A highly problematic article on the gentrification of Harlem in today’s Sun.
I’m not convinced that living somewhere because one has to necessarily precludes one from wanting to live there, as this article suggests. And, in the end, is moving in because you have to any more socially debilitating than moving out because you have to?
It really is long past time to challenge this “common sense” reading of post-segregation black neighborhoods. Just because the effects of de-segregation thus far have involved either a continued systematic underdevelopment of some black neighborhoods on the one hand, and aggressive and predatory gentrification on the other, does not mean that those are the only inevitable or natural consequences of de-segregation…
Also: this guy’s a terrible historian, even for a journalist.
“Judge Motz’s injudicious remarks made it sound as if the city is so dysfunctional that no corporate crime can ever be committed against it…Baltimore isn’t the only city in the country grappling with high unemployment, failing schools, drugs and crime. By Judge Motz’ reasoning, none of them should be able to sue predatory lenders who target minority homeowners unless they can show those problems weren’t a factor.”
Paraphrasing Justin Fenton:
67 school-age children in Chicago, pop 2.8 mil, have been killed since the start of the 2007-08 school year. This has drawn national headlines.
Last year in Baltimore, population 640,000, 26 juveniles were killed. Roughly double the rate in Chicago.
The Daily Beast ranks America’s Smartest Cities—From First to Worst we’re number 10!. Think there will be a reference to The Wire in the Baltimore blurb? Why, as a matter of fact…
“If you watch HBO’s police drama “The Wire,” you might think that Baltimore is filled with drug dealers and crime ringleaders. But in truth, the city has attracted a different breed of misfits: artists.”
NYT pretty psyched about Baltimore’s white neighborhoods and social spaces.
turns out it’s the two awful people who secretly videotaped ACORN housing workers who may face charges.
