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Show 6 | MyWeberMedia.com| April 18, 2019 RACIAL SEGREGATION THRIVES Wikimedia By JENNY GUZMAN Investigative Reporter One thing Ogden considers a strength is the ethnic diversity of its residents. However, studies and geographic websites show evidence of racial segregation and the long-term effects of Ogden’s deeply rooted, racist past. According to Ogden’s 2017 census, the city’s race and origin breakdown shows that the majority of its residents identify as white at 61.5 percent. Hispanics come in next at 32.3 percent. Blacks, Asians, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders average 1 percent each. While there is racial diversity in Ogden, Harrison Boulevard plays a major role in segregating people of color from Caucasians. East Bench and Shadow Valley are neighborhoods that statistically have a higher rate of white and Asian residents, averaging well over 80 percent, according to statisticalatlas.com. Areas such as East Central, Downtown Ogden and West Ogden have a higher percentage of residents who identify as black and/or Hispanic. Originally, segregation was used to keep people of color out of certain neighborhoods, but nowadays the rising cost of housing can be what deters some homebuyers from purchasing a house of their choice. “When you choose where to live, you can’t just say, ‘I’m going to live on a mansion up on the hills,'" said Weber State University assistant professor of sociology Pepper Glass. “If you can’t afford it, you’re not going to be able to move there. You’re going to have to choose something that’s within your means." Glass conducted a study on the intersection of race within the Ogden community. Glass’ study originated from his curiosity about stereotypes and gossip he heard from residents upon his move to Ogden. These stereotypes are often outgrowths of certain areas being labeled as “ghettos” or “bad neighborhoods.” “As I’ve said in the study, there’s a connection that other researchers have found that people will associate bad places with people of color living there,” Glass said. “That’s especially for white people. They would prefer to live in allwhite neighborhoods, whereas if you ask people of color, they’re much more even handed and want a more equally integrated place.” Glass found that participants said Harrison and Monroe Boulevards were the dividing lines between areas that were considered good and bad, with the higher eastern parts of the city seen as more desirable while the lower west housed a “dirtier” appearance. These comments came from participants of various ethnic backgrounds. These seemingly defined yet slowly integrated areas are a hold over from a long series of segregation. The history of segregation within the city of Ogden appeared long before World War II and the Civil Rights era. “The history of (Ogden), is that (it) has traditionally been a place where immigrants and people of color come,” Glass said. “That tradition is carrying on today even among people who don’t even know that history, like the railroad.” Nearing the end of the 1800s, Ogden was one of the biggest railroad towns and shipping centers on the West Coast. With this came an influx of migrants, often of varying ethnicities, coming to work on the railroad. Upon their arrival, these new workers were put into ignominious neighborhoods based on their racial background. Often forced to live in these areas, housing seemed impossible to find elsewhere. “For example, the African-Americans could live south of 25th street and about Wall to Washington,” said Sarah Singh, head of special collections at the Stewart Library at Weber State. "The Hispanics had 23rd and 22nd and Wall and then west. A lot of them lived west of Ogden and west of the rail depot.” Also included were Japanese and Chinese migrants, who were placed between 25th, 24th and Lincoln. People who could pass as white, such as Greeks or Italians, were spread out and had an easier time, according to Singh. These barriers were placed by residents of the town, preferring to keep people of color out of more desirable neighborhoods. Efforts to move out of these areas were often met with hostility, a trend that continued well into what Singh described as the “booms” of migrants after World War II. The first wave occurred during the active use of the railroad in the 1800s. During World War II in Northern Utah, an onslaught of new jobs with the four military depots — Hill Field Air Force Base, Clearfield Naval Supply, Ogden Arsenal and the Defense Depot Ogden — brought forth the newest boom of migrants from the South and the West. These new workers were still subjected to the racial neighborhood boundaries set forth almost 50 years earlier. In the 1950s and 1960s, segregation by neighborhood was commonly known across America, not solely within Ogden city. While hostile attempts at keeping people of color out of white neighborhoods came from residents, bank and mortgage lenders were making it harder for people of color to get loans in order to move into desired neighborhoods. The official term for this tactic is known as redlining. “I’ve talked to a lot of African-Ameri- |