Bank, mortgage and insurance redlining, as an extension of institutional racism, has been detrimental to the development of African American communities. Racism has always existed as a negative force in the lives of African Americans and has historically been observed with relative ease. Today, racism continues to hamper the social, political and economic advancement of African Americans but it has become highly sophisticated and less visible, making it much more difficult to detect by its victims. This difficulty in detection has caused confusion in the problem-solving efforts of those concerned with the decline of African American neighborhoods. This study discusses the impact of redlining in six Atlanta communities, first by analyzing the ideology responsible for the practice of racism; second, by discussing how racism has become institutionalized; and last, by examining redlining’s role in community housing markets and household finance. The research pinpoints particular indicators of neighborhood decline, such as homeownership, vacancy, abandonment and property value. Then the relationship between the redlining and decline, reflected in the behavior of the indicators, is exposed. The study found that redlining, in spite of legislation to stop it, continues to stunt the growth of African American communities. Specifically, its practice results in fewer new homes, more residents forced to rent, more vacancies and lower relative property value. These factors combine to generate a process of decline in African American neighborhoods over time.

This study examines the oral traditions of African American children through their games and play activities. It is comprised of a thorough analysis of the historical literature on African American folk song and dance for a solid background into contemporary African American expressions of music and movement. The thesis is based on the assumption that African Americans' oral traditions, although definitely affected by experiences of acculturation and enslavement, are still rich with their African heritage and are uniquely theirs. The bulk of the thesis is dedicated to examining the collected games and plays of African Americans, both from printed and recorded sources and from field research. Plays dating from slavery to the present are included and provide for excellent comparison between the two. The conclusions after detailed examination show that many of the games have survived generations of cultural transmission and are still popular today.

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The conflicts of cultures are one of the most conspicuous elements that dominate the African novel of 1950 and 1960. In Chapter I, Chinua Achebe (of Nigeria) is represented by his early three novels only, Things Fall Apart, No Longer at East and Arrow of God. In these three books, the conflicts are basically cultural. For Achebe’s main concern is to defend and correct the African cultural image which has been stained and misunderstood as a result of a foreign occupation. In addition, Achebe has dealt with other minor conflicts, such as religion, politics, education, individual and collective conflicts, war, and tribal conflicts. All these elements are carefully handled through characterizations, themes and language. Chapter II deals with Cheikh Hamidou Kane's (of Senegal) only novel, L'Aventure Ambigue. Here the conflicts of cultures are primarily based upon the Islamic teaching that desperately conflicts with the rational and materialistic French system of education. Unlike Achebe, Kane has handled the cultural clashes through a philosophical medium. Chapter III is devoted to the Cameroonian novelist, Ferdinand Oyono. In his novels, Une Vie de Boy, Le Vieux Négre et La Médaille and Chemin d’Europe, the conflicts of cultures are focused on the hypocrisy of the Christian church and its missionaries, the French officers, and especially the French policy of assimilation. Unlike both Achebe and Kane, Oyono has chosen laughter and satire as a medium for his writing. Despite all of their differences, Achebe, Kane and Oyono have written successful novels out of the conflicts of cultures.

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Black Studies programs are disappearing on college campuses. There is a need to know why these programs are being phased out of school curriculums. Two contributing factors leading to the disappearance of Black Studies are: the lack of student enrollment, and the cutback in the government education budget. A two-part survey was used to obtain an idea of what students think about Black Studies and if they consider them important. The result of the survey indicates that students know the importance of Black Studies but enroll in programs that may offer better financial stability.

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The purpose of this research is to recount and analyze the role of the Atlanta Urban League in securing the Negro hospital—Hughes Spalding Pavilion of the Grady Hospital Center. The campaign took place in the late 1940's when Atlanta was strictly segregated, and non-indigent Negroes had only small private hospital facilities with no place for training Negro physicians. The Hill-Burton Act provided the impetus for the cooperation of the League and the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority in the struggle for the hospital. Mrs. Grace Towns Hamilton as Executive Secretary of the League, and Mr. Hughes Spalding as Chairman of the Authority combined their efforts and enlisted the support of local and national Negro and white leaders in this successful campaign for a Negro hospital. While employing the techniques of oral history and the historical method, the investigator interviewed several prominent Atlantans including doctors and other professionals to ascertain the lifestyle of Negroes in Atlanta in the 1940's as well as the plight of the Negro insofar as medical facilities were concerned. The bulk of the material on the Atlanta Urban League was found in the Grace Hamilton Collection at Atlanta University, although the minutes of the League proved to be an invaluable source and may be examined by permission at the Atlanta Urban League offices.