Is Levittown (N.Y) a Symbol of American Progress, or Should it be Considered a Symbol of American Prejudice - Research Paper Example

Is Levittown (N.Y) a symbol of American progress, or should it be considered a symbol of American prejudice? Levittown has always cultivated racism by retaining an extremely low percentage of non-White Americans. Levittown happens to be one of the first suburban developments in US. It was the destination to a lot of working class families who had returned from the war. Nevertheless, it developed on racial patterns and the land was not sold to people from African American, Hispanic or any other community except for Caucasians. It was essentially developed only for Caucasians, though in the last couple of decades, more and more people from different races have occupied the town. Nevertheless, the long seeded racism cultivates in the town against all races other than Caucasian. Even today, a vast majority of the inhabitants of Levittown are white Americans. According to the 1990 census, 97.37 percent of the inhabitants of Levittown were White Americans (The New York Times, 1997, p. 2). Three years later, in the 2000 census, “[t]he racial makeup of the CDP was 94.36% White, 2.45% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.96% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.86% from other races, and 1.17% from two or more races” (Hispanis Dose, n.d.). Owing to the subdued rights of non-Caucasian Americans in Levittown, it is a symbol of prejudice for America. Cultivation of racism in the Long Islands is detrimental even for the racists. Long Islanders have conventionally made every attempt to keep their Island from according with the notion of “becoming just like Queens” (Newsday, 2002). The fundamental ideology of Long Islanders is that to be Queens-like is to be urban, which is not something to feel proud of. In order for the Long Islands like Levittown to be considered good, they have to be suburban with a lot of wealth, safety and most importantly, whiteness! However, “[i]n their effort to keep things as they are, however, Long Islanders are strangling their own chance of maturing as an economic center and as a vibrant, viable region” (Newsday, 2002). By making the Long Islands race specific, the developers have narrowed the chances of occupancy of their own children on them. They tend to ruin all opportunities to solve the usual issues of protecting open space, controlling overdevelopment, revitalizing the downtown regions, limiting taxes, and most importantly, handling racism. Racism in Long Islands like Levittown moves from private life of individuals to the societal arena. It may frequently show up in public gatherings in terms of racial appellations displayed on the buildings, and humiliation offered to the families of color by the white people residing in the neighborhood. Beatings find origin in racism in such circumstances. Levittown is one of the Long Islands where this happened in particular. Levittown is the first suburb for the American nation after the war. Black soldiers were denied access to this largest housing scheme in the history of America. Since that time, the town has increased in subtleness manifolds, assisting the establishment of a wide range of institutions ranging from schools and boutiques to hospitals. The consequential circumstances have made it difficult for the establishment to take care of the mushrooming problems. The disparity between the rights of Caucasian Americans and non-Caucasian Americans is detrimental for the peace of the town. Long Islanders tend to achieve self control and develop the economic ability to become indifferent to the state of the rest of the nation. The multiple government layers that results in such a system adds so much volume to the taxes that they promote isolation of the racial grounds. The process of development is curbed by the fragmentation of leadership and it becomes much harder to abolish racism. The price of houses in the Long Islands like Levittown has conventionally been the maximum among all states in the US. The unusually high prices also find a relation to the racism. If the houses become affordable to the public in general, they would become quite approachable to the Hispanics, blacks and others. This would in turn challenge the stability of neighborhoods. Nevertheless, this makes many inhabitants deprived of a decent house in the Long Islands, and they have no option but to live with their parents or friends. The Levittown Racial Exclusion Clause states, “The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race. But the employment and maintenance of other than Caucasian domestic servants shall be permitted” (Gallucci, n.d.). Although this clause acknowledges the work and maintenance rights of worker belonging to races other than Caucasian, this does not, in any way, suffice to maintain a psychological equality between them and then Caucasian workers. In such a working environment, where non-Caucasians are not allowed to purchase land in the locality, Caucasians would assume a natural dominance over the non-Caucasian workers. The latter will be psychologically distressed which would result into a low self esteem and they would not be able to continue working in the organization for long. In light of this discussion, it hardly makes any difference if or not, the government recognizes the employment and maintenance rights of the non-Caucasian workers. Critics of this point of view may place more emphasis on the technological development and enlightenment that has occurred in Levittown. However, it needs to be realized that this means something only to the Caucasians dwelling therein that happen to be only a portion of the total population of America. America is largely a multi-cultural society, and the multiculturalism happens to be an integral quality of the America we know today. Multiculturalism has played an important part in making America what she is today. The success she has achieved is not the result of Caucasians alone. Instead, there is equal representation of all other races in advancing America in every way. Taking this into consideration, it is highly unfair to have such towns in America where non-Caucasians and Caucasians do not enjoy the same rights. Levittown may have advanced quite a lot, but the fact that there is disparity of rights between Caucasians and non-Caucasians tag the town as racist which is an idea that is absolutely not consistent with the demands of a modernistic liberal and democratic society. Levittown has always been racist towards non-Caucasian Americans. This fact has so much gravity that it undermines its technological advancement, growth and economic prosperity. Levittown is undoubtedly, a symbol of prejudice for America. References: Gallucci. (n.d.). The Levittown Legacy: Segregation In Suburbia. Retrieved from http://teacher2.smithtown.k12.ny.us/gallucci/US%20History/Unit%2014%20-%20Cold%20War%20%26%201950s%20America/Levittown%20Legacy.pdf. Hispanis Dose. (n.d.). Racism in America: Crisis in Levittown, Pennsylvania Documentary Part 2 (1957). Retrieved from http://www.hispanicdose.com/video/racism-america-crisis-levittown-pennsylvania-documentary-part-1957-3392.html. The New York Times. (1997). At 50, Levittown Contends With Its Legacy of Bias. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/nyregion/at-50-levittown-contends-with-its-legacy-of-bias.html?pagewanted=2. Newsday. (2002). Why a Long Island Without Racism Would Be Better For Everyone. Retrieved from http://www.eraseracismny.org/html/library/housing/resources/articles/ER_whywithout_article.pdf. Read More