Political Autonomy and Economic Dependence in an All-Negro Municipality

• Published in: The American journal of economics and sociology 1969-07, Vol.28 (3), p.225-248
• Main Authors: Walter, Ingo, Kramer, John E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Autonomous/Autonomy; Boards of education; Censuses; Cities; Communities; Dependence/Dependency; Economic conditions; Economic/Economics/Economical; Employment; Kinloch, Missouri; Missouri; Political/Politically/ Politicalization (see also Politics); Retirement communities; School districts; Towns; Unemployment; Workforce
• ISSN: 0002-9246

An exploration of some econ implications of Negro municipal autonomy which examines the experience of Kinloch, Mo., a black community in subUr St. Louis County. A variety of econ variables are analyzed including personal & fam incomes, housing, educ, LF participation rates, employment data, educ' al expenditures, & public revenues. Relevant comparisons are drawn between the black municipality, the neighboring white communities, & black sections of the central city. It is concluded that the residents of this particular black municipality are no better off econ' ly-and in some respects much worse off-than Ur Negro sections of the metropolitan area. It has few of the intellectual & public admin'ive resources that Ur ghettos can draw on. In addition, many of the essential services normally provided Ur blacks by the cities are absent in Kinloch. The result is a level of living somewhat below that enjoyed by Kinloch's Ur counterparts, although the intangibles, both beneficial & detrimental, attending subUr living may change this picture somewhat. Residents cannot escape the fact that they must function in the competitive regional economy & that the econ well-being of their community is almost entirely dependent on how well they fare in this context. While pol' al autonomy at the municipal level may yield intangible benefits of substantial importance for blacks, it has probably retarded the econ growth of this community, & increased its dependence on continuing outside sources of support. In the case of this allblack municipality, the Negroes appear to have been able to do less for themselves by themselves than they could have accomplished as part of a larger, racially-mixed community if this had been a viable alternative. AA.