The Delmar Divide

The Delmar Loop is one of the main entertainment hubs in the city of Saint Louis. There are a variety of restaurants, nightclubs with live entertainment, The Saint Louis Walk of Fame, and the Trolley. The Delmar Loop got its name over a century ago from streetcars that came west and “looped around” before connecting to other areas. In 2007 , The American Planning Association named the Delmar Loop one of the great top ten streets in America, because of its booming business and economic growth(American Planning Association). But a lot of people don’t know that Delmar street, was established in 1891 was part of a residential segregation ordinance. In 1916, during the Jim Crow Era, St. Louis passed a residential segregation ordinance. This ordinance stated that if 75% of the residents of a neighborhood were of a certain race, no one from a different race was allowed to move into that neighborhood(Harlan). Chico Harlan from the Washington Post stated that Delmar Boulevard is the line that divides a city by “race and perspective(Harlan).” The 1916 ordinance set the tone for the racial divide in Saint Louis which still pollutes the city and our culture today. For example, the 2010 U.S Census identified neighborhoods south of the Delmar Loop is 70 percent white, but north of the Delmar Loop is 90 percent African American.
In 1916, St. Louisans voted to reform the ordinance which prevented anyone from buying in a neighborhood that was 75% occupied by another race(Cooperman). When the ordinance was struck down, whites reverted to racial covenants, binding neighbors to never sell to African Americans. This was a way to stop blacks from moving into their neighborhoods. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dove on this law, and the response of the NAACP on this law was to prevent covenants that were used to prevent blacks from moving into white neighborhoods. In 1948, the Supreme Court declared racially restrictive housing covenants as unconstitutional. Thirty-two years of racial covenants was a contributing factor as to why the areas north of the Delmar were predominantly occupied by African Americans. There have been many reports on the Delmar Divide, which depict the street as the racial dividing line in Saint Louis(Cooperman).
The main thing that we feel needs to change is not just the divide in the world but the divide in people’s mind. Blacks and whites must live by the law, we all must drink water to survive. There are more similarities than we see; but instead of seeing them we divide each other and try to make a race superior another one. All we want is for everyone to be treated as equals. The millennials can make a difference and advocate for diversity in our local government by running for office, not only register to vote, but get out and vote to ensure legislation is passed to improve neighborhoods north of Delmar. Self advocate for your neighbourhood by attending neighborhood association meetings; apply for jobs within the police and court system in your community; demand better schools to increase graduation; attract more businesses to boost employment and increase the economy; rally to increase police presence in neighborhoods to decrease crime