The Civil Rights Movement in St. Louis

St. Louis has so much to offer culturally, historically, and entertainment wise.  There is a great deal of French culture, considering the city was named after Louis IX of France in 1764.  Lewis and Clark left on their excursion to explore the vast land westward in 1804.  St. Louis is well known for the Arch, which gives St. Louis the identification of being the Gateway to the West.   St. Louis also hosted the 1904 World Fair.  The downtown area possesses the St. Louis Art Museum, the Zoo, the History Museum, and Forest Park.  There are three professional sports teams with stadiums located within a ten-minute drive of each other: the Cardinals, the Blues, and the Rams.  There is no shortage of entertainment and activities in the downtown area of St. Louis.  Geographically, St. Louis is located on the western banks of the Mississippi river, bordering Illinois. 

Despite all the great things the city of St. Louis has to offer, there are many dangerous perceptions of the city.  According to US News, St. Louis was ranked the number one most dangerous place to live.  In 2009, the crime rate was five times the national average (Kurtzleben).    Like Memphis, the general demographics of the city are very segregated.  The actual city of St. Louis is mostly comprised of African Americans.  According to the census, the population composition of downtown is 45.9% white and 28.5% black (STL County Quick Facts).  Due to the large crime rates, people tend to associate the downtown area as very dangerous, which projects a negative connotation of the city and the residents. 

I live in a suburb about 20 minutes west of downtown St. Louis.  Typically, I only go downtown for sports games and concerts; I never find myself just going downtown to hang out or drive around.  However, this Thanksgiving, my family decided to bring some prepared Thanksgiving meals downtown and deliver them to any homeless people we noticed along the streets.  I figured we would see some, but I figured most people would have found shelters to find meals, especially considering it was Thanksgiving.  Immediately upon entering the heart of the city, we pulled over and saw at least ten homeless men and women on benches, street corners, and under trees.  I was shocked.  They were all extremely appreciative of the meals, except for one man sat under a tree with very tattered clothes, who consistently denied any food. 

After my experience downtown, I was really thinking about the current state of poverty in St. Louis, which lead me to wonder about the basis of segregation in the city.   I have always associated St. Louis city as a predominantly black area, but I had no background information as to why.  St. Louis is not often immediately associated to the civil rights movement, however the city has contributed significantly more to the movement than most are aware of. 

            St. Louis actually played a crucial role in the movement, as two hugely influential cases were based in the city.  Activist worked tirelessly through the 40’s and 50’s.  In result of their endless efforts, by the 60’s, many downtown restaurants were serving blacks and several blacks won political positions (A Strong Seed Planted).  St. Louis also pushed extremely hard for equality within the work and labor areas.   For example, the 1964 Jefferson Bank protests fought to ensure equality in the hiring process and to push for the bank to hire blacks for jobs other than custodial work (Mannies).  The consistent protests and efforts to ensure equality proved to be successful.  Furthermore, the St. Louis section in the March on Washington Movement is accredited for being the most active in the nation. 

            Clarence Lang, a professor at the University of Illinois, is working hard to bring attention to the positive impact St. Louis has had on the Civil Rights movement.  He wrote a book, “The Grassroots at the Gateway” that describes the efforts in St. Louis from 1936 to 1975.  Lang notes that an aspect of St. Louis that has brought so much success in the movement is that it is an “in-between city”.  He continues to describe that St. Louis possess Mid-western qualities such as industry and geography, all while maintaining a strong sense of southern quality (Mannies).  The article can be found: https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/19507/new_book_explores_how_st._louis_black_working_class_forged_civil_rights_movement

            The role of St. Louis in the Civil Rights movement is largely underappreciated.  In the master narrative I have learned throughout my education there was never a mention about St. Louis.  I was finally introduced to the role of St. Louis in the movement by our African American history course.  Even after reading more, I am continually surprised about the large impact the city has made.  I am shocked, as well as disappointed, that I was not informed of this in elementary and middle school.  I attended public school until eighth grade, then private school until graduation; never was St. Louis mentioned in the (short) civil rights movement section of our history courses. 

There is still a huge, negative stigma that is attached to the city of St. Louis by west-county citizens.  The ignorance and lack of knowledge is probably the largest factor contributing to the stigma, as well as prejudices and stereotypes about downtown St. Louis.  Because there is a huge amount of crime, and the racial demographic breakdown shows predominantly black residency, people construct illegitimate and incorrect assumptions.  Rather than focusing on the crime or poverty in the city, the entire Greater St. Louis area needs to become aware of the great contribution our city has had to the Civil Rights movement.  Without spreading that awareness and knowledge, it will be very difficult for our city to move past its current state of attitudes. 

Sources:

"A Strong Seed Planted The Civil Rights Movement In St. Louis, 1954-1968." OAH Magazine of

History 4.3 (1989): 26-35. Print.

Kurtzleben, Danielle. "The 11 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities." US News.

U.S.News & World Report, 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

Mannies, Joe. "New Book Explores How St. Louis' Black Working Class Forged Civil Rights

Movement." A Better St. Louis. Powered by Journalism. St. Louis Beacon, 20 Feb. 2010.

Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

"St. Louis County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." St. Louis County QuickFacts from

the US Census Bureau. US Department of Commerce, 27 June 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.