Kansas City’s history of segregation doesn’t play out much differently than most major cities. It didn’t happen overnight and it certainly didn’t happen with one law or policy.
We tend today to think of the African American stronghold of 18th and Vine where a vibrant culture enraptured in jazz and blues developed in the shadows of historic Lincoln High School (now Lincoln Prep). It’s where Black businesses thrived when a community was shut off from neighborhoods to the west due to racial covenants and redlining.
But Kansas City didn’t always look this way, even though our focus on this rich history often centers in the early 20th century along this corridor. Little scholarship has studied the vibrant, small communities where Blacks lived next door to whites and European-born immigrants…