Faith Filled Family Magazine August 2016 | Page 71

By Margo McKenzie

of the Neighborhood?

Gentrification:
Progress or Being Pushed Out

J

ust the other day, I walked
down familiar streets of
my youth, young adult,
and adult life.
I saw
a sight that I had only heard
about in private phone calls and
more recently in print and digital media. Like a tsunami, it took
some by surprise. By the time
most were aware, it was much
too late. Bicycles replaced drug
dealers along the sidewalks of
these communities. Boutique
restaurants replaced bodegas.
The newly-arrived guarded their
presence with peopled benches,
outdoor eating and a police presence. The brothers at the corner
could no longer be found.
In very visible terms, a Black and
Latino populace was replaced
by a white populace. One could

not help but notice that grocery
store windows obscured by
boxes of cereal and cleaning
detergent were replaced with
gourmet markets designed with
unobstructed glass revealing
muffins and coffee. This is the
look of gentrification. Why is it
so controversial?
Affected cities tell unique histories concerning gentrification.
Conduct an on-line search and
places in New York City like
Harlem, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Crown
Heights will pop up. But there
are far more cities affected
by this mass displacement
and replacement of people:
Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle,
San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Portland, and

Tampa merely head the list.
(Short, Kevin. Huffington Post:
“Top Gentrification Capitals in
America.” 2013. Nov. 07. Web.
20 June 2016. http://goo.gl/
HlNThz)
The term itself can be traced
back to 1964 when Ruth Glass,
a British sociologist coined the
term in her book entitled London:
Aspects of Change. “One by
one, many of the working class
quarters of London have been
invaded by the middle classes
-- upper and lower. . . Once
this process of “gentrification”
starts in a district, it goes on
rapidly until all or most of the
original working class occupiers are displaced, and the whole
social character of the district is
changed. “(Glass, 1964, p. xvii)