Page 1018 - 1970S

26

the country. What is happening in

Newark is just the most accelerated case

of the death of the old central city as

we know it. In Newark the changes

have gone further and faster than else–

where in the country. We don't have

any way of stopping it."

Even the city's lirst black Mayor,

Kenneth Gibson, has warned: "Wher–

ever the central cities of America are

going, Newark is going to get there

first." In a recent speech before the

U. S. Mayors Conference in New York

City, Gibson said that Newark was "as

close to bottom as any American city."

He warned that if present trends in the

city were allowed to continue un–

checked, Newark would be the lirst city

in the nation to literally die.

Increasingly, eyes are focusing on

Newark as the problem-model for the

entire nation. As the thinking goes, if

Newark can be saved, so can the rest of

urban America; if Newark dies, so will

the rest of the cities.

Third Oldest American City

What factors have combined to make

Newark America's worst city? Why has

its accelerating, downward slide toward

oblivion been faster than that of other

cities ? What forces, in particular, have

combined to make it the urbanist's bad

dream?

If

we can discover these factors

and forces - and reverse them - then

it may be that our cities can be

saved.

Newark's history illustrates its po–

tential as a great American city.

It

was not foredoomed

to

become such a

problem-prototype. The city could well

have developed into a thriving com–

mercial and cultural center, a shining

example of cosmopolitan life.

Of major cities in the U. S., Newark

is the third oldest. Only Boston and

New York City predate it. For more

than a century after its founding, New–

ark remained a peaceful settlement of

about 1200 inhabitants. At the time of

the Industrial Revolution, the city expe–

rienced a sudden manufacturing boom

and accompanying population explo–

sion. Flocks of migrant workers, seek–

ing jobs in the growing industrial

centers of the American Northeast,

carne to Newark. The city rapidly devel–

oped into a staging area for many racial

The

PLAIN TRUTH

and ethnic groups in search of employ–

ment. Immigrants of all races - Jews,

Irishmen, Slavs, Italians, Negroes, Puerto

Ricans - carne to Newark and relo–

cated

in

the central city. Sorne moved on

to New York City and elsewhere, many

stayed. The city's population soared.

By the mid-Thirties, Newark had

developed into New Jersey's foremost

urban center in practically every way –

size, industrial diversification, monetary

resources, transportation facilities, pop–

ulation, and employment opportunities.

Newark's urban maturation carne

comparatively early. After World War

II,

the familiar pattern of two-way

urban migration began. Whites and

blacks carne to the city in search of jobs.

For the whites, the jobs meant the in–

come to live

ehewhere

-

usually out–

side the city. The migration of whites

out of the city left large central-city vac–

uums that were soon filled with the ar–

rival of more blacks.

Increasingly, the arriving Negroes

and Puerto Ricans were finding them–

selves without jobs. Of those who

found them, many were paid lesser

wages than those paid to Anglo-Saxons.

Without the financia) resources to

escape the city, the blacks found them–

selves trapped in an increasingly im–

poverished and crowded inner core. As

the pattern of human migration in and

out of the city accelerated, so did the

deterioration of the central city.

Overall, the whites that were leaving

Otttnttrnbet'ed

the blacks coming in. The

net result was a drop in the total popu–

lation and a steep rise, proportionately,

in the black, poor population. This

meant a diminished tax base for the city

government to draw upon. Overnight,

as it were, the racial composition of

Newark had dramatically changed. As

one businessman put it: "We woke up

one morning and found the middle

class gone." Newark's downward slide

had begun to accelerate.

Two ' 'Newarks" Develop

The "quality of life" steadily wor–

sened. Having to live in what was by

now a ghetto, most blacks found them–

selves forced to occupy the worst hous–

ing, endure gouging landlords, and take

the most menial jobs. They faced the

(Continrted on page 31)

Decembcr 1971

Beonomie

A

LTHOUGH

Newark is at the eco–

nomic and industrial hub of

northern New Jersey, the city is on

the verge of bankruptcy. This des–

pite the fact that it is the nation's

fourth-largest commercial center and

headquarters for at least nine in–

surance companies, including Pru–

dential, one of the biggest.

The downtown business district,

which also serves as the banking

center for the state, appears to be

doing a booming business. Behind

the gleaming office buildings, how–

ever, is the diminishing economic

base of the ghetto. Taxes on the com–

panies in the business district do not

compensate for the growing financia!

strain of rising welfare costs, higher

payrolls, and growing health ser–

vices. The city is becoming an urban

pauper as income continues to fall

behind outflow.

Poverty and Prejudice

As one official of the Chamber of

Commerce put it: "Poverty and prej –

udice stand side by side with

prosperity and plenty." Only the suc–

cess of the business community has

kept Newark even half-alive finan–

cially. Now with myriad social ills

on the increase, the city is struggling

to avoid bankruptcy.

If

businesses

become fed up with crime and

Newark's other urban ills, they

may decide to flee to the suburbs.

The city may have to ask the Federal

Government to simply come in and

take over.

The Mayor has made repeated

warnings of possible slashes and cut–

backs. In 1969, the city fathers were

forced to dose down the public li–

brary and the famous Newark

museum due to lack of funds. Most

recently, Mayor Gibson warned of

drastic cuts in city employment and

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