Wow, that was a silly article! Of all the things in the world to brood about, the fact that 6 years ago in an area where this woman no longer lives, “cabbies and bodega owners and random people on the street” didn’t immediately recognize her as a “black gentrifier” is a pretty rarefied offender. Perhaps she should get together with the other TPM featured writer–the MIT blond suffering from all the focus on her incredible beauty rather than on her engineering brilliance-- and commiserate.
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It’s hard to say.
Maybe to some she comes across as entitled, but maybe it’s defensiveness because she’s experienced some hostility and resentment for moving into a gentrified area.
I agree with a couple commenters here that urban redevelopment is fraught with many problems such as rising housing costs, dislocation etc.
Some of the attitudes displayed here come down to a misunderstanding.
Why should a young black professional bear an onus for wanting to live in a fashionable up and coming area?
It reminds me of other issues when blacks have crossed a red line set up privileged and well-meaning whites.
As part of the push to racially desegregate our schools, magnet schools, which offered a specialized, enriched curriculum for white students in historically black public schools, were implemented as a way to achieve a more optimum racial mix.
It worked great, until black parents said they also wanted their children to enroll in and benefit from the magnet school curriculum.
Or when some criticized blacks for not showing up en masse at the Occupy rallies – even though blacks have an understandable reluctance to get caught up in street protests out of the very real fear that they might be targeted by police and subjected to unequal racial justice.
At some level, I think criticizing a black for moving into a gentrified area betrays a misplaced sense of outrage.
There is a “force of nature” that makes some minorities (college graduates / successful ones) born and raised from such neighborhoods to not want to continue living there. I’m one, for example, a graduate and artist from a gentrified neighborhood, who doesn’t bother to mingle with the new coming hipsters/gentrifiers. I think they are “superficial” although they seem kind. I cherish the “good old days” of these neighborhoods, although they might have had their downsides, but they were more community/family oriented–moms and pops businesses; tons of social organizations for kids, teens, and adults; playing stick-ball, scalies, and other games on sidewalks/streets; youths going to each others homes, creating a greater bond for everyone; etc. I hardly buy anything from the new businesses that follow/cater these new comers. I liked an authentic cafe con leche from a Hispanic joint, instead of the proliferated bagel-whatever or Starbucks; liked a Cuba sandwich, instead of the whatever-wrap; liked a real Mexican taco instead of Chipotle/Taco Bell; liked a local real-Italian plain (pepperoni, sometimes) slice, instead of the hipster joint jacking you with krazy toppings, made from non Italians; and the new super markets are outrageously insane! Now, I go by products from ethnic places in other neighborhoods. I still live in my apartment only because I “inherited” a rent regulated one, which allow me some financial stretch.
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Something else occurred to me after thinking about your post.
About 15 years ago an oceanfront unincorporated community north of Miami Beach formed its own city government. The building boom was already underway and beachfront parcels were being rapidly developed. The city leaders wanted to develop park land – the high beachfront assessments and property valuations made them cash-rich, but they were land-poor – so they implemented an interesting plan.
It was called Transferred Development Rights. For example, an owner of a vacant “dry” lot that had little development potential could donate the land to the city for development as a city park. The owner would then be awarded the development rights to that donated land, which he/she could either sell to a developer or add – transfer – to the permitted development rights at a more-valuable beachfront parcel. The program was a success in that the city was able to develop several city parks relatively quickly.
Maybe such a program could work and be attractive to the supply-side mentality of developers: reward them some type of credits for developing affordable housing, which they could then use to augment the scale and mass of their more-upscale projects.
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I believe public policy at its best can mitigate the inevitable effects of displacement caused by gentrification. Affordable housing should be a component of any community, as it makes for a diverse mix of housing options, and helps prevent the creation of ghettos.
Exactamundo!
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It’s not that there aren’t legitimate grievances here. But the actual experiences the writer describes do not get at those, at least not at all effectively. Instead, it sounds like she wants to be continually patted on the back for her incredible awesomeness.
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Fair enough.
