Detroit Wall

rdf:langString Detroit Wall

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rdf:langString Birwood Wall

rdf:langString Birwood Wall

rdf:langString The Detroit Wall as seen from Alfonso Wells Playground in August 2011

rdf:langString Along the alleyway between Birwood Ave. and Mendota St. from Eight Mile Rd. to Pembroke Ave.

rdf:langString The Detroit Eight Mile Wall, also referred to as Detroit's Wailing Wall, Berlin Wall or The Birwood Wall, is a one-foot-thick (0.30 m), six-foot-high (1.8 m) separation wall that stretches about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) in length. 1 foot (0.30 m) is buried in the ground and the remaining 5 feet (1.5 m) is visible to the community. It was constructed in 1941 to physically separate black and white homeowners on the sole basis of race. The wall no longer serves to racially segregate homeowners and, as of 1971, both sides of the barrier have been predominantly black. The wall begins across the street from the northern boundary of Van Antwerp Park, on Pembroke Avenue between Birwood and Mendota streets. It extends north until just south of 8 Mile Road. An exposed stretch of the wall with no homes to the east runs through Alfonso Wells Memorial Playground, between Chippewa Avenue and Norfolk Street. Community activists and Detroit residents collaborated in 2006 to turn this portion of the wall into a mural. Paintings have depicted, for example, neighborhood children blowing bubbles, a group of a cappella singers, Rosa Parks's boarding the bus signifying her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement, and citizens protesting for equitable housing policy.