Relationships of Race on Austin’s Colorado River--Julia Norwood, Alexandra Dougherty, Erin Barry, and Shreya Kabra
People relaxing by Barton Springs and taking a swim. Photo from https://austintexas.gov/department/barton-springs-pool
Every summer in the dry Austin heat, locals and tourists alike will head to Barton Springs and Lady Bird Lake, some of the city’s most well-loved outdoor spots, to cool down. If you visit Austin, people will say kayaking on the lake or taking a dip in Barton Springs is a must. Throughout Austin’s history, these natural spots on the Colorado River have received the utmost care and attention from local municipalities and residents. But who gets forgotten in this process?
In its earliest form, even before Town Lake was used as a cooling agent for power plants on the shore, the Colorado River was used to traffic enslaved Africans across Texas. It was also used by those same formerly enslaved persons to escape captivity and perform religious rituals such as baptisms. It is often difficult to imagine that African Americans have such deep ties to this body of water, especially when the mainstream media targets a demographic that is very different.
With the efforts of the Lower Colorado River Authority, Lady Bird Johnson, Lou Neff, and other environmental activists around the 1940s, Town Lake and the adjoining Barton Springs were cleaned and beautified, making it a popular attraction for Austin residents. But it was not available to all. Despite the ties that Black Austinites and other people of color felt to this green space, it was restricted to only white residents as per the usual in this era of de jure racism.
To keep Black Austinites out of the pool, the city of Austin named the Rosewood park in Austin’s Negro district to be the designated public park for Black people. Mexican Americans, who are racially white, and could sometimes pass without being confronted in the pool, still faced discrimination as a whole. They too built their own facilities: Parque Zaragoza on 7th street. Both of these parks remain today, but they are sub-par in quality and limited in quantity. They pushed people of color away from the natural spaces that one would think should be accessible to everyone.
Although legal segregation no longer exists within these beloved spaces of nature, the attention must be refocused on resources. We asked Austin Black Tours founder Javier Wallace whether or not green spaces could be seen as catalysts for gentrification. Javier laughed silently and we understood then: of course they are. We directly observe which spaces are being catered to and which spaces have money getting funneled directly into them. From bike lanes to parks, green spaces become an attraction for newcomers and that is what makes the money.
Every summer in the dry Austin heat, locals and tourists alike will head to Barton Springs and Lady Bird Lake, some of the city’s most well-loved outdoor spots, to cool down. If you visit Austin, people will say kayaking on the lake or taking a dip in Barton Springs is a must. Throughout Austin’s history, these natural spots on the Colorado River have received the utmost care and attention from local municipalities and residents. But who gets forgotten in this process?
In its earliest form, even before Town Lake was used as a cooling agent for power plants on the shore, the Colorado River was used to traffic enslaved Africans across Texas. It was also used by those same formerly enslaved persons to escape captivity and perform religious rituals such as baptisms. It is often difficult to imagine that African Americans have such deep ties to this body of water, especially when the mainstream media targets a demographic that is very different.
With the efforts of the Lower Colorado River Authority, Lady Bird Johnson, Lou Neff, and other environmental activists around the 1940s, Town Lake and the adjoining Barton Springs were cleaned and beautified, making it a popular attraction for Austin residents. But it was not available to all. Despite the ties that Black Austinites and other people of color felt to this green space, it was restricted to only white residents as per the usual in this era of de jure racism.
To keep Black Austinites out of the pool, the city of Austin named the Rosewood park in Austin’s Negro district to be the designated public park for Black people. Mexican Americans, who are racially white, and could sometimes pass without being confronted in the pool, still faced discrimination as a whole. They too built their own facilities: Parque Zaragoza on 7th street. Both of these parks remain today, but they are sub-par in quality and limited in quantity. They pushed people of color away from the natural spaces that one would think should be accessible to everyone.
Although legal segregation no longer exists within these beloved spaces of nature, the attention must be refocused on resources. We asked Austin Black Tours founder Javier Wallace whether or not green spaces could be seen as catalysts for gentrification. Javier laughed silently and we understood then: of course they are. We directly observe which spaces are being catered to and which spaces have money getting funneled directly into them. From bike lanes to parks, green spaces become an attraction for newcomers and that is what makes the money.
Dr. Javier Wallace, founder of Black Austin Tours. Photo from John Anderson from https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2021-06-25/roll-colorado-roll-rowing-dock-makes-waves-with-black-austin-tours/
So who gets to be in the beautiful Austin outdoors, as acclaimed by many Austinites, and who doesn’t? How is the distribution of “the outdoors” uneven across different racial spaces in Austin? And who is getting pushed out of spaces that are being “cleaned up” for environmentalism’s sake?
Come find out more as we discuss the history, the present, and the future of representation in and access to Austin’s green spaces for Austin’s BIPOC population. Through Elliot Tretter’s “Austin Restricted”, Andrew Busch’s City in a Garden, and the words of Javier Wallace, we hope to explain the connection Black people feel to the Colorado River and how this connection becomes misrepresented and distorted.
So who gets to be in the beautiful Austin outdoors, as acclaimed by many Austinites, and who doesn’t? How is the distribution of “the outdoors” uneven across different racial spaces in Austin? And who is getting pushed out of spaces that are being “cleaned up” for environmentalism’s sake?
Come find out more as we discuss the history, the present, and the future of representation in and access to Austin’s green spaces for Austin’s BIPOC population. Through Elliot Tretter’s “Austin Restricted”, Andrew Busch’s City in a Garden, and the words of Javier Wallace, we hope to explain the connection Black people feel to the Colorado River and how this connection becomes misrepresented and distorted.
A map of Austin that portrays racial division on the east and west side of Highway I-35 from https://projects.statesman.com/news/economic-mobility/
Resources
Team
Podcast Hosts: Erin Barry, Julia Norwood
Script Writers: Alexandra Dougherty, Shreya Kabra
Podcast Editor: Erin Barry
Show Notes Writers: Shreya Kabra, Julia Norwood
Bibliography
Busch. (2017). City in a garden : environmental transformations and racial justice in twentieth-century Austin, Texas / Andrew M. Busch. The University of North Carolina Press.
Finney. (2014). Black Faces. Black Faces, White Spaces : Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors / Carolyn Finney (67-75). The University of North Carolina Press.
Tretter. (2012). Austin Restricted: Progressivism, Zoning, Private Racial Covenants, and the Making of a Segregated City.
Resources
- Black Austin Tours
- Joan Khabele on Barton Springs Swim-Ins
- Outdoor Rep: Providing outdoor gear grants for low-income and BIPOC folk in Austin
- Andrew Busch’s City in a Garden through UT Library Access
- Elliot Tretter’s “Austin Restricted” through UT Library Access
Team
Podcast Hosts: Erin Barry, Julia Norwood
Script Writers: Alexandra Dougherty, Shreya Kabra
Podcast Editor: Erin Barry
Show Notes Writers: Shreya Kabra, Julia Norwood
Bibliography
Busch. (2017). City in a garden : environmental transformations and racial justice in twentieth-century Austin, Texas / Andrew M. Busch. The University of North Carolina Press.
Finney. (2014). Black Faces. Black Faces, White Spaces : Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors / Carolyn Finney (67-75). The University of North Carolina Press.
Tretter. (2012). Austin Restricted: Progressivism, Zoning, Private Racial Covenants, and the Making of a Segregated City.