Full Transcript: Vera Burk on Urban Renewal
Interviewer: Do you remember the expressway being built through Hamtramck and how that affected the community and displaced all those people?
Vera: Yeah that was—now as far as politics is concerned, I’m not a politician. I just vote. I don’t, you know, but at that time I think I was, I wasn’t even involved in the city when they had the Urban Renewal. You know how you do when you’re young and you think, what is this stuff, you know. But I do know that there was injustice done, after I got involved in it. And it’s still to me it wasn’t done like I thought it should have been done, but I’m just—I figure if the people who were displaced should have got first preference but the way I understand it, I don’t know how that is. And I can’t say because I don’t like to hearsay, I don’t like that hearsay. But anyway, I think 42 years is too long to have any problems. That should have been taken care of. And for whatever reason, it wasn’t, I don’t know, just what you hear or read in that Review and the Citizen, formerly the Citizen now it’s the Review. Then I was on one of the boards, I was on the Grand Haven Dyer Board. Grand Haven, Dyer, Dequindre, that’s the name of the Corporation. I was on that side. So when they start building the houses and rehabbing, everything wasn’t sugar and cream because you always have problems when you’re building or rehabbing, because you always have something that maybe you think is right, but maybe you don’t think is right, you know what I’m saying? So, that part, I didn’t like, but I didn’t going through trying—they said it was trying to get rid of all the blacks, which I’m quite sure that’s what happened. But like I said in the beginning, I didn’t dig in it. But now that I found out a little more about it, back when I was on the board, it’s injustice. Period. It shouldn’t have happened. And they shouldn’t have let them come through here if they wasn’t going to place the people right. When they let the state or the government or whoever put that expressway through there. I think it could have been done different, personally. But anyway, that’s my piece on that.
Interviewer: Did it change your feelings towards Hamtramck at all?
Vera: No. Uh-uh. I just tell them what I think. And they probably told you that. But it was wrong. And I told all the mayors, ah you know you’re wrong, whatever you all did. But, so, it’s getting solved now but it’s not completed and it’s not—a lot of people are dissatisfied. So all we could do at that particular time that I was on the board, on that end of town, was do the best we can with what we had to work with.
Interviewer: What did you do specifically on the board?
Vera: Well we was in charge of the houses over there they built and also the rehab. And like I said, some of the rehabs wasn’t done up to par, but we had project managers and we had different companies that was responsible for that. So we tried to make sure they did what they’re supposed to do. But it never work out. I don’t know if you’ve been in one of those situations but it never work out good, but we hoped it would so. I think, I haven’t even talked to people in there in years to see how they’re enjoying their houses or anything. Because once they dissolved the corporation, I figured that was time for me to step back, because you’re gonna hear a lot of stuff. So just step back and get out of it because they then took us off of it so why get involved with it more unless you have to.
Interviewer: Why had you decided to get involved with it?
Vera: I was working for the city and the mayor put me on the board [laughs]. That’s how that happened. They have to have so many of, you know, people from different--and then I was president of the Hamtramck Block Club Association for over twenty some years, so that’s another reason why they put me up in there.
Vera: Yeah that was—now as far as politics is concerned, I’m not a politician. I just vote. I don’t, you know, but at that time I think I was, I wasn’t even involved in the city when they had the Urban Renewal. You know how you do when you’re young and you think, what is this stuff, you know. But I do know that there was injustice done, after I got involved in it. And it’s still to me it wasn’t done like I thought it should have been done, but I’m just—I figure if the people who were displaced should have got first preference but the way I understand it, I don’t know how that is. And I can’t say because I don’t like to hearsay, I don’t like that hearsay. But anyway, I think 42 years is too long to have any problems. That should have been taken care of. And for whatever reason, it wasn’t, I don’t know, just what you hear or read in that Review and the Citizen, formerly the Citizen now it’s the Review. Then I was on one of the boards, I was on the Grand Haven Dyer Board. Grand Haven, Dyer, Dequindre, that’s the name of the Corporation. I was on that side. So when they start building the houses and rehabbing, everything wasn’t sugar and cream because you always have problems when you’re building or rehabbing, because you always have something that maybe you think is right, but maybe you don’t think is right, you know what I’m saying? So, that part, I didn’t like, but I didn’t going through trying—they said it was trying to get rid of all the blacks, which I’m quite sure that’s what happened. But like I said in the beginning, I didn’t dig in it. But now that I found out a little more about it, back when I was on the board, it’s injustice. Period. It shouldn’t have happened. And they shouldn’t have let them come through here if they wasn’t going to place the people right. When they let the state or the government or whoever put that expressway through there. I think it could have been done different, personally. But anyway, that’s my piece on that.
Interviewer: Did it change your feelings towards Hamtramck at all?
Vera: No. Uh-uh. I just tell them what I think. And they probably told you that. But it was wrong. And I told all the mayors, ah you know you’re wrong, whatever you all did. But, so, it’s getting solved now but it’s not completed and it’s not—a lot of people are dissatisfied. So all we could do at that particular time that I was on the board, on that end of town, was do the best we can with what we had to work with.
Interviewer: What did you do specifically on the board?
Vera: Well we was in charge of the houses over there they built and also the rehab. And like I said, some of the rehabs wasn’t done up to par, but we had project managers and we had different companies that was responsible for that. So we tried to make sure they did what they’re supposed to do. But it never work out. I don’t know if you’ve been in one of those situations but it never work out good, but we hoped it would so. I think, I haven’t even talked to people in there in years to see how they’re enjoying their houses or anything. Because once they dissolved the corporation, I figured that was time for me to step back, because you’re gonna hear a lot of stuff. So just step back and get out of it because they then took us off of it so why get involved with it more unless you have to.
Interviewer: Why had you decided to get involved with it?
Vera: I was working for the city and the mayor put me on the board [laughs]. That’s how that happened. They have to have so many of, you know, people from different--and then I was president of the Hamtramck Block Club Association for over twenty some years, so that’s another reason why they put me up in there.