URBAN CULTURE: ISN'T IF "FUNNY" HOW...?
A.Y
Going to high school I lived in a part of Brooklyn known as East NY(ENY).
To me just living there I got to see how segregated ENY was, and also the all
of Brooklyn. I lived in what was considered the Dominican side of ENY—and I
specify Dominican because even within the Hispanic community there was
segregation, because about 5 minutes north was the Puerto Ricans, the Mexicans,
then the Guyanese Indians. Everyone was struggling to keep their territory.
Then about a year later it dawned on me that mostly white Jewish people owned
those buildings, and had the most control. Its “funny” to think of people
struggling for space in areas that they may have lived in for long periods of
time. When I say funny I don’t mean that weird “haha” funny, I mean the ironic
racially isolation of people that was there first, kind of funny. It seems to
me like NYC’s 5 boroughs – with its already dividing landmarks—has been divided
within the itself, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island.
When white people realized that the housing was not expensive but still had
somewhat quality, they started moving in—leaving landlords to realize the high
demand and raise the rent pushing the Hispanics out in into new territory.
Within each borough its easy to see the
separation in races, in areas that use to be predominantly working blacks or
Hispanics that is now of upper middle class blacks and whites. Its even
interesting to see how little landmarks like museums, cafes, lounges, and
health conscious amongst others are indicators that the area is being “invaded”
and “taken over.” What makes it worst is that the people that are the ones
moving in aren’t seeing it like taking over, but instead as finding somewhere
with reasonable value for a cheap price, at the same time displacing others.
Isn’t it “funny” that
when you look at the 13 Point program that the young lords put into place,
point 5 says, “We want community control of our institutions and land.”? This Is all that the people that live in
those communities that is being taken over—Control. It seems like when they
don’t have any input in what happens within their population and within their
land. No matter where you go in each of these 5 boroughs, whether its
Washington Heights (Manhattan), Certain parts of the Bronx, Bushwick
(Brooklyn). How can one feel at home when they are constantly being pushed out
of said home ?
Works Cited:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/black-gentrification_n_6502104.html
Being from Bushwick, Brooklyn myself, I know exactly what you are saying when it comes to the separation of racial groups among the 5 boroughs as well as within their own boroughs. It is a constant shifting occurring amongst the neighborhoods as time goes one because we are slowly being pushed out by gentrification as well as the real estate market for the New York City Metropolitan area is only going up. Even with all the gentrification, I do agree that it is nice to see each individual racial group try and build roots into their respected communities to try and make it their home, just like other people have the luxuries of obtaining. But like said in this post, it is almost a mere dream because we are still being pushed out of our said homes to make way for thousand dollar studio apartments, restaurants and hotels, office buildings and people with very high incomes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you statement, "Its 'funny' to think of people struggling for space in areas that they may have lived in for long periods of time." What makes a place a home is the culture that the people who moved in brought to to it. Fighting to maintain roots makes it even more so a home because people think of it as something worth fighting for. When your own hard work and sweat go into a cause like that, you're not going to want to give up so easily. It makes that cause you were fighting for sentimental and invaluable. The people doing the gentrification can never understand the value of the places they're taking over. They can only see the monetary worth.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a small town in Westchester NY, its interesting to read about the similarities our community has even though my town is extremely less populated than Brooklyn. My neighboring town (which is about 5 min from me) is very much like how you describe your neighborhood in Brooklyn when it comes to segregation, however it seems to be flipped. The center of town right by 'Main street', is filled with Hispanic and black people. The culture of both are shown in the stores which fill the main streets of the town. On the outskirts are where it seems the white people are predominate. There are much nicer houses, better views, more space, much much different than how the center of town is. Your post about how someone can feel at home when they are constantly being pushed out is shown in this town. It seems like the white population in the town are very isolated, and their numbers are decreasing as more Hispanics and blacks move into the center and affordable part of town. It seems like the white population is being 'pushed out' and getting smaller/'invaded' if you will.
ReplyDeleteI am originally from Elmhurst Queens, New York and my community is a melting pot of Chinese, Filipinos , Indians , Greeks , Russians ( many more) and South Americans like myself ranging from Ecuadorians to Colombians and others . As a Queens girl I was spoiled by the diversity of the communities in queens. For example in my neighborhood Elmhurst the Latinos live above and under many Asians and it seems like there's enough space for everyone since Queens is the largest borough in the city. Queens is big enough for everyone to have their own slice of the pie so I never got to experience the gentry takeover that other boroughs have seen like Brooklyn. My best friend is a Brooklyn native and has experienced Brooklyn's north end go from A predominantly hispanic community to the hipster capital of the world. Whenever we hang out in Williamsburg he never fails to curse the myriad of coffee shops, thrift shops and condominiums that now exemplify what Williamsburg is all about. He was a direct victim of the gentrification of Williamsburg. He was forced to move out of his childhood neighborhood at the tender age of ten when the building where he lived was sold to a new Jewish businessman which owned the bakery that sat right next to his building. The building was occupied by a 100% Hispanic population and were all forced to move else where , while his old building was turned into orthodox jew only building and the neighboring bakery into a five story apartment complex that screams gentrification. The rent in Williamsburg is getting more and more expensive as the whites move in, forcing many hispanics to face the reality of either getting a second or third job to remain in their root neighborhood or be displaced. As more and more coffee shops , bars , and over priced restaurants start to appear along with modern design condos its clear that Hispanics are up against something bigger then them, a capitalist driven gentrification scheme that will suck their livelihood if they choose to stay.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the blog post. I can tell since you are from an area in New York where this issue is actually a problem you had a lot of passion in writing it, which is why I probably found it so interesting. The part I found most interesting was where you said "What makes it worst is that the people that are the ones moving in aren’t seeing it like taking over, but instead as finding somewhere with reasonable value for a cheap price, at the same time displacing others." I agree with this 100%. Most of, if not all, people are moving into these areas as a cheap alternative way to live without any idea that they are basically kicking people out of their homes. Lastly, I like how you used "funny" as not actually being funny but to put almost a sarcastic twist on the blog while making your point
ReplyDeleteI am from queens, more specifically long island city. My part of long island city was the industrial part back in the day, and in some parts still till this day. All there was around me was warehouses and factories everywhere. Every time i come home from college i see a new building or store that wasnt there before i left. Every year there is a new 30 story condo completed, which in turn raises my mothers rent. My building when from being a building that played a lot of spanish music to a building that now only has 3 latino families left. So i can really relate to what youre saying.
