Sunday, March 10, 2013

A Change is Coming

The study of gentrification has typically focused on the displacement of existing populations through rising housing cost.  However, based upon which end of the economic paradigm you are on gentrification can now be considered “urban renaissance.”  That withstanding the social profile of most gentrifiers is usually white, middle class to affluent married couples with either no families or very young children (DeSena & Ansalone, 2009).  Although, the social justification is often times the disruption of the concentration of poverty those that are typically impacted are mainly African-American and Latino families (Lipman, 2009). Furthermore, according to Katz (2000) it is this ethnic group that is typically identified with having the least political influence. 

An ecological examination of the communities that are typically targeted for gentrification or this new “urban renaissance” would suggest a lack of infrastructure, high concentrations of poverty and a social pathology that reflects a lack of focus on education as a means of social mobility.  Therefore, it would stand to reason that a process in which a sense of social leveling would be welcomed.  Lipman (2009) classified the ideology of gentrification as one where middle class families would replace significant portions of low-income families thus exposing those that remain behind to better values and an achievement ethic as well as better schools, teachers and resources.   James Ryan (2010) went further in his book Five-Miles Away, A World Apart to suggest that the key to closing the achievement gap lie within the influence of order, rigor and achievement found in the middle class.

Proponents of gentrificaction or “urban renaissance” tout the socially and economically diverse communities and schools that come about as neighborhoods begin to revitalize.  They also tout a more positive attitude toward education and educational outcomes as the middle class influence starts to set in.  Proponents also suggest parents who typically did not have any leverage develop a sense of power to advocate for themselves and their children and subsequently academic achievement becomes the norm.  Finally, as achievement becomes common the preverbal achievement gap disappears within the neighboring schools (Wax, 2011).

Opponents on the other had suggested the idea of mixed income neighborhoods is the catalyst for gentrification, further disenfranchising an already isolated social group. Opponents also suggest that urban minorities who are lucky enough to find themselves in the “rebranded” schools face social isolation based upon their economic status (Wax, 2011).  However, very little attention is paid to the students who are displaced based upon the changing dynamics of the new “neighborhood” school.  Another point opponents of gentrification or “urban renaissance” raise is that urban schools in African-American and Latino neighborhoods represent a complicated social dynamic where community and caring often prevail even in the face of uncaring teachers and inadequate resources (Lipman, 2009).  Thus giving further credence to the African proverb that “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Finally, and the most obvious and least discussed is that gentrification or “urban renaissance” overlooks the history of neglect on core city neighborhoods that created the negative circumstances by which the children of poor and low-income families find themselves in.   Gentrification further highlights the spatial inequality, displacement, hopelessness and racial containment that often beget many of the families and children that live in inner cities throughout the country (Lipman, 2009).  However, for the middle class and affluent benefactor gentrification represents a windfall opportunity not only from a financial standpoint, but it also represents significant educational opportunities for the children of those that have the financial wherewithal.  DeSena and Ansalone (2009) concluded the aforementioned through their informal strategies of negotiating and navigating as well as their political influence have managed to secure urban schools as agents of neighborhood transformation by attracting likeminded residents.  However, very little attention is paid to those that are displaced and where they go from here.

That’s my Truth and I AM sticking to it.


I AM
Dr. Irvin PeDro Cohen

References
DeSena, J.N. & Ansalone, G. (2009).  Gentrification, Schooling and Social Inequality, Educational Research Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp 60 – 74.

Katz, B. (2000).  Enough of the Small Stuff Toward a New Urban Agenda, The Brookings Review, Spring, pp 6-11.

Lipman, P. (2009).  The Cultural Politics of Mixed-Income Schools and Housing: A Racialized Discourse of Displacement, Exclusion and Control, Anthropology and Educational Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp 215 – 236.

Wax, A. L. (2011).  Income Integration at School, Policy Review, pp. 49 – 62.