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“A city where there’s more talk of diversity, equity and inclusion than practice of them:” Early Black lives in Boulder KGNU News
The idealized boulder that many are familiar with today is far removed from the reality that black residents faced in the early 1900’s.
Housing options were limited, job offerings were scarce, and areas including the university campus, its dormitories and the Hill were largely inaccessible to the black community.
Dr. Ruth Cave Flowers was a pioneering black educator who grew up in Boulder during the early 20th century and witnessed these barriers firsthand. She later recounted them in interviews and lectures.
Using Flowers’ direct insight and that of other prominent community members, University of Colorado Boulder student Mia Andre examines historic Boulder through the eyes of its early black residents.
Andre asks the questions: what was life like for the families who lived here? Where did they go and what challenges did they face? How did they find joy and achieve success in a place that so often tried to suppress their presence? Why were such successful, talented, well-educated, young Black people so willfully driven out of the city?
Andre said, “Boulder didn’t have to take the path it took; it chose it. It doesn’t have to continue to be the way it is, a city where there’s more talk of diversity, equity, and inclusion than practice of them. For those of us who live in Boulder, do we have the will to change patterns of discrimination and “closedness” that started long ago? If so, how do we go about it? We welcome your thoughts.”
Special thanks to the CU Boulder Affordable Housing Research Initiative, Sabrina Sideris and Abbie Hickox.
Oral histories and additional physical materials contributing to this story were accessed from the Carnegie Library for Local History in Boulder, Colorado, as well as the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri, Kansas City University Libraries.
Additional information can be found below.
CU Boulder Alumni Association — A Change is Gonna Come
This is [Not] Who We Are Documentary — Kanopy
Dr. Ruth Cave Flowers Spotlight
This story aired on A Public Affair, KGNU’s weekday morning show featuring in-depth discussions on local news issues. Click here to listen to other episodes of A Public Affair.
