A City Divided by Opportunity

Part Two of “Wheeling Under Investigation,” a three-part series examining the 1971 West Virginia Human Rights Commission report. Part one.

The 1971 West Virginia Human Rights Commission report described racial tension as something built into daily life.

It could be seen in who obtained a good job, which children could reach the city’s best recreational facilities, and where a family was permitted to rent a safe and affordable home.

These were not abstract grievances. They were routes through the city—routes that opened for some residents and narrowed for others.

By examining employment, recreation, and housing together, the commission created a map of unequal opportunity in Wheeling.

Employment: The Numbers Did Not Tell the Whole Story

The report called unemployment and underemployment among Black residents of the Wheeling area “very real.”

Overall unemployment was reported at 4.8 percent in 1969 and 4.5 percent for the fiscal year ending in June 1970. Minority unemployment stood at 8.1 percent—nearly twice the general rate cited by the commission.

Even that comparison did not tell the whole story.

Black leaders testified that many educated and capable young Black people left Wheeling to find opportunities elsewhere rather than accept the lower-level positions available to them at home.

The problem was not merely unemployment. It was underemployment—the failure of employers and institutions to make full use of the abilities, education, and potential of Black residents.

The commissioners also heard allegations that craft unions created barriers to apprenticeship programs and entry into skilled trades. In downtown businesses, the report described “tokenism” as the general pattern of Black employment.

Significantly, the commission did not attribute every unequal outcome to an openly stated intention to discriminate. It identified something quieter but equally persistent: a pervasive attitude of apathy and indifference.

That distinction remains important. Discrimination can continue even when no institution openly announces a discriminatory policy. It can survive through habits, limited recruitment, closed networks, low expectations, and an unwillingness to question familiar practices.

The commission recommended community-wide support for the J.O.B.S. program sponsored by the National Alliance of Businessmen. It called for affirmative recruitment, meaningful training, and continued assistance after placement.

City and county governments were urged to establish nondiscriminatory employment policies and set an example for private employers. The school system was asked to reevaluate vocational and adult-education programs so that they addressed the actual employment needs of Black residents.

Recreation: A World-Class Park Beyond Reach

Wheeling could point to two fine parks and approximately forty playgrounds spread across eleven square miles.

Yet the commissioners found that too few recreational facilities were located in poor and Black neighborhoods. Existing programs were also inadequate to keep children safely and constructively engaged.

A list of citywide facilities did not necessarily represent meaningful access.

Oglebay Park became the report’s clearest example.

The park offered golfing, tennis, swimming, fishing, boating, camping, crafts, and other activities. Transportation was available on certain days, but testimony indicated that buses could accommodate only a fraction of the children who might benefit.

Poor and Black neighborhoods reportedly received only a limited number of seats, while children from more affluent neighborhoods were assigned a larger share. Families with automobiles could visit the park repeatedly. Children without reliable transportation could not.

The commission summarized that inequality with one of the report’s most memorable observations:

For poor and Black children, Oglebay Park “might just as well be out in the Rocky Mountains.”

The commissioners then broadened the argument beyond one park.

Modern cities had invested heavily in places for automobiles, including expensive concrete and asphalt parking lots, while many children were left with hazardous streets as their primary places to play.

Parking facilities produced revenue. Recreation required public investment without generating an immediate financial return. As a result, the children with the greatest need were often the easiest to neglect.

The commission recommended a comprehensive review of Wheeling’s recreational facilities, the development of new programs in strategically selected neighborhoods, improved transportation to Oglebay Park, and the recruitment of trained Black recreational staff.

The recommendation concerning Black staff was about more than employment. The commissioners understood that children also needed trusted leaders and visible role models within their own communities.

Housing: Renewal Without Equal Relocation

On housing, the commission reported a general consensus that discrimination existed in Wheeling.

A shortage of rental housing made that discrimination especially damaging because most Black families rented their homes.

Urban renewal and interstate highway construction had, in the report’s blunt phrase, “chopped up” Wheeling. Poor and Black neighborhoods bore a disproportionate share of the disruption.

Families displaced by public projects did not enter a neutral housing market.

Some Black residents were relocated more tightly within existing Black neighborhoods. Others were pushed toward adjoining white neighborhoods, where they could encounter resistance or discrimination.

Residents were particularly apprehensive about a proposed urban-renewal project in an area the report described as 99 percent Black. Relocation officials acknowledged that discriminatory incidents had occurred.

Wheeling had a fair-housing ordinance, but only one complaint had ever been filed under it. The ordinance required court action, and Black citizens told the commission they did not believe filing complaints would improve their situation.

A right that cannot be trusted or practically enforced offers little protection.

The commission recommended replacing Wheeling’s ordinance with stronger legislation modeled on the West Virginia Human Rights Act.

Under the proposed system, the local Human Rights Commission would have the authority to investigate complaints, conduct hearings, issue cease-and-desist orders, and seek enforcement through the courts.

The commission also recommended that the real-estate industry adopt a market-wide nondiscrimination agreement. Urban renewal, public housing, relocation services, and social-service agencies were urged to coordinate their work so that displaced families could obtain decent, safe, and sanitary housing.

The Same Barrier in Three Forms

Employment, recreation, and housing may appear to be separate subjects. The report demonstrates how closely they were connected.

A low-paying job limited a family’s housing choices.

Housing segregation shaped a child’s access to recreation.

Inadequate transportation transformed a public park into a distant privilege.

Urban renewal could remove a family’s home without removing the discrimination that restricted where that family could relocate.

That is why the commission’s recommendations were not merely requests for greater goodwill. They called for affirmative recruitment, targeted investment, reliable transportation, coordinated public services, and enforceable civil-rights protections.

The report’s lesson remains sharp: a city cannot measure equality by what exists on paper.

It must ask who can actually reach, use, and benefit from what the city provides.

The final installment in this series examines the report’s most difficult subjects: police-community relations, the absence of Black officers, and the weakness of a local Human Rights Commission that had been given responsibility without the resources or authority necessary to act.

-T

Historical Terminology Note

This article includes historical terms such as “colored” and “Negro” when quoting original sources or identifying organizations as they were known at the time. These terms reflect the language and racial conditions of their era; their inclusion is not an endorsement of their use today.

In our own narrative, we use Black and African American, as appropriate. We preserve historical wording to document the past faithfully while honoring the dignity, humanity, and experiences of the people whose stories we share.

Source: Report to the West Virginia Human Rights Commission of the Public Hearing in Wheeling on February 1, 2, 3, 1971 Relative to the Racial Tension Situation in Wheeling on the Weekend of January 2, 1971, approved April 8, 1971, particularly report pages 4–9.