One of my best friends grew up in Washington Heights, so I have watched that neighborhood get gentrified. I still remember the first two occasions I saw another white person on 155th and Edgecomb. And it it not just that they were white, but you could tell they have more money than anyone else living in that neighborhood. They looked out of place. But they were recently moving in a couple blocks down. What happened was New York City had sold buildings to corporate developers. Those corporate developers redid the buildings. But they were redone in a way that now the rent for the apartment building was to high for anyone from that community (which was previously almost completely black) to afford. So what happens is young professions (primarily white), move into those apartments, because they are apartments in the price range for them. And because it is now considers the new Up-and-Coming neighborhood. So living in that area is considered exciting. So as an overview what happens is they redo the entire community, but they do nothing to increase the average income for the average family currently living in that neighborhood. Meaning they can no longer afford to live there. Meaning they get displaced. Meaning they get pushed out. Our culture has of moving poor communities of color around to where we see fit depending on what we want out of that land. Move the Natives out west, no wait, there is gold out there. Move them to South Dakota, no wait, there is oil up there. Move the people of color to the suburbs, no wait, now we have cars, so we want to live there. Well move them into the inner cities, no wait, now it is the new Up-and-Coming hip area to be. Well, lets move them again. It is not right. They are not pawns, they are people. I obviously do not think most people moving into Washington Heights have bad intentions or have any idea what they are doing. But of course, the only way for people to learn, is if they are taught. The only way for them to be taught, is for someone to say something. And now the people moving into Washington have their own Facebook page. So I am starting off by posting this on my wall to make others think, as an educational experience. And I am thinking about going to talk to the guy who runs the page when I am back in NY around Christmas for a few days.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:01:50 +0000
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