aka Ken Smith: Plain to see

In the years around W.W. II, South Bend had strictly segregated neighborhoods, employment, and schools, plus redlining, restrictions on mortgages, and limited bank loans for property improvements and small businesses. These sorts of restrictions lead to urban decay.#

There were five small areas in town where black folks might hope to find (usually poor quality) housing. One of those was centered around Beck's Lake, a neighborhood routinely used for dumping toxic factory waste for many years. Now it's a superfund site.#

Beck's Lake is still poisoned, and the effects of redlining and layers of segregation are still visible on a casual drive through town.#