The Digital Harlem Map is meant to represent everyday life in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood between the years 1915 and 1930. It utilizes information from legal records, newspapers and other archival and published sources. The map shows the borders of black settlements in 1920, 1925 and 1930.
Users are able to toggle through the different layers of the map which include the number of arrests that were made as well as the information from police reports on the incident (address, date, time and crime). The amount of jobs available for Black people were quite low so although the population was predominantly Black/ African American, many of the police and newspaper workers were White/Caucasian. The point of view is skewed towards the ontology of the White, male police (and probably government) that wrote the reports and articles that the creators of this map used as sources. The map is supposed to show the everyday life within the neighborhood but the sources that are used do not necessarily depict that. It shows newsworthy events, arrests and the life of a boy, Fuller Long, who was put on probation for having sexual intercourse with his underage girlfriend. None of the events that were placed on the map were positive acts or events that happened within the community (which may show the bias and racism of the time). The narrative that the map is providing assumes that many of the arrests in the area are of Black people (in a historically Black neighborhood) and that they are bad, criminal people. It depicts them as people that were hardened criminals but also first offenders, ordinary residents acting out of desperation, poverty or anger, and which reveal all manner of things that would not ordinarily be labeled ‘criminal’. It also shows evidence of the role of gambling, violence and confidence men in the black community.
The map reveals the life outside of the contributions of the arts and music scene of the Black artists or the black middle class during the Harlem Renaissance. It obscures the community as being composed of broke, desperate criminals who are up to no good. It may also obscure the circumstances of the crimes/ arrests based on the biased and racist police reports.
If I were to come up with an alternate map, I would provide primary sources (diaries, narratives, interviews, etc.) and photographs of what everyday life may have looked like. I would use sources that were not written by others not from the community. I would also incorporate other sources that also provide positive contributions or events to the community (not just the negative ones about crime). My map would have stories of individuals to avoid faciality so that people are not stereotyped or grouped based on race or ethnicity.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. You provided a lot of analysis on the bias in perspective of the narrative–how it was skewed towards the ontology of the white male police officers and news reporters who only would report on big events, not events of daily life. Your suggestions for the alternate map are also very interesting. Digging into diaries and adding photographs definitely would have created a better representation of everyday life in Harlem.
I thought this was a great post. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on how life was portrayed and some of the things you would add. Primary sources and records of community events would definitely help to provide a more holistic picture of life in Harlem. I also think your idea of photographs would be quite helpful. This would provide a lens into the community. As of now it is very dehumanized with just icons and statistics.