Urban “Renewal”ing
Cartoon by David Cohen
In the name of “urban renewal,” Asheville demolished Black homes, businesses, and neighborhoods to make way for developments favoring white residents.
Discriminatory lending kept many Black families from relocating to new housing, forcing them into public housing instead.
Once-thriving communities disappeared almost overnight. Since then, Asheville’s Black population has steadily declined—driven by a lack of good jobs and affordable housing.
