Excluded from the Dream
Although the ranch home epitomized the American dream, that dream was available only to Caucasians in most suburbs in the 1950s.
The Levittown Example
"Levittown was an embodiment of the American dream, with one important catch. The promise Levittown offered for the future was a racially exclusive one. African Americans were denied access to this suburban dream. Every deed signed by new homeowners contained a clause that bound them 'not to permit' the premises to be used or occupied by any other person than members of the Caucasian race." (Kyle Sabo, The Levittown Legacy: Segregation in Suburbia?)
Even after the Levitts removed the clauses, Levittown communities remained segregated. In July 1957, the Wechslers arranged for the sale of the house next door in the Pennsylvania Levittown to an African-American family.
Even after the Levitts removed the clauses, Levittown communities remained segregated. In July 1957, the Wechslers arranged for the sale of the house next door in the Pennsylvania Levittown to an African-American family.
"The evening after Myers installed his family, an angry crowd gathered before their home. Teen-agers began throwing stones and when they broke two windows police dispersed the crowd. But people returned nightly in mounting numbers, shouting insults. State troopers were called in." (Life Magazine, September 2, 1957, p. 43) "Over the next few months, local vigilantes mobbed neighborhood streets and stoned a local police sergeant who was assigned to protect the Myers family; Confederate flags,
purchased at the area’s Shop-O-Rama, began to fly in neighbors’ cars and windows, crosses were burned on lawns." (Joanne Jacobson, Jew vs. Jew in Levittown.)
The Myers moved out of Levittown in 1959, "exhausted by their struggles to integrate the community." (Musher, The Other Civil Rights Movement: Integrating Levittown) They were not alone in feeling isolated. Hispanics, too, suffered discrimination.(Perspective)
purchased at the area’s Shop-O-Rama, began to fly in neighbors’ cars and windows, crosses were burned on lawns." (Joanne Jacobson, Jew vs. Jew in Levittown.)
The Myers moved out of Levittown in 1959, "exhausted by their struggles to integrate the community." (Musher, The Other Civil Rights Movement: Integrating Levittown) They were not alone in feeling isolated. Hispanics, too, suffered discrimination.(Perspective)