
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995                   TAG: 9503310108
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: G-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BRENDA POWELL, Roanoke
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MISPLACED TRUST

I read your article on "Urban Renewal's Untold Stories." It was a very poignant special report. It told the story of how Afro-Americans trust and believe in our city's officials, only to get screwed. There were families that fought as far as money and the system would let them. The system, or our city officials, only saw dollar signs and a chance to push Afro-Americans farther back out of eyesight from downtown. Those areas of Northeast and Northwest were homes to Afro-Americans. Now, for most, they just have a house.

The money that the city gave a lot of homeowners for their homes was not enough to rent a room. Some are still trying to put their lives back together today. The city officials never asked the Afro-Americans of these areas or any area what they wanted or what they could do to help them.

The area taken is still underdeveloped. There is no beauty there, except for what is on the city's diagram. For the good of the city, this happened. Or was it?

by CNB