DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND CRIMINALIZATION

DEINDUSTRIALIZATION

by E.P.

Our class discussions lately center on the most populous urban areas of the country: New York, San Diego, Los Angeles. Especially when talking about New York, and with the majority of the major city centers listed, deindustrialization and the loss of manufacturing jobs happened decades ago stretching from the 50s onward into the 70s. These jobs then shifted to the peripheries and later shifted to the center of the country, where manufacturing was the staple job provider until the turn of the century. I grew up in Binghamton, New York where the effects of deindustrialization are seen every day. On the edge of the Rust Belt (the region where old factories are now rusting away, includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and parts of New York) my area still lingers in a state of nostalgia, wanting the return of steady paying jobs that can support a middle class family. Deindustrialization’s economic, social and psychological effects continue for decades after plants close and across generations, affecting the worldviews of younger people who never worked in steel mills or auto plants (The half-life, 2016). Thus, it was these angers still lingering over the passing of NAFTA and other free trade agreements and union fracturing that led these states to give Donald Trump the presidency and let these grievances be known. However, the Rust Belt is not a homogenous white lower-middle class area, it is filled with decrepit city centers inhabited by Latinos and African Americans so what of them?

Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Scranton are all major Rust Belt city-centers with diverse populations including Latinos. Yet every state of the cities voted for Donald Trump, yet Hillary carried these downtown areas, but why? According to a Slate article, industry has long taken place outside of city centers for decades, but deindustrialization hits both the poor inners cities as well as the better off suburbs of the area (Even in 2016, 2017). Thus as factories shut down, local Latinos and local whites are effected by the economic and psychological strains of deindustrialization. However, as suburbs attain a similar standard of living as before, the inner city is neglected. Gary, Indiana was the industrial heart of the Chicago metropolitan area, and now is home to large vacant buildings, a posterchild of white flight (population has dropped by 100,000 since 1960 and is now 84% African-American) (Effort to preserve, 2017). Without capital coming in these buildings are falling apart, and conservative pundits point to neglect and laziness of welfare ridden minorities as the reason why, while pandering to white voters on the need for a return of manufacturing. These city centers such as Gary, Indiana or Scranton, Pennsylvania voted for Democrats, and were overlooked by political analysis and the parties alike.

The Rust Belt is home to Latinos and African-Americans alike, and they are both hit equally hard and more severely by the effects of deindustrialization. However, time and time again they are left out of the conversation of deindustrialization. NY Senator Chuck Schumer commented on the presidential race with, “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in Western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia”(Even in 2016, 2017). Yet where is the concern of losing minority blue-collar workers in the Rust Belt, or the minorities depending on government assistance while occupying the shells of factories and decaying industrial neighborhoods like in my hometown of Binghamton? Latinos have always been the subject of anti-communist and socialist attacks here in the United States. But if this election cycle shows the evils of nationalist populism bent on attack world capitalism and free trade that has hurt blue-collar white in the Rust Belt, it also showed a case where the good of nationalist populism. As Trump filled stadiums of red hat wearing fans screaming for a wall aimed at stemming the growth of Latinos in our country; a socialist Jew filled stadiums of diverse crowds in the same Rust Belt stricken areas. Bernie Sanders portrayed a side of the Rust Belt that is yearning for more than just a wall to keep more immigrants from stealing jobs, he promised to undue years of neglect by political pundits with the revolutionary idea of socialism. Latinos were among the first to speak up about socialism; it was the Young Lords last point of their plan, a socialist society (13 Point Plan, 1993). Thus, as deindustrialization attacks the heartland of America, and enrages white voters to rally behind a racist populist, progressives in this country need to include Rust Belt minorities in their plans to fight back, and bridge the gap between the urban rusting centers, and the suburbs who once relied on those factories.

Works Cited

13 Point Program and Platform of the Young Lords Party. (n.d.). Retrieved Feburary, 19, 2017, from http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/Young_Lords_platform.html

Effort to preserve Gary architecture gaining momentum. AJ Latrace. Retrieved February 19, 2017 from http://chicago.curbed.com/2017/2/17/14641904/gary-historic-preservation-architecture-tour

Even in 2016, Democrats Carried Rust Belt Town Centers. Why?. Henry Grabar. Retrieved February 19, 2017 from http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/02/17/even_in_2016_democrats_carried_rust_belt_town_centers_why.html

The half-life of deindustrialization: Why Donald Trump is just a symptom. Sherry Linkon. Retrieved Feburary 19, 2017 from http://www.salon.com/2016/08/19/the-half-life-of-deind_partner/