, Missouri, is a place called The Douglass School Neighborhood. City planners clearcut the Douglass School Neighborhood with the aid of eminent domain. Much has been discussed regarding the Douglass School Neighborhood Urban Renewal Project. Yet, there is scarce research and analysis centered around understanding the long-term effects of collective historical-cultural trauma experienced with the loss of the Black sense of place (geography), space, identity, and community.
Degree
Ph. D.