A “Most Conscientious and Considerate Method”: Residential Segregation and Integrationist Activism in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, 1960-1970

Abstract

This article unearths a meticulous system of residential segregation operative in Grosse Pointe, Michigan—a wealthy suburb of Detroit—from 1945 to 1960. Potential homebuyers were ranked based upon their ethnic descent, nativity, accent, manner of dress, and “swarthiness” of skin, among other characteristics; as such, the Point System stringently measured and indeed vested real estate brokers with the power to construct suburban whiteness. After analyzing what I call the “work of white supremacy” that undergirded the Point System, this article then tracks its demise after well-publicized state and federal hearings. This article then details the community’s response to the first “move-ins” of black families in 1964, as well as longer-running liberal integration efforts spearheaded by local activists through the decade’s end. Ultimately, the Point System adds to our understanding of production of race and suburban exclusion in the midcentury United States.