Progress And Perfectability: Model Cities and the Struggle for Solidarity in East Orange, New Jersey

• In Event: 095 - Section on Community and Urban Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 14. Community Development and Civic Life

Abstract

This paper examines the history of the Model Cities initiative as implemented in East Orange, New Jersey. Faced with extraordinarily rapid economic and demographic change, this once-elegant and affluent Black suburb used Model Cities funds in an attempt to halt urban decay in the city and to forge new lines of solidarity among residents sharply divided along class and generational lines. While the outcome of these efforts were mixed, and could be viewed by some as a failure, I argue that examining the program as implemented in East Orange allows for a more nuanced understanding both of “minority” political engagement and of the gap between idea and reality in federal urban policy.

Author

• Amy C. Foerster, Pace University