For this weeks blog post, I chose to analyze the map, Digital Harlem. This is described as a collaborative research project focusing on everyday life in Harlem between 1915 and 1930. It was created by 4 historians from the University of Sydney.
The assumptions made by this map are problematic. After simply reading the about page of this project, I can see that the map is not an accurate description of life in Harlem. The description of the map outwardly states that it focuses on the lives of “ordinary African New Yorkers.” Harlem is a historically black town, but this map makes it seem like the population of Harlem is 100% black. Because of the time period this was from, it could be deducted that most law enforcement and government officials, as well as journalists, were White people because of the prejudice that black people encountered while trying to find jobs. Already, the viewer is aware of the divide between the black ordinary citizen and the white law enforcer and journalist. Furthermore, the about page states that the way it encompasses the ordinary life of these people is primarily through legal records. Already, this casts a huge stigma on the project. It seems as though these people’s lives are only documented through legal records. This is an extremely dehumanizing and quite racist approach to the map. It’s basically placing an entire culture, way of life, and community into nothing but legal records. It tells the viewer that these people are only characterized by the crimes they committed, and nothing else. This is the main assumption that this map makes- the idea that this community should only be known by its crimes and legal records.
This map, in my opinion, could not come from a more problematic perspective. The creators of this map are from Australia. I think is worth noting that they are from a completely different country, with absolutely no idea of what real life in Harlem was like. They also never mentioned employing real people from Harlem for an inside perspective or anyone with any real knowledge of Harlem. Clearly, the perspective of the map comes from these historians from Australia. However, because they relied so heavily on legal records, the perspective of the map is also from the legal force such as the police, as well as government officials such as judges, lawyers, etc. This is hugely problematic as well because the legal system is often found to be corrupt and racist. Because this project is from the historical times of Harlem, I have no doubt that some of those legal records are shadowed in racism and prejudice.
This map reveals the multitude of legal records from Harlem between 1915 and 1930. These records come from the District Attorney’s Closed Case Files, the Probation Department Case Files, various newspapers, the Committee of Fourteen Papers (investigation reports on women arrested for prostitution), and the Writers Program Collection. It is worth noting that the only one of these sources to portray citizens of Harlem in a positive light is the Writers Program Collection. This collection has research on institutions and life in Harlem and includes information on churches, schools, and various organizations. All of the other sources used for this map only report the criminal, negative, and newsworthy things that happened. Because an event must be dramatic enough to be reported, it is often also a negative event. This map does not reveal much at all. It simply gives me a multitude of various offences and legal occurrences that happened, where they happened exactly, who was involved, the race and gender of those involved, and the convictions they faced.
This map obscures many things. The map does NOT reveal the everyday life of citizens, nor does it tell me anything about this thriving, fascinating, and interesting community. It gives me no context for any of the events it portrays. It gives me no history or background on the community or any of its citizens. It does not even give me positive events which happened in the city. It is restricted to only the bad things that happened.
If I were to create an alternate map, I would provide a point of view from people who actually lived from Harlem or are from Harlem. This would include sources such as narratives, interviews, journals, essays, etc. with people who have a perspective from Harlem. I would try to find sources that were created only by members of the community, and not just law enforcement or journalism. I would incorporate more cultural aspects of the community, and focus on things such as music, food, dance, literature, etc. As Turnbull accurately stated, maps are selective in that the mapmaker determines its contents. The mapmaker has the ability to choose what is and is not represented in the map, and in my opinion this mapmaker did a poor job of choosing what to represent in order to provide a picture of ordinary life in Harlem.
Nice work – you broke down this project in great detail and made insightful points from how the residents are Harlem are defined to who was making these assessments. I would note, that you mentioned that no good things are mapped and I wondered if you had happen to see the few points that mark parties or celebrations at churches? They are much more difficult to locate, for sure. Great suggestion for a way of reimagining the project – sounds much like a community archive as we read about earlier this quarter.
I enjoyed reading your blog post. I think this map could be improved by some of the suggests you introduced like focusing on the cultural aspects of the community. For instance, focusing on its preference in food, literature, music, dance, etc.
I really like your comment that you would include narrative from the people who actually lived in Harlem. I totally agree that the narratives of the residents are atrociously left out, and that those qualitative data are so necessary to understanding the community properly.