Word: mittelstadt
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...going to turn the town into a haven for poor blacks. Opponents of the project raised fears of overcrowded schools and crime on the poorly lit streets. In March of 1970, "improvement associations" in the Black Jack area invited representatives of the Interreligious Center to a meeting. Paul Mittelstadt, the center's housing director, recalls that "all the questions were tinted by racial considerations. Then I heard someone bring up the possibility of incorporation as a way to stop the project...
...voice their opposition. The appeal was very effective: letters inundated HUD and FHA, as well as the area's Senators and Congressmen. Petitions opposing Park View Heights were signed by 6,000 northern St. Louis County citizens (Black Jack has a population estimated at 3,900). Says Mittelstadt: "Ever since that time, we've had trouble convincing people that the flyer didn't describe our project accurately...
Question Mark. The letters and petitions produced a White House cancellation of the project in May, but it was revived five days later when Quigley and Mittelstadt appealed to HUD. With Park View Heights a near reality, Black Jack decided to incorporate. The Interreligious Center tried to block incorporation, but its suit was dismissed. On Sept. 10, 1970. Black Jack became a city. Insisting that the objections were economic, not racial, the new little town held hearings; within six weeks it adopted a zoning regulation that would prevent the construction of homes for more than one family. Two black members...
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