Redlining map from 1936 of Syracuse, NY. Key indicating neighborhoods designated as Green: A, Best ; Blue, B; Still Desirable; Yellow: C, Definitely Declining; Red: D, Hazardous. Credit: Image provided by Segregation by Design

Four community members led a discussion Friday about the effects of redlining in Syracuse and how those effects could be reinforced by the removal of the Interstate 81 viaduct and the redevelopment of public housing. 

The Syracuse/Onondaga NAACP organized the panel discussion “The history of Redlining in Syracuse, New York — chaos or community?” at the Community Folk Art Center, moderated by Robert Searing, curator of the Onondaga Historical Association. 

The two-hour event included a panel of guest speakers: 

  • Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Center
  • Elizabeth Page, vice president of Inclusive Living, Inc.
  • Ben Murphy, assistant director of tickets at Syracuse Stage

“I don’t think they actually cared where we would land during redlining and urban renewal. I don’t think they paid attention to where we would land,” Owens-Chaplin said.” I think they were hoping that the Black folks who migrated here by the droves would get back in their vehicles and go back to the South. And, I think we’re seeing that today.”

Searing led a presentation displaying historical photos of the 15th ward including community members, homes, businesses, and third spaces like churches and community centers. In his presentation, he also noted Central New York’s role in the abolitionist period with figures like Edmonia Highgate and Frederick Douglass. 

His presentation displayed the evolution of Syracuse’s intentionally segregated communities through redlining and the stark divides in the areas and conditions in which Black people were forced to live. 

Each of the panelists explained how their families came to be in Syracuse, whether they were born and raised in the city or their families came during the “Great Migration,” when Black Americans from the south migrated north.

Many found refuge in Syracuse, though the arrival of more Black families to the area heightened racial and economic tensions. Those families came to a redlined city. 

Page’s grandfather was a formerly enslaved person who came to Syracuse from Rochester. Her family is among those affected by the Interstate 81 viaduct being built in the 1960s through the city’s 15th Ward. Page remembers Black people only being allowed to live in places like Pioneer Homes in the 1940s. Her parents weren’t allowed to buy a home in Syracuse or in Camillus. 

Owens-Chaplin sees a similar pattern in the city presently, as pockets of the city remain segregated or inaccessible to non-white community members.

She sees a chance for residents to prevent the same harms that building the viaduct brought to Syracuse.

“This is an opportunity for us to kind of continue to push back. So something that we’ve been advocating for is to look at this through a restorative justice lens and say, 65 years ago, at this point, this land was taken. Folks were not compensated, they were displaced,” Owens-Chaplin said.

Owens-Chaplin has long said that the land that will become part of the Community Grid replacing the viaduct will become valuable to the city and to investors. She has advocated for equitable development in the area that allows those who have carried the burden of living next to the viaduct to reap the benefits of it being brought down. 

“I would hate to see this neighborhood be redeveloped into this fancy new Community Grid — it’s going to be beautiful with tree-lined streets — and the neighbors that live there that have carried the burden of living next to a viaduct for 55 years cannot reap the benefits of this new bustling community,” Owens-Chaplin said.

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Yolanda Stewart was raised in the Bronx, New York City. Before choosing a career path in journalism she found a voice in writing plays, short stories, and a myriad of other creative outlets. She is a 2022...