ReplyDeleteI am from queens, more specifically long island city. My part of long island city was the industrial part back in the day, and in some parts still till this day. All there was around me was warehouses and factories everywhere. Every time i come home from college i see a new building or store that wasnt there before i left. Every year there is a new 30 story condo completed, which in turn raises my mothers rent. My building when from being a building that played a lot of spanish music to a building that now only has 3 latino families left. So i can really relate to what youre saying.
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ReplyDeleteThe shocking thing behind this blog is that the year is 2015 and we are STILL facing racial segregation. After all of the movements, protests, lives given to have an equal society of non-segregated peoples, this is still a problem. I know I tend to hear their is segregation by say races but not ethnicities particularly. I have never heard of separation among Hispanic cultures and that is a problem. This is a country founded upon everyone having the opportunity to have civil liberties; where the pursuit of happiness is inscribed within the Constitution. If we cannot come together to work against the oppression of white supremacy and overcome the struggles of being segregated based on ethnicity, race or any other thing that is not a white male, than history may just repeat itself.
ReplyDeleteA.C.
Being from Brooklyn I have also seen this happen. Many of the buildings around my house are also pre-dominantly owned by Jewish people. Where I live there are still many Latinos and African Americans, however many of the people that have started surrounding us are White or Jewish and because of that many of the signs are in the Jewish language. This has led to a form of gentrification that has slowly started driving out the diversity in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteYour first sentences immediately grabbed my attention because I'm also from East New York. I completely agree with the segregation within the community. I also lived in the Latino side, where a lot of Dominicans like myself reside. The opposite side of East New York is where mostly blacks live. It didn't occur to me, or at least I never paid attention to the fact that most of the building in our town are owned by Jewish people. Your second paragraph shows how gentrification has been making its way into our community and it's honestly scary. Rent is definitely rising. I'm hoping our people do not get pushed out.
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ReplyDeleteI found this post interesting I think because I am from a part of Long Island where this doesn't really happen in the same ways. I look at families owning their homes, but in reality most people have a mortgage, making the bank the actual owner of the house. So the problem is how is anyone supposed to gain control of their home or space when someone else is the owner of the space they are occupying? People have to stay in that house long enough and save enough money ver that time to pay off the entire mortgage, which is very difficult to do in today's economy.
ReplyDeleteBeing raise in Queens NY I have noticed most of the example of segregation you have stated in your post. The area, Corona, where I lived had the major Latino population than any other area in Queens. But like you said even in an area of Hispanics/Latinos you could still sense the competitive diversity amongst Ecuadorians, Colombians, Mexican, and Dominicans or those other race that lived or have arrived. I can relate 100% to what you are saying and quoting you "What makes it worst is that the people that are the ones moving in aren’t seeing it like taking over, but instead as finding somewhere with reasonable value for a cheap price, at the same time displacing others," gives a perfect view on how those coming in to these areas actually kick out those (won’t say their territory) that live there longer.
ReplyDeleteI like this blog a lot. Displacement tends to always be the consequence of these types of actions. While it has always been in the back of my mind that these segregation are real, in my town, while primarily white, it has always been white. So first hand I have never experienced this, but it is interesting to read about it.
ReplyDeleteEven being from a predominantly white town, (which I grew up in as well) you can see the displacement between the races by who hangs out with who. People of color who come up from the city tend to stick themselves, and it is usually those who are of minority groups. Even the people who have lived in our town their whole life do not hang out with people outside of their race as much unless it is because of popularity.
DeleteI liked how you mentioned the devision that exist within the boroughs. I think those who live in New York City can all relate to the division we see and we never really put mind to it because we grew up being used to seeing ethnic groups be concentrated in certain areas. As someone who was born in Queens, I know I did not put much attention to the segregation that existed in my community. I noticed it but did not see it as a big deal till now that displacing is happening and is pushing minorities to overpopulated areas because they cannot afford where they are.
ReplyDeleteIn my hometown this also exists you have certain areas that are occupied by a certain type of people. When you get to a certain part of town the only people living there in two neighboring streets are Guatemalans. And if you look closer a lot of them are family which could be a reason why they're all attracted to that certain area. If you go one street over from them thought you have a street full of Italians that all seem to know each other well.
ReplyDeleteI like how this article connected all of the boroughs and the different groups represented in the those boroughs. In the end the writer mentions the Young Lords a group that spoke of solidarity. The Young Lords are revered for their focus on inclusivity in almost all spectrums including women in leadership, unlike more "machista" groups of the time. Its a good way to wrap such a nicely written paper. It would be nice to hear examples of the Young Lords tried to educate their people on their cultures.
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