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TPM should re-read and re-consider this piece. I live in the East Village and have for a long time, my wife even longer, and in a city that is extremely residentially segregated with very few exceptions, the East Village is quite diverse in both race and income levels. You can get a $50.00 hamburger and a block away get one for $5.00. There are hot new restaurants and specialty shops, but there are still tons of family businesses that have been here for decades and are still neighborhood staples. As far as gentrification, a reality in any neighborhood in NYC, including Brooklyn, Queens, and the now the Bronx, I would postulate that it has happened in the EV over a longer period of time than I have seen in most neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Another issue for me: all of her anecdotes of how she perceived people perceiving her as poor and black even though she was dressed professionally and wearing Manolos were from people who are likely both immigrant and poor, she referenced a cab driver and a bodega worker. It is not uncommon for cab drivers and bodega workers to strike up conversation, especially if you are an attractive young well dressed women. I see it all the time. They may have just been making polite conversation or even hitting on her. But she almost spoke about them with disdain, and I found that offensive coming from someone who I can only surmise was critiquing the lack of recognition given her as a gentrifier and not a gentrified member of the neighborhood based on her race. Maybe it was unintended but it almost seemed as if she was offended people not of her status were talking to her at all.
I would think on issues of race TPM could find something a little more poignant, especially as issues of race have come out from behind the curtain somewhat more since the election of Obama. And I understand they are trying to be nuanced with their coverage of race issues and add a perspective not often shown. Most of what we hear reported are from the extremes, police brutality, out right racist statements from public figures, etc. But I don’t think they were successful here.
All I can say is that I am not unhappy she moved out of the neighborhood.
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“I believe public policy at its best can mitigate the inevitable effects of displacement caused by gentrification. Affordable housing should be a component of any community, as it makes for a diverse mix of housing options, and helps prevent the creation of ghettos.”
One of the problems is that “affordable” is relative. Where I am, they do have this kind of provision, but an “affordable” house or condo means one that someone with an $80,000 income can afford, rather than someone with a $150,000 income, which is the average for houses, or a $2 million income, which is often what they’re building. So in a place where the median income is around $40,000, the vast majority are still priced out of the small number of units they set aside as affordable.
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It seems like this could be equally applied to just about every TS and Cafe piece.
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“Not acknowledging that blacks can be middle class makes us always poor, always “the other,” always too different to bother getting to know.”
I wasn’t aware that whites did not acknowledge that blacks can be middle class. Having read experiences of successful blacks who spent hours studying and worked hard to be successful, rather than hanging out on street corners, they relate their experience of being put down by fellow blacks for acting white. This seems to be a more self defeating attitude than any perceived attitude or discrimination. As for anyone not wanting to “spend the time getting to know you.” That happens within the white population also.
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Agree, and the devil is in the details.
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Yes, well put. I think you are right that her actual concern seems to be with her own perceived high status and a desire to be regarded as clearly above the commoners (most importantly by the commoners themselves!). This is certainly not the best or most self-aware discussion of racism, even if it brushes against legitimate issues. It is more of an unintended psychological portrait than something with political significance.
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This article was up many days ago as an opinion piece. Why has it been reposted as a top headline article? Is it promoting a new emphasis on societal issues? I found it to be rather shallow the first time with unnecessary emphasis on “image” of the writer. Was there so much interest that it warranted reiteration? If I missed an explanation somewhere, I apologize.
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This article screams narcissism.
More importantly, its not interesting nor is it informative. Just some dork with a narcissistic personality disorder.
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All cultures have had their share of sell-outs. She should reacquaint herself with traditions African-American literature.
Gentrification: mentioning (multiple times) that you wear shoes worth thousands of dollars.
Either that or Nona wanted another shot at parachuting in and labeling the posters of TPM a bunch of horrible people.
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I didn’t see any posts criticizing the author for moving into a gentrified area, nor did I read any examples of criticism foisted upon her in her article. What I gathered from my reading was an expression of anger by the author because she, a wealthy lawyer, was being mistaken for a local instead of being immediately recognized as a wealthy lawyer who is better than the locals.
I did not get the sense that she is very confident in who or where is is or was, and is not an objective observer of those around her. Perhaps her contempt for the cab driver betrays a disinterest in, or an inability to mingle,
I’m not sure what comments above indicate to you a misunderstanding; I didn’t read any comments that stated anyone thought she should “bear an onus” for anything. The author’s self-description was all about her expensive clothing, which she seemed to think didn’t get enough respect from the East River crowd.
Outrage? I don’t see any of that above either. If there is any touchiness here, it seems to me to be in the original article rather than the comments.
I agree with one thing you said: she is most definitely defensive, but I think she looks for a negative interpretation from simple small-talk like, “You from around here?”
This proves no creed or race is immune from New York lawyer do-you-know-who-I-am syndrome.
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