|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gentrification is
the rejuvenation of an inner-city neighborhood which entails the renovation
of old decrepit buildings, and it provides for an influx of prosperous citizens
which inadvertently causes the reallocation of underprivileged residents.
Gentrification has many connotations associated with it. Some consider it to be
an economic overhaul of a depressed zone. Others regard it to be a virtual war
of the classes. Gentrification is a very sensitive and complicated subject,
which can result in being beneficial and or detrimental for the vast majority.
This issue is a labyrinth in which city commissioners find it difficult to
navigate their way out.
In the U.S. during the 1960s with response to an endeavor all over the country, a movement for urban renovation and historic preservation began, and as part of civic policy, large devastated areas of cities were eradicated, but as a consequence many inhabitants who resided there affordably were affected. Many cities decide to erect high-rise buildings which cleared out vast city blocks, instead of cleaning and revamping historic neighborhoods. This immense oversight caused the annihilation of neighborhoods and communities on a human scale.
Fortunately, for Seattle they did not choose to build from scratch. Instead the city went for “market rate housing” or “office space” mutually for old and new construction, and since then “affordable tax credits for preservation projects” have become available.
Hundreds of historically significant and reasonably priced housing units were destroyed around the 1960s due to the creation of I-5. The erection of large office towers and civic centers like Benaroya Hall led to more leveling of downtown during the 1980s and 90s. Some historic houses survived, but they became more costly. Furthermore, they prosper in districts like Fremont and Belltown, which grew from working class to alternative/artist neighborhoods and then finally into retreats for young metropolitan professionals.
The aim of neighborhood restoration and historical protection programs is to harmonize the progress of these two projects; however such community based programs give the impression to some people that there is movement towards “anti-gentrification.” Increased housing costs and the gap between mean incomes and housing rates are of grave concern to many residents in Seattle. Plans to revitalize communities and maintain historic preservation are intended to be in the best interest of everyone in Seattle, in addition arrangements are being made to provide affordable housing for lower income families.
Indeed, one of the side effects of historic restoration is that it may affect the class and social diversity of the area. As a result the community will lose an economic and ethnic array of citizens. The gentrification process will disperse low income people and will have the effect of lowering the amount of affordable housing.
The construction of a light rail system in the Rainier Valley will bring future jobs to the community and it will help rejuvenate the economy allowing low class to climb the social stratus. It is projected to provide 4200 at a high wage. With a project such as this the families will be able to maintain and improve their current living status. The gentrification of any project will be alleviated and more families may become home owners or they may be able to maintain their own home.
Preserving racial and ethnic diversity is just one of the goals of city officials as well as the preservation and renovation of the city.
The Interracial Family Network of Seattle-King County (IFNS) was established on January 1997. The whole concept behind the formation of this group was to foster support for interracial families that may live under scrutiny or may be shunned by the community. Family member may encounter feelings of rejection and alienation or isolation. Interracial families may be removed from wills or denounced by other family members and friends. They may also come across prejudice attitudes or racist actions. It is essential a support group for you family, which provides a network of friends and supporters. According to this group, “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” Meaning a child’s development may be hindered by the lack of social contacts or may be advanced by communal interactions. Seattle, Washington is the haven for interracial people and their families. One newspaper article stated that approximately half of all African-American children in Pierce, Snohomish and King Counties were born to interracial couples. Daryl Strickland, Seattle Times, “Interracial Generation,” May 5, 1996. Seattle, Washington is a positive and stimulating city, with a reputation for having a large population of interracial families, couples and individuals. Seattle may be able to boast having the country’s greatest population of interracial families in the entire United States. Census data confirms that four percent of interracial couples in the U.S. live in Washington State.
On July 18, 2002 Mayor Greg Nickels proclaimed that a plan is being devised in order to enhance police/community relations and to improve overall police accountability. The all out policy to augment police responsibility and diminish the propensity for racial profiling was initiated Mayor Nickels. He also stated that the plan is meant to, “improve public confidence and trust in our police.” The strategy is to: establish a rapport between the community and city law enforcement, mount digital video cameras in all cruisers, insure that all police are answerable for their actions, assemble statistical information relevant to all traffic stops, conduct a an annual survey which will depict the attitudes of the neighborhood towards police, hold forums in order to air out all concerns between the police and the community, train officers on racial sensitivity, and follow up on complaints of racial profiling. Nickels exclaimed that,
“The goal is simple: increased accountability. That's important for citizens and police. I'm proud of our police department. They too are proud of their work, they welcome better understanding. Working together, we're going to strengthen trust. Police can't be effective, and our communities can't feel safe, unless police enjoy the trust and confidence of the people we serve. We've addressed this issue from multiple perspectives. We're going to collect and analyze data from several sources, increase public involvement with the police department, put interpretation of data into improved training of our officers, and track our progress. We're going to make Seattle a national leader in this effort. I think we all recognize that we need to understand as accurately as possible what is happening at the point of personal interaction between the police and individuals in the community. The best way to start that is by documenting each interaction.”
