Adapted from Just Action (Rothstein and Rothstein, 2023)
by Monica Li
Cleveland Heights has seen significant progress in preventing White flight and welcoming Black Americans. The Black American suburb resident’s population increased from 1% in 1970 to 40% in 2023.
Residents formed a grassroots group called the Heights Citizens for Human Rights. The group used several strategies that garnered support for integration and, over time, brought about successful change. Strategies were among the following:
- Created a speaker’s bureau, conducted community forums, developed Black history education materials, and organized a letter writing campaign.
- Formed a coalition of realtors who would not discriminate against Black homebuyers and encouraged White home sellers to work with them.
- Prepared literature to address White home sellers’ concerns and addressed Black people’s fears in other words, they convinced Black Americans that they would be welcome, ensuring that Whites would, in fact, be welcoming” (p. 229, Just Action).
Recent ethnic-racial composition of Cleveland Heights, Ohio1
Chart adapted from http://statisticalatlas.com/
References
1 Overview of the United States. The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States – Statistical Atlas. (n.d.). http://statisticalatlas.com/
2Rothstein, R., & Rothstein, L. (2023). Just action: How to challenge segregation enacted under the color of law. Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company.