For this blag post I wanted to focus on something that I have previous knowledge about and that is in part to my Political Science background as a Union College student. Much of the focused in my classes has been on race segregation as well as housing political segregation among races. Gentrification, which is the forceful removal of residents out of their homes in Urban area is what I will discuss in this blog. Much of gentrification is based upon the the wage gap of race in the United States. Here is a graph depicting the wage gap between Black and White Americans..
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As you can see very clearly by this line chart, there is quite the disparity between the average wages between black and white families. Coinciding with this wage gap, is the demographic of people who live in inner city areas which is where gentrification is most prominent. It is on average that 30% of inner city populations is made up of Black citizens. While this is less than the white community, the population of African Americans in the United States is only 13%. Of black people, there is a greater percentage living in inner city, gentrified areas than there is the percentage of white people. Everything in the US’s economy works around the capitalist society that our country was built upon. African Americans make less money on average and are faced with more severe challenges in urban areas than the white urban population is facing.
I think gentrificaiton is a really important social issue that is often overlooked. I have learned a lot about it in my sociology classes and its connection to redlining which is extremely harmful to minorities and puts them at an automatic disadvantage.
Because the system in America was set up in a way that benefits white people and disadvantages people of color, everything is connected (like in this example where African Americans make less money and are forced into poorer living conditions). This interconnectedness makes it seems impossible to incite any sort of progressive change, because to change one thing you need to change the whole system.
Something I have also learned in the past was the tactic of redlining and its impact on the black community. With redlining, black families are basically forced to live in less appealing neighborhoods and have their children go to schools that are underdeveloped. This all leads to black children to not get as great of an education and repeating the cycle. It’s sad that tactics like these still exist to keep Black families economic worth down.
The disproportionate amount of black people living in less desirable conditions, especially in lower income neighborhoods, is a major issue and prime example of the disparities between racial groups within the US. This coincides directly with gentrification and redlining, as well.