A seventy eight page study on the inconsistency of arrests was
created by Katherine Beckett who is an associate professor of sociology at the
University of Washington. This same report was used in law suit against
city police. Police in Seattle are arresting more
African American drug dealers than Caucasian, even though Caucasians in this
area traffic and abuse the majority of the drugs. The civil lawsuit against the
police asserts that law enforcement strategies are aiming more towards racial
minorities. The city police deny any such motive. Beckett examined Seattle
police arrest reports from January 1999 to April 2001 to establish which race
was more heavily incarcerated for the trafficking of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy
and methamphetamines. She found that 14 percent of the arrests were
Hispanic, Asians, and Native American, 19 percent white and 63 percent were
black. Her conclusion is that if the bulk of the dealers are white then
why are there more blacks being incarcerated than whites. Beckett admits that
the study is not concrete, but is it based on statistically consistent data.
The analysis illustrated that 14 percent of the dealers were black and that
one-half were white. According to Beckett, “Black heroin deliverers are more
than 22 times more likely than white heroin deliverers to be arrested,” and
“Black methamphetamine deliverers are over 31 times more likely than white
methamphetamine deliverers to be arrested.” In 2000 the Washington state
Minority and Justice Commission become aware of a sharp increase in the number
of ethnic and racial minorities imprisoned for drug offenses, which motivated
them to examine how the cases in involving drug were being processed. In April
2001 a Harvard study settled the matter by reviewing reports from the Seattle
Police Department and later concluded that law enforcement tactics focused more
on the areas such as downtown where the majority of blacks make drug
transactions. This one area of course does not reflect the total drug
market. The Racial Disparity Project proclaims that police are discriminately
targeting racial minorities for incarceration. White dealers on the other hand
are allowed to roam freely as a “phantom population” possessing “defacto
immunity from the criminal justice system.” The King County Prosecutor's Office
and the Seattle police want the Beckett report and other such data implicating
law enforcement officials to remain within the confines of the court and not in
the hands of the community.
Even though many minority groups are sprawling out and there is
more diversity than ever before, employment opportunities, educational
inequities, and the unequal distribution of wealth are still issues that need to
be addressed. Leading social researchers state that, “Accumulated Wealth
Ownership Represents the Single Greatest Racial Disparity in America Today.” The
wealth gap is growing ever wider than ever and it persists as the chief aspect
of racial disparity. “For example, for every dollar of wealth of the median
White household in 1999, the median African-American barely held 9 cents.” This
gap has remained unchanged for over fifteen years. Attaining loans or being
able to save money make it possible for families to purchase a house or help
their kids achieve a higher education. “In 1998, the national net worth of
African-Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Latinos and Native-Americans was
$16,400, less than one-fifth the median net worth of White families ($94,900).”
Home equity is one of the main sources of wealth for most families. There
seems to be a disproportionate
number of homeowners divided by race, age, ethnicity, and geographic location.
In the Seattle area, the number of homeowners is relatively low in contrast to
other cities; furthermore the number of minorities that own a house is between 5
to 25 percentage points smaller than the white population.
Minorities that are in a lower class and
income bracket are more likely to congregate within close proximity of one
another that the white population. In addition, people of color are still below
the average in obtaining a professional or high managerial employment
positions. For example, most minorities around the Seattle area hold clerical
types of employment. Minorities still lag behind their white competitors in
obtaining more education past the High School years. The racial gap in education
could be attributed to dire occurrences that transpired while in elementary and
post elementary school grades. The unemployment rates of most minorities are
still an issue. Several students in Seattle
are still experiencing segregated by race and class. Areas that are undergoing
some type of social strain are more than likely to have a high proportion of
student attending dilapidated and racially divided schools. Intense
poverty has been linked to educational inequality among minorities. School
Districts within a depressed zone have shown to possess several education
inefficiencies.
Sources
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/commnty/histsea/issues/gentrification.htm
http://www.isomedia.com/homes/duncan/interracial.html
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/humanservices/director/ConsolidatedPlan/introracethdisparity.htm
http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=2784
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/home/
(Report alleges racial disparities in Seattle drug arrests: By Florangela Davila Seattle Times staff reporter. Monday December 1, 2003)
This site was created by Tony Sanchez for Dr. Rodd Freitag's Group and Minority Politics.
April 29, 2004
