Meaning, Values, and Ways of Knowing
Embedded Files
Why does Gentrification Matter?
Why does Gentrification Matter?
Gentrification matters, not only because it affects a disproportionate amount of minorities, but because by allowing this to continue with the negative effects it has, shows me the precedent that has been set by those in power. It shows me that not every human has worth in this country, that only home owners in bodacious zip codes deserve the better development, infrastructure, literacy rates, positive crime rates, better funding, and safer and more mobile neighborhoods. For social work, this matters a lot because it provides us an opportunity to emphasize the values that this profession teaches us and how we should use our voices to educate, reform, uplift, and advance others. This issue matters because it involves deciding which family is more "deserving" of this neighborhood, which family is more "deserving" of working in a neighborhood that offers high paying jobs. It matters because we shouldn't have to pick and choose, we should all be able to pick from the same pot and use it to advance ourselves and those around us. Gentrification matters because it is more than time for change.
Ways of Knowing
Ways of Knowing
Reason: Reasoning allows us to grow in knowledge without having to rely on our senses (taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing). Reasoning allows us to deduce what we ourselves have never experienced just with the knowledge we currently have. In terms of gentrification, I personally have never experienced it, but I have spent much of my childhood in and around low income neighborhoods. I can deduce that having richer people come into an urban neighborhood and make it flowery and decorative and "expensive looking" that it will eventually cause those who are there to feel pushed out or as if they cannot afford to continue renting there. I recognize that gentrification doesn't completely negatively affect those residents in these neighborhoods who own property, but it could in the future if the property taxes continue to go up. By using reason, I am coming to the most logical conclusion with gentrification. What I already do know is that many people think lowly of those who live in low income neighborhoods and based on that knowledge, I am able to reason that when you get upper middle class-wealthy individuals moving in that you are going to get some changes in the form of gentrification and displacement, to liven up the neighborhood and make it "look better."
Empiricism: Empiricism revolves around gaining knowledge through first hand observation and experience. There are limits to what we can observe and experience, but prior experiences can help shape the way we view a situation or issue and inform the way we draw conclusions surrounding it. Based on my past experiences of growing up in and around low income neighborhoods, I have seen first hand the potential and culture and aesthetic that resides there. I have seen in Denver where neighborhoods, once burgeoning with lively culture, are now home to white upper class millennials who dream of taking their picture in front of a mural that represents black perseverance and dedication. Observation allows me to see how the different neighborhoods have changed and how many people have had to leave. This doesn't only affect urban cities, but rural cities as well. I wholly believe that disregard for the poor has contributed to the prevalence of this problem.
Values
Values
Personal:
Compassion: I hold compassion for most things and people in my life, for people I've never met, to situations I have never been in. But, I believe that to hold compassion is so important when navigating social probes, such as gentrification. It allows me to not hold myself over others and to work hard to find a solution befitting and most helpful to those this problem most affects.
Selflessness: My selflessness shows itself in accordance with my compassion in the way I navigate the world and the relationships I hold. I attribute my selflessness partly to how my mother raised me, but also to the selfless people I've had the privilege to know. With gentrification, it is my hope that my selflessness will give raise to advocacy, reform, new legislation, and to help destigmatize low income residents.
Society:
Capitalism: Capitalism is so incredibly rooted in gentrification. Capitalism in its simplest, most modern form, is the act of the bourgeoise profiting off of the back of working class citizens, maximizing revenue while pushing the workers to the bone. The goal is greed and the game is exploitation. Capitalism shows itself in gentrification with the soulless way these corporations and developers are able to effectively shove residents out of their home to make room for more modern houses and bigger complexes that would in turn draw in more "desirable" residents and thus raising taxes and cost of living.
Individualism: Individualism is one of the worst things this country has shoved down our throats. Individualism involves each person picking themselves up from the boot straps and climbing up the ladder with no assistance or inherent advantage. Which is such a fallacy because most people can't achieve or gain anything without the help or support of others so for it to be seen as a bad thing is so insane. With gentrification, individualism shows itself in the way developers clean house in low income urban neighborhoods with no care in the world for those who they are displacing; it shows itself when those same residents are forced to fend for themselves in a new environment and whole new way of navigating the world.
