The Effects Of Gentrification On The African American Community

It is often said that White Americans created ghettos, but forced Black Americans to reside in them. The African American population is often seen as “free loaders”, “refusing to do for self”, and just downright “lazy”. It has become commonplace that Black Americans are blamed for being trapped in “the ghetto” when white Americans and government policy created them. Beryl Satter, in her exceptional work Family Properties, sets out to expose the policy created and enforced by the government with intentions to confine African Americans into a central area of Chicago. Beryl Satter discusses the race and housing discrimination in Chicago during the 1950s and 60s.

Matthew Desmond’s book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, reveals the dire reality of renting leading to evictions and poverty by telling the stories of multiple people. There are multiple issues within this topic that Desmond focuses on such as discrimination. Desmond tells the stories of people from different backgrounds, of different genders, and of different races. The book is all about poverty, human nature, human relationships, and human hopes. Due to the nature of this book, it is crucial that the events are examined through a socio-cultural lens.

On the overpass leading into Yonkers is a large sign which states "GENERATION Y" short for generation Yonkers. After some research I found out that this was a plan to revitalize Yonkers. Mayor Mike Spano has approved for one billion dollars to be used fix up downtown Yonkers, focusing on the riverfront, in order to attract young business men and women. The idea in itself is wonderful. Not only are they fixing up dilapidated buildings, they are also bringing in new businesses that will stimulate the economy.

In Benjamin Markovits’ You Don’t Have To Live Like This, the reader experiences gentrification and views it from several angles. Because Detroit is a majority black city, being about eighty percent black, the racial tensions are severely heightened through gentrification. In context, race truly makes the first crack in the foundation of the gentrification project. Through the use of stereotypes, Markovits analyzes racial tensions throughout the novel and therefore, better satirizes and negatively characterizes gentrification in the United States. Robert James as a wealthy white man plays a pivotal role in the novel because he provides the funds for the entire gentrification project in Detroit.

Many proponents as well as advocates of gentrification like to use in many regard as code words to back up their claim that gentrification brings “revitalization” “urban renewal” and more importantly “enhances” the community. However, these are what many who are critical of gentrification deem to be “ code words”, because they appear to be ones that exude positivity when they are in fact not expressing the full story of the argument, because underneath this creeping positivity. There still exists this form of stereotyping that minorities, or those from lower socioeconomic means cannot create something that is unique or successful on their own. Furthermore, what existed in their communities before gentrification was one that brought little to no value to society.

These impacts caused by direct state-led gentrification can lead to negative effects on the locals and the relationships between each other. Due to the rise in expenses of living in neighborhoods experiencing gentrification, residents may find it demanding to pay for their basic needs such as housing which can ultimately lead to displacement from their property. Residents often find that the more affordable housing for them in the neighborhood becomes inadequate or overcrowded causing them to move to areas that have not been affected by state-led gentrification, therefore cheaper but further away from their original home. In an area undergoing gentrification, private renters especially, have a lack of control over the untenable level increase of rent causing the eviction of current residents to be able to renovate properties that will attract high-income residents who are in a position to pay the increased prices. This process of gentrification is labeled as second-wave gentrification which is developed by the state government's decisions, involves the construction of new houses on redeveloped sites, and creates a demographic mix of the upper and lower class (Bounds & Morris, 2006).

After recent protests in Baltimore, Badger (2016) explores the nature of policies set in the early 1900’s that have shaped the city of Baltimore, and that continue to have an effect on their quality of life. Actions such as redlining and urban renewal have perpetuated poverty and segregation in the same neighborhoods today as 75 year ago. This article calls attention to the effect of system-wide race discrimination in Baltimore, and how policies create a cyclical link between race and disadvantage in communities. Racial disparities across many subsystems have created a system of race discrimination in which it’s emergent effects implant uber discrimination into our culture and institutions (Reskin, 2012). Reskin (2012) explains how emergent discrimination intensifies disparities within each subsystem and creates systems of race discrimination.

Despite the negative connotations often attached to gentrification, it is recognized that the

One way in which this fear is implemented is by increasing the inequality between races. Urban planning, in particular, has played a large role in this as it has historically advantaged some people while putting others at a disadvantage. From gentrification and racial disparities in law enforcement to practices such as blockbusting and redlining, it is apparent that policies and decisions made by city planners were not designed to benefit everyone equally. Particularly the Housing Act of 1949 and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Both of these policies displaced residents through the use of eminent domain and condemnation laws (Budds, “How Urban Design Perpetuates Racial Inequality – And What We Can Do About It”).

Lance Freeman, an associate professor of urban planning in Columbia, wanted to investigate if there was any displacement going on in two predominantly black neighborhoods that was briskly gentrifying. Much to his dismay, he couldn’t find any correlation between gentrification and displacement. What was surprising to Freeman was his discovery, “poor residents and those without a college education were actually less likely to move if they resided in gentrifying neighborhoods”. (Sternbergh, 19) Freeman adds, “The discourse on gentrification, has tended to overlook the possibility that some of the neighborhood changes associated with gentrification might be appreciated by the prior residents.” (Sternbergh, 19)

There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their

The relationship between society and the law is direct, and housing in America is a conclusive example of that. As argued by both authors, once society has made up its mind about a certain group of people or place such as the ghettos, even the law can’t change those facts. It often happens that people of color and minorities get overlooked and stereotyped into something that they are not due to the hierarchical and discriminatory principles of the law. It has been engrained into society to think that minorities are poor, lazy, and overall less productive in the public

Public Policy on Housing Discrimination Executive Summary Housing discrimination and segregation have long been present in the American society (Lamb and Wilk). The ideals of public housing and home buying have always been intertwined with the social and political transformation of America, especially in terms of segregation and inequality of capital and race (Wyly, Ponder and Nettking). Nevertheless, the recent unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and in Baltimore due to alleged police misconduct resulting to deaths of black men brought light on the impoverished conditions in urban counties in America (Lemons). This brings questions to the effectiveness of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in devising more fair-housing facilities (Jost).

In this speech, I will begin by explaining what gentrification is along with a short background on the Lincoln Park gentrification, then I will proceed to explain how the families in these areas fought for their homes, and finally I will be discussing the gentrification that is affecting citizens of Chicago today. Body I. Gentrification is the process of renovating an area to meet the standards of a different social class, typically the upper middle class. Throughout this process the price of renting and owning a home increases while family owned businesses become bankrupt. Low-income families are left homeless and without the support of a

During the 1960s, middle and upper-class populations began to move out of the suburbs and back into urban areas. Areas such as Harlem, Washington Heights and Brooklyn have deeply been affected by it. Gentrification has variable type of impact like many positive changes as a better-looking neighborhoods, more job opportunities as well as a reduction in crime rates in those areas, but with these positive changes negative results for others within the community will be affected such as displacement and rent increase which forced people to move out. Despite its positive impact which mainly affect the new incomers, gentrification seems to be better because of the positive results for the community since its main purpose is to benefit the community