CEP 121
Assessment Research Project
I was born in Manhattan New York City on February 22, 1980. I grew up in
Harlem. A good portion of the person that I am today is influenced by this famous
community in the northern part of Manhattan. I feel like I some of characteristic traits to
this legendary neighborhood, I decided to do a mini field study of Harlem. Now it is to be
understood that growing up in this community was not easy, in fact it was rather
dangerous at times considering that I was raised in the rougher parts of the area, but it
was those very trials and tribulations that help mold me to a strong person with
convictions. I must also say that the value of education by African Americans in many
areas in Harlem was not high; this was the very reason that I was encouraged to try and
obtain academic achievements. It is also the reason why I decided to do this research
project on African Americans in Harlem, and their views on education.
Introduction
The topic of my research project is on African Americans in the community of
Harlem in New York City. When I say African Americans I mean in specific blacks that
have ancestry from southern U.S. States such as North and south Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee to name a few. Not to be
confused with blacks of Caribbean heritage or blacks from the continent of Africa. I will
be researching the African American views on education in this community. The main
theory I based my research on was the W.E.B Dubois double consciousness theory.
The first step I put on my self while doing this research study was to find blacks
in Harlem that were specifically of Southern background. I knew this was going to be
difficult from the beginning, because I being a former Harlem resident myself know that
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many of the blacks there are American born, but of Caribbean ancestry. This creates
confusion to someone ignorant to the fact that even though they have American accents,
there culture and values may be very different from that of a black person of southern
background. There are also a lot of people in Harlem that are mixed African American
and Caribbean American heritage. I wanted to stay specifically with the people with
mainly southern heritage in my field study.
I decided that I was going to look for random people in Harlem to interview,
fifteen in all. I wanted to deal with an adult group, but not to much older that myself so I
put my age group target as 21 to 35 years of age. I also chose to interview 14 people
initially, 7 men and 7 women. I ended up interviewing one more woman so it was 15 in
all. Going through the streets of Harlem was a challenge. It is bigger and more diverse
than people think. Harlem is not a neighborhood; it’s almost like a small city full of
different neighborhoods all with a common connection, there legendary status as being
the epicenter of African American Culture.
Finding interviewees was a bigger challenge because of my limitations. Not only
did I want to stick with African American people, but I also wanted interview people that
are from the community, not just live there. What I mean by this is that the person’s
parents must both be from Harlem as well, possibly even there grand parents. A lot of the
residents in Harlem are not from the community; in fact a lot of the residents in Harlem
are not even from New York City originally.
The one place I thought I would find the most accurate description of people I
was looking to interview was the public housing projects. I chose to go to projects in
different sides of Harlem just for a little diversity. I interviewed three people from Polo
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Grounds Houses in North Central Harlem, four people each from both Robert F. Wagner
Houses in East Harlem, and Grant houses in west Harlem, and two each from both St
Nicholas Houses and Drew Hamilton Houses both in central Harlem.
To interview the people I wanted to focus on specific time of day or night
respectively would be important. I wanted to see if this would change that mode or even
the responses giving by the interviewees. Being that my main focus was education I
wanted to get the most honest answered I could get so I figured that I would interview the
people right in their own neighborhoods so they can feel comfortable. Before I did all this
interviewing and moving around in the streets I did research on the history of Harlem and
how it became a prominent African American Community. How it got this status and
how it was able to maintain it after so many years. I had to go back far before there were
even public housing projects in New York, around the time Blacks first started migrating
from southern States to America’s major city. Finding out the reasons of migration and
what made Harlem the primary settlements of blacks in New York City was my
objective. I also wanted to touch a little on the history on the African American people.
Background
Beginning around 1519 there were slaves from west and central Africa being
brought to the Caribbean Islands and South America. This was being perpetuated by The
Kingdom of Spain and Portugal. The French and The English both followed suit. When
the English started bringing slaves to the Americas a very favored destination was the
cotton fields of some of the original thirteen colonies of what was eventually to become
the United States such as Virginia and both North and South Carolina. By the end of the
American revolutionary war in 1783 slavery in the new nation of the United States was
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no longer sponsored and benefited by the English; it was now an American institution.
From then on up until 1865 when slavery was ended Blacks were not considered
American they weren’t even considered human beings. After slavery blacks were still
mistreated in the southern states. The many years of bondage left them uneducated with
no skills other that there physical labor. But even so they couldn’t find any good jobs
because they were discriminated by whites who were the majority and had the education
and power.
At this time Northern states which had just won the civil war that in results freed
the African American people advertised themselves as a place that Blacks could find
opportunity in education and jobs. This idea of a better life up north was very welcoming
to the black people. As a result there was a major influx of blacks to Northern states such
as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York; and this was
giving the title “The Great Migration”. This was around the time of the 1880’s and New
York City was already established as the primary city of the United States. This
obviously led to large number of the blacks settling there.
The first main settlement for Blacks in New York City was ironically not Harlem,
It was Central park. It was because at the time of the late 19th century real estate was very
cheap in central park which made it very convenient for people coming from the lower
class in Southern States to afford. Harlem at this time was inhabited by a lot eastern
European Jews to the west and the north, Irish Americans in the central parts and Italians
in east Harlem. This all change when there was a real estate crash in Harlem in 1904. The
real estate crash caused landlords to rent there apartments to African American tenants.
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This was primarily in the area of central Harlem. East Harlem remained largely Italian
Until the arrival of Puerto Ricans in the late 1930’s.
By 1920 Blacks were the main inhabitants of Manhattan in the boundaries of
110th street to the south 150th street to the north 8th avenue to the west and 5th avenue to
the east. During the 1920’s Harlem experienced a renaissance. At this time a lot of artist
musicians and writers were in emerging in Harlem. This led to the expansion of black
residency in Harlem to parts of east Harlem and West Harlem known as Sugar Hill due to
the celebrities and affluent blacks that resided there. Through out the twenties Harlem
like the rest of the country experienced a period of prosperity both economically and
culturally. Harlem was a place where people from all over New York City the United
States and indeed the world came to party have a good time and experience the new
Black experience.
During the 1930’s Harlem was losing its economic stronghold, largely because of
the great depression which affected the entire country. The mark that the Harlem
renaissance left though was permanent. As the years went on Harlem increasingly grew
worst economically because of the lack of money that was brought in by outsiders who
visited clubs and speakeasies that were very popular in Harlem in the 1920’s. Tensions
also grew when black businesses were taken over by other ethnic groups causing a rise in
black unemployment. These trends lead to a rapid “Ghettoization” and by the 1960’s
Harlem was viewed as a slum area in the United States.
Findings
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The main questions I asked the people I interviewed were related directly to
education. I interviewed each person only one time and asked them all the same
questions. Theses questions were as follows.
1. Are you high school graduate?
2. Did you go to college? Did you graduate from college?
3. What do you think about education as a whole?
4. Do you have any children? If so how many and how old were you when your first
child was born? What was your financial status when the child was born?
5. Are you currently employed? If so what do you do?
6. How do you feel about your family? What does you family feel about education
as a whole? Did any of your parents graduate from high school or college?
7. Were you raised by both you mother and father?
8. Have you ever served any time in prison or jail? If so for how long and for what
reason?
9. Are you currently happy with the way you’re living at the moment? If not how do
you think you can change it for the better.
10. How did you feel about growing up in Harlem?
11. Have you ever lived any where else?
12. Do want to move out of Harlem?
I told everyone that I interviewed that they did not have to answer any question they not
want to, and assured them that I was only using there information for a research study.
Amazingly all fifteen interviewees answered every question. That I asked.
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Some of the responses I got from these questions surprised me. Out of the seven
males I interviewed only two of them graduated from high school, four got there G.E.D.
and one 21 year did neither; he is currently a drug dealer. One of the males that graduated
from high school attended Hunter College for year then dropped out and never went
back. He is 26 years old now. Of the eight females that I interviewed, four of them
graduated from high school a 23 old young lady attends Baruch college majoring in
Business Administration, the other four got pregnant while the were still in high school
and dropped out. Two of them later got there G.E.D.
When I asked about what they felt about education in a whole, all the males
referred to education as being for white people. Five of the females stated basically the
same thing but all of the women stressed that education though still necessary for
enhancing ones self. I did not get this notion from any of the men. They way they said it
was not as if they thought education were bad though. It was more in the lines of how a
lot of money is needed to go to college and its usually white people that have that type of
money. In a way being a black person myself I definitely see where there coming from.
When I started asking about family all fifteen expressed that they felt family was
extremely important. Though it was surprising to me that all but two of the people I
interviewed grew up with a father in the house. The 21 year old that dropped out of high
school and sold drugs didn’t even know his father. He never even met him. All fifteen
also either had a half brother or sister, and about ten of them grew up with extended
family members, mainly grandmothers cousins aunts and uncles in the home. Every one
has children, and all became parents before the reached the age of 23 years, this to
surprised me. A lot of them even fancied the idea that if some one is 25 and does not have
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any children it is somewhat of a problem. I was picking up the vibe having family was
more important to them than obtaining the means to support the family properly.
As far as employment, four of the seven men were drug dealers, one worked in
the post office, was the oldest 35, and a couple were construction workers. As for the
females, two of them did not work at all; they both have drug dealer boyfriends. One
worked as a token booth clerk for the mta, four worked in clothing stores, and the 23 year
old young lady that goes to city Baruch College works as a bank teller in Chase.
Of the fifteen people I interviewed none of their parents event went to college.
About five or six of them did not even graduate from high school. When I asked about
being locked up only two of them confessed of ever being. The 21 year old drug dealer
was jailed when he was 18 on drug charges and a 24 year old young man was locked for
a year on a gun charge. He is currently one of the constructions workers I interviewed.
None of the women were ever locked up but, surprisingly all fifteen of the people I
interviewed had a member of there family that is currently locked up. Every one I
interviewed expected to live relatively close to where the live now in the distant future.
Conclusion
I found it very ironic that the very reasons African Americans migrated from the
southern states to Harlem back in the early 20th century for education and obtain a better
life was not being practiced today in specific areas in Harlem today. This is no way how
every one in Harlem lives like but I still think it’s quite disappointing that the dreams of
people that migrated up north many years ago would end up like this. Though their
family values were preserved, their initially objective was not. I understand the system of
class in the United States plays a major role in this. I also believe that with proper
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leadership and a little determination the negative lifestyles of the African American
population in public housing projects in Harlem can make at turn for the better.
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