10 Ways Historic Preservation Policy Supports White Supremacy and 10 Ideas to End It by Jeremy C. Wells
“In the United States, policy-driven work in historic preservation comprises about three-quar- ters of the field’s work. Preservation policies, especially through rules and regulations, directly impact millions of Americans and redistribute billions of taxpayers’ dollars each year. These policies princi- pally revolve around federal regulations that arise from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966: the National Register of Historic Places, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, environmen- tal (preservation) reviews of federal undertakings, and the Rehabilitation Tax Credit. At the local lev- el, the most important policies are embodied in preservation ordinances that require property owners to retain the “historical integrity” (or authenticity) of locally-designated buildings when changes are proposed to these properties.
Support for White supremacy is a cultural practice that places a high value on perfectionism, the means justifying the end, protection of power, objectivity and measurability, dominance of the written word in communication, binary thinking, paternalism, fear of open conflict, workplaces that reward individuals and not teams, and a definition of “progress” that is synonymous with continual expansion. To be clear, this paper does not address contemporary individuals who hold or act upon racial bias; it only and very specifically focuses on how preservation policies support White supremacy.”