Social Work:
Dignity and Worth of the person: It is of utmost importance to always, always, always, treat each person you come in contact with who may need your assistance with care, empathy, and respect. It can make a world of difference from how those you are offering to assist receive your presence and offer of aid. Social workers do their best to be diligent, kind, and not be demeaning when speaking and working with those experiencing the affects of gentrification. Remember to validate, reassure, and seek the residents input, encouraging self-determinism.
Service: Social workers' primary goal is to assist those in need and to address social problems. Social workers prioritize others self interests in order to help figure out solutions to an issue. With gentrification, which is a social issue indicative of even bigger issues with our current systems in place, providing service to those displaced residents is a top goal of social workers. If they are not able to provide residents with the option to stay where they are gentrifying, it is the social workers duty to assist the residents in "fitting" into their new environment and helping find more local resources for these residents.
Multiple Perspectives
Multiple Perspectives
Neutral: The National Civic League wrote an article about gentrification that addressed the problems with it and what could be positive about it, but also had sort of a neutral tone, more so just discussing the facts of this issue, rather than being on either "side." They mentioned how a positive of gentrification would be more funding being put into public transit, providing others with mobility between work and home. The author mentioned that displacement usually happens with low income new residents, as opposed to current residents. After an interview with residents, many of them said they would appreciate the new amenities as a result of gentrification. A big point this author mentioned was how prevalent and persistent poverty is and why that should be what we focus our energy on.
Positive: The article on the left hand side of the page entitled, "Is Gentrification Really a Problem?" shone so much light on the nuances of this problem. To briefly summarize it, the author mentioned how rising rent prices are not the big push displacing poorer residents like we originally thought; statistically speaking, the threat of eviction is always imminent with many low income residents so it would almost seem inevitable that that may get pushed out someway or another. Another thing he mentioned is how residents want to stay in their neighborhoods, in their home, but often get calls form developers trying to buy their home from them. He watched an interview with a developer who was erecting new buildings in a neighborhood and was told that the amount of money they are turning down is a sizable amount and could be life changing, but these residents refuse to take it. A lot of it came down to, at least it seemed to me, that black residents continue to shoot themselves in the foot and could be thriving, but instead they choose to stay in a neighborhood that is no longer centered around them and their identities and community.
Stories
This is an amazing opinion piece article from the New York Times written by a black woman in South Central Los Angeles. She sought out erecting a small library in front of her house (one of those leave one, take on free libraries) in hopes of showing those in her neighborhood that they didn't need wealthy land developers to come in and change the neighborhood; that they could start with their own improvements. What followed was her getting flooded with a wide range of emotions when she saw a white couple approach her lawn; she has erected this library to create a safe, cozy space for black residents, to help them feel at home and with the introduction of white neighbors coming up to it, she consciously felt her safe space slipping and she had to counter with the internal feelings she had about race, gentrification, and how to move forward.
Commonalities, Tensions, and Contradictions
Commonalities, Tensions, and Contradictions
Commonalities:
The commonalities between the different meanings and perspectives of gentrification seems to be the outstanding unanimous reasoning that even if we share different views on gentrification as an social issue we can agree that the most pertinent underlying issue with gentrification is poverty.
Tensions:
A tension I found is the topic of police presence. Many find that it is a positive thing in a burgeoning neighborhood to keep crime rates low, but in the low income neighborhoods it can also increase unnecessary police presence which in turn can result in police brutality, rising crime rates, incarceration rates, and fear of authority.
Contradictions:
The fact that many perspectives paint displacement as the worst part about gentrification, while many other point of views say that capitalistic greed, value of property over humans, and extreme poverty are the worst parts about it. I believe that they can all act against the common good together and that pinpointing one thing causes us to forget about the affects this has on actual humans and society at large.
Purpose of Meaning
Purpose of Meaning
I find that the purpose the meaning serves for gentrification is creating important dialogue around marginalized communities and shines more of a light on the corruption of capitalism and individualism as we know it. Creating dialogue and spaces to share and grow with the constraints of limited resources is a good starting point for enacting and envisioning change.
Street fair in a newly gentrified, urban community.
"What we don't understand about gentrification"
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse