Question of the Day - 28 April 2018

Due to the Basic Magnesium influx during WW II, by the 1950s, Las Vegas’ black population had grown to 15,000 and they wanted to go out and be entertained. Thus, a kind of alternative Strip sprang up along Jackson Street in Westside. Here, black and Chinese business owners could — and did — flourish, as did nightlife in places like the Chic-A-Dee, People’s Choice Casino, the Ebony Club, and at least a dozen more. Since entertainers of color had to leave the premises after performing on the Strip, they unwound with a set or two along Jackson Street. It wasn't uncommon to see Louis Armstrong, the Ink Spots, or Cab Calloway putting their talents on display behind the “Cement Curtain” that divided the city.

From that foundation arose the famed Moulin Rouge, the city’s first attempt at an integrated resort. It opened with much ballyhoo on May 24, 1955, with prizefighter Joe Louis as the greeter. It really came to life around 2:30 a.m. when Strip headliners dropped in for impromptu jam sessions.

“Imagine it — the great talents of the time, white and black, jamming and winging it at a time when black entertainers couldn’t set foot in the lounges on the Strip. Where else was there ever a scene to match that?” UNLV history professor Michael Green wrote.

But it went bankrupt  and closed that November. Green blames a quartet of factors: “bad management, bad location, bad timing, and bad luck.” There were, in addition, rumors that the Strip powers pulled behind-the-scenes strings to ensure its rapid demise.

Several years later, the defunct casino’s coffee shop was the site of the Moulin Rouge Agreement. The local chapter of the NAACP threatened to march on Las Vegas Boulevard unless the Strip was formally and finally integrated. It was hardly the sort of publicity or scrutiny casino owners wanted in the early days of the civil-rights era.

In addition, in its fight to integrate Las Vegas, the NAACP could count on the support of Gov. Grant Sawyer, Las Vegas Mayor Oran Gragson, and Las Vegas Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun, all of whom sat in on the 1960 negotiations that produced the Agreement. Gragson also made progressive history when he invested a city redeveloping fund into Westside, paving roads, putting up street lamps, and improving the sewers. Even so, the irony of the Moulin Rouge Agreement was that, once they could patronize the Strip, Westside residents deserted establishments like the Chic-A-Dee and Jackson Street's better days were ending. 

The Agreement was no panacea. It took another 11 years and a federal district court consent degree to really open up front-of-house positions for African-Americans.

How much have we progressed today, well into the 21st century? Less than you’d think, says historian Trish Geran. "Yes, today you can find blacks working on the casino floors unlike in the 1950s. But go into the hotel-casino executive offices and count how many blacks you see working in key executive roles or even as secretaries. You won’t find many.”

Former actress Toni Ono (The Towering Inferno) says the problem is more pervasive: "We now have banks in West Las Vegas that for the longest time weren't there because the area was redlined. But ask black people who go to those banks how easy it is to get a loan from them. Ask blacks who live in West Las Vegas how easy it is to get auto insurance, or why it is higher there than anywhere else in Las Vegas, or how easy it is to get a pizza delivered."

Ironically, Westside contains some of the oldest buildings in Las Vegas, ranging from 1920s’ bungalow and mission-revival to mid-century styles. The Berkley Square master-planned community of 148 bungalow-style homes and the handiwork of Paul Revere Williams, has made it onto the National Register of Historic Places.