The History of Segregation in Denver Part 3: Renewal and Revitalization

According to a 2019 report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Denver is the city where Hispanic residents face the highest risk of displacement related to gentrification. We will discuss how the urban renewal in Auraria and highway renewal in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea contributed to that vulnerability and what activists are doing to redress that harm.

The Redress Movement envisions a society where the harm done through segregation has been remedied and repaired, where all of our citizens live in well-resourced neighborhoods, all of our community members have equal access to home ownership, and where what zip code you were born into no longer determines the shape of your life.

This three-part discussion series highlights the Redress Movement’s efforts to combine archival materials in DPL’s collections with other existing sources to produce a detailed local history of segregation in Denver. Each event proceeds chronologically through various eras of that history from the early twentieth century to now. But each event will also be designed so that those only unable to attend every discussion will still be able to understand how material covered corresponds to the larger timeline of segregation discussed in the series. Redress Movement senior campaign organizer Kevin Patterson, who will deliver the programming, will also be able to speak to attendees about how to get involved in local efforts to redress segregation.