The following quote in yesterday’s Philadelphia Daily News is almost word-for-word as what Melvin Wade told me: “Anytime someone takes your property and don’t think about giving you any money for it, that’s theft.”
As I sat with Melvin Wade almost two years ago when gathering material for Black Industrialist - The Melvin Wade Story, I listened for hours as he told story after story that shaped his experience in business. I tried to remain objective, but there were times when some of his stories seemed improbable.
The perfect example was Melvin explaining that the 4.5 acer property and factory on Front and Flower Streets in Chester, that he purchased in 1968, was stolen from him in the early 1980s.
- He tells of the many people who approached him, and his executive staff, to sell his plant almost immediately after he purchased it, and how he refused all of them.
- He talks of how PECo temporarily took ownership of his land but gave it back when they learned they would be responsible for cleaning it.
- He talks of how he was told his land was taken for back taxes. He admits to being late on his payments, but he never received a notice to make a final payment or risk losing his property.
- He talks of signing over the land to Rollins Environmental to clean the land with the provision that it would be returned to him in 2008.
I’m no investigative reporter, so all I could do is ask what few questions I could come up with and write what he told me, still thinking in the back of mind how bizarre all this sounds.
Until yesterday!
The Philadelphia Daily News did an article on how the City of Philadelphia allegedly stole land from Leroy Sterling who had intentions to use it for his masonry business and trade school.
At least the Daily News had the courage to do a story like this. Thirty years ago, Melvin Wade was such and outcast that newspapers refused to listen to anything from him that would imply that he was wronged in any way.
No matter what you think of Melvin and his legacy, the bigger issue is how it’s so easy to be a property owner one day, and be stripped of it the next, with no paperwork, compensation or explanation.
Does this situation only happen to black men? If not, share examples of others who have gone through this.
Click to read the Daily News story Death of an American Dream.
This is sad. It still happens all the time. One tactic Philadelphia has is to sell you a property from the tax lien list one day (that they know has been abandoned for years, and in a terrible state of disrepair) and sik L&I (licensing and inspection) on you the next day.
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