Graduation Semester and Year
Fall 2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Public Policy
Department
Urban and Public Affairs
First Advisor
Dr. M. Martinez-Cosio
Second Advisor
Dr. A. Allen
Third Advisor
Dr. K. Bezboruah
Fourth Advisor
Dr. A. Reyes-Sanchez
Abstract
This research examines the life conditions of African Descendants of American Slavery (ADAS) in the U.S. and posits that the State (U.S. government) has and continues to commit the act of genocide against the group. The genocide paradigm is often dominated by time-intense direct violence enacted with explicitly declared intent (e.g., Holocaust, Rwanda etc.) (Wakeham, 2021). I argue that the case of U.S. genocide against ADAS is indicative of genocide by attrition, a slow process of annihilation that reflects the unfolding phenomenon of the mass killing of a protected group rather than the immediate unleashing of violent death. The posited case reflects a spatial dimension (ADAS ghettoes) whereby the conditions function parallel with extermination and internment camps as the locales whereby the harshest discharge of genocidal acts occur. Urban planning has been utilized as a very effective and instrumental spatial tool and practice to execute the acts of genocide and continues to be complicit in the act. This instrumental case study of the U.S. theorizes genocide at all three levels (i.e., macro, meso, and micro), utilizing a universally accepted tool, United Nations’ Framework for Atrocity Crimes, to evidence the presence of the phenomenon. Finally, this research concludes with preliminary recommendations for a new progressive urban planning framework to advance spatial reconciliation.
Keywords
Genocide by attrition, Governance behavior, Extermination camps, Equity planning, Black ghettoes, Genocide, Racism, Oppression, Internal colonialism, Apartheid, Cambodia, Armenia, Holocaust, Rwanda, Human rights
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Lemons, Yanikka, "GENOCIDE BY ATTRITION IN THE U.S. POST 1968: URBAN PLANNING- THE CONSCRIPTED TOOL TO DISCHARGE AND INTEGRAL TO RECONCILATION" (2023). Public Affairs Dissertations. 238.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/publicaffairs_dissertations/238