Lured in by click bait titles, short running time, and
quirky video editing, I’ve always turned to Buzzfeed’s videos in my times of
need (and by times of needs, I mean when I’m procrastinating really hard.)
Recently, I fell into a rabbit hole of videos and came across this one, and I was surprised when it fell quite nicely in line with we have been exposed
to so far in class. Most people will happily discuss issues and the
intersections of race and gender but often leave out class, a very essential
and defining factor in someone’s place in society. America values the bootstrap
theory, the myth that class mobility is possible for everyone and that there is
nothing holding them back. America is “classless” by nature; however, the reluctance
and exclusion of discussion about the socio-economic state of American’s
citizens, especially those face with more than one oppression, just perpetuates
the vicious cycle of poverty.
As we watched in the documentary “Race the Power of
an Illusion: Part II: The House we Live In”, racist
housing practices along with white flight and urban migration, also known as
white flight into the suburbs, helped to uphold de facto segregation. Many of
the housing projects, with the loss of capital, jobs, and reputations, began to
deteriorate, and the property values fell. However, in came gentrification!
Huzzah! (Not really) As seen in the Buzzfeed video, it’s when usually
upper-class white people come into neighborhoods that are viewed as deteriorating
with the hopes of reinvesting and renewing the “undesirable” neighborhoods.
However, this only benefits those who belong to the upper-class not the
residents who already live there. In the video, Kai mentions that his family
used to live in his house for $800 a month, but due to the Ellis Law, were
kicked out and had it sold for $1.3 million with no benefit to them. The
rapidly rising cost of living leaves so many unable to afford or even recognize
the neighborhood that was once theirs.
It was very
hard for me to understand this assumption of space and belonging under the
guise that the new people were trying to make the neighborhood better, not for
those already there, but for the new upper-class neighbors. Gentrification is
not something natural and necessary, but just the way in which classist and
racist systems intersect in order to maximize profit, serving a higher class
while alienating the supposed middle class and excluding the lower class fully.
These new
residents come in and make assumptions about the people and practices of the
neighborhood, and while all are not at fault, there is a sense of privilege and
entitlement. They make no efforts to learn the history of the neighborhood, and
a whitewashing of the neighborhood begins. These marginalized people have
created a community out of their exclusion from society, and yet once again,
they have been displaced. As seen in Aimee Meredith Cox’s Shapeshifters, if you devalue the neighborhood, you also devalue
the people who live there and easily transfix the descriptions of the
neighborhood onto the people who previously lived there. Poverty easily distorts people's visions and expectations of those steeped in it.
Have you
seen gentrification in neighborhoods before? Do you feel it is necessary? If
you have personally been affected or had a hand in gentrification, what do you
think you can do to alert everyone to these practices and possibly
better/eliminate them? What other intersections of race and class are not as
obvious in society?
The only equivalent I have experience with is after the 2011 tornado in Tuscaloosa, when heavily damaged areas were bought up and the neighborhoods "improved," resulting in several locations of more expensive housing and a notable change in demographics. I am not aware of anything I have done that might have affected gentrification in any particular direction. Personally, I do not agree with the idea of "improving" neighborhoods, as it generally (almost always, at the very least) results in the displacement of previous residents either directly through laws, as in the link you provide, or otherwise rising costs in the area. People so focused on these "improvements" seem to forget their effect on the lives of people, with their own stories and situations; this is a point I think Shapeshifters catches well in describing the lives of those involved in Cox's research.
ReplyDelete--Forest Copeland
I have never personally experienced gentrification or, to the best of my knowledge, participated in such a practice. However, this is an incredibly relevant issue, especially as it pertains to our class discussions--so thank you for touching upon this further. In your post, you mentioned "the vicious cycle of poverty" as it plays out in the lives of those suffering from gentrification. To me, this weird cyclical imagery evokes notions of interconnectedness; everyone occupying space within life and the political economy. It then becomes especially intriguing when this cycle is very clearly disjointed and selective. In this case, the "trickle down" theory of economics is diverted from those who are most in need. In "Shapeshifters," the contrast between those who ran an entire city into the ground and those who are still bearing the consequences, is startling.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kristal!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post! It is a very interesting topic regarding the film. About the "gentrification" you mentioned below, that is something I have not encountered with, but as the first glance, it seems to be a term to describe the restoration of run-down urban areas by the middle or upper class. It is supposed to be a beneficial strategy for low-income residents to improve the whole economy, however, it turns out to make the rich people richer, poor people poorer. Like you said, it creates an endless loop for poverty. The original notion of gentrification might be for the best of people who cannot afford a house, but eventually, it deteriorates the situation due to the privileges of upper-class people and racism.
Kristal,
ReplyDeleteI personally have not witnessed gentrification before but it turns out that it was actually happening only 15 minutes away from where I used to live. Philadelphia is undergoing major construction to maintain progression, but what consequences does this have on those who live there? In an article I found on Philly.com, Philadelphia Daily News took it upon themselves to go through and explain the changes and help create an outlet to help those who are in poverty try to navigate the city during this period of gentrification. Unfortunately, that does not fix the problem. Rather, it only provides a place where they may be able to seek help. Poverty seems to be a never ending cycle and it’s hard to think that cities are so focused on growing that they choose to turn a blind a towards those who are already in need and then proceed with a plan that will eventually displace them.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Gentrification_in_Philadelphia.html
I have never personally experienced gentrification but I do know of a similar story from a housing project back in Birmingham who did have to experience gentrification. This particular housing project was in the heat of downtown Birmingham, it was named the brickyard. The brickyard had been in Birmingham for generations, but one day the residents revived letters informing them of the gentrification that would occur due to the the living conditions being considered as unlivable. After the reservations instead of asking residents for inputs the simply placed miscellaneous things into the complex such as fountains but doubled to tripled the living cost. Originally to live in the brickyard it cost 600-800 dollars now it's about 1200 to live in what's considered section 8 homes. Many residents couldn't return and start a new. The inconsideration by the contractors was mind boggling but these things do happen everyday. Gentrification may help some but at the same time it also can have some loosing their entire home.
ReplyDelete