Rhetorical Analysis

The book, Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban Schooling, tells us about the problems that inner-city students face in schools across America. There is an apparent problem with discrimination towards black and poorer families within some suburban districts. The effect of this is a vicious cycle of limited/ scare resources of educational opportunities for students. Author, Lewis-McCoy examines a suburban area in which a “promised land” of educational opportunities and beneficial resources has failed to live up to it’s name. America’s suburbs are seeing an increase in diverse families, yet there is still a challenge of giving equal and high quality educational opportunities to them.

Gary Orfield a professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning at the University of California Los Angeles states in the book “Closing the Opportunity Gap”, chapter four of “Housing Segregation Produces Unequal Schools”, “Educational opportunity is directly and deeply connected with housing segregated neighborhoods linked to segregated schools produce unequal education. Where a family lives generally determines the quality of the schools its children attend” (Orfield 40). In many cases minorities attend schools that are generally linked to segregated schools because their

Now days walking down the streets of Atlanta, we see the new neighborhoods consisting of condos, Starbucks, yoga classes and Chipotle. Gentrification is a growing problem in urban areas as the influx of the riches have caused the displacement of lower class families due to higher economic demands and local politics. According to Diane K. Levy, Jennifer Comey and Sandra Padilla (2005), “We define gentrification as the process whereby higher-income households move into low income neighborhoods, escalating the area’s property values to the point that displacement occurs. In addition to changes in economic class, gentrification often involves a change in a neighborhood’s racial and ethnic composition…” (p.1). Though gentrification has lasting affects on the economic status of cities, there are also repercussions that not only effect working individuals but also the students that attend school in these gentrified areas. When areas are gentrified, schools are rezoned thus leading to long lasting consequences that students must face. Some believe that gentrification is beneficial to a growing economy in a growing city, but the realities of the its lasting effects on education are often left under the radar. The issues that lie within the education system as it pertains to gentrification include day segregation and unequal opportunities between affluent and low-income areas.

During the past few years, gentrification has been on an uprise.“Nearly 20 percent of neighborhoods with lower incomes and home values have experienced gentrification since 2000, compared to only 9 percent during the 1990s.” Gentrification is happening in areas that supposedly need a change, such as the low-income neighborhoods in New York City, Minneapolis, Seattle and Washington, D.C.Factors such as uniqueness, accessibility, the energy of the neighborhood and reasonably priced homes attract gentrifiers. It has altered many cities in the country. Gentrification can be defined as the procedure of reestablishment and remaking due to the flood of prosperous individuals into falling apart and low-income areas that frequently displaces poorer

Efforts to desegregate neighborhoods traces back to the 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. In recent times, in an attempt reduce both overcrowding and segregation, the NYC Department of Education presented a plan to rezone the Upper West Side. In a similar display of rage as those opposed to Brown v. Board Education demonstrated, parents threatened to take legal action to stop this plan. Parents from the well off neighborhoods were unwilling to give up the schools that they felt entitled to due to their choice of residence, but this came at the cost of the children from the other neighborhoods that are consistently disadvantaged by disparities in the quality of schools. Efforts to rezone neighborhoods to achieve better

Moreover, according to census tracking gentrified areas are in located in populations that have higher educated individuals. As well as the factor of money and the costs of homes, detailing that those living in the area now are well paid. Gentrification has demonstrated a gap in between the nation and its people. It has allowed the factor of money to take over, and leave the people who have originated in the area to be left with nothing. The census official’s state that locals, []. “Washington, D.C., Gentrification Maps and Data.” Governing Magazine: State and Local Government News for America's Leaders, 2018, www.governing.com/gov-data/washington-dc-gentrification-maps-demographic-data.html. Estimates are shown for owner-occupied housing units

Inequality has been the country’s timeless struggle. Throughout the course of the United States’ history, there have been processes that have given a certain group of people the upper hand in a circumstance, thus fueling inequality in our nation. An ongoing process that negatively effects the lower-class and benefits the upper-class is called gentrification. Gentrification has been defined as “the replacement of the low-income, inner-city working-class residents by middle- or upper-class households, either through the market for existing housing or demolition to make way for new upscale housing construction” (Hammel and Wyly, 1996, p.250). Gentrification is deleterious because it “revitalizes” areas where low income residents reside in, thus causing the displacement and allows affluent residents to flood the given area whilst changing the entire environment from its original state. In my paper, I will be discussing how the process of gentrification begins and what it entails, define longtime residents, and describe the feelings of displacement felt by these residents.

Gentrification is the process of taking distressed inner city neighborhoods and upgrading them to be more attractive to upscale skilled workers, and major corporations; where the neighborhood is converted to more affluent residential use. Studies profile most gentrifiers to be affluent, young, single, urban professionals and young, married couples who are both wage earners and have no children or small families. Housing improvements, city service upgrades and expansion of the local economy is often attributed to these gentrifiers. There are many New York City neighborhoods in recent years that have gone through gentrification. Some of those neighborhoods include Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Harlem to name a few. Gentrification can be positive for all involved if the government is able to employ successful provisions where the negatives turn into positives and existing members of the community won’t become unable to afford to continue to live in their residences due to rising housing costs and thus be forced out to live elsewhere. Support mechanisms must be in place for the current community to be able to reside and blend into the newly redeveloped community.

Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban, district a related increase in rents and property values and changes in district’s character and culture. Gentrification works by accretion which is gathering momentum like a snowball. Gentrification has been the cause of painful conflict in many American cities. America’s renewed interest in city life has put a premium on urban neighborhoods, some of which have been built since World War II. It tends to occur in districts with particular qualities that make them desirable and ripe for change. Word travels that an attractive neighborhood has been “discovered” and the pace of change accelerates rapidly. An increase in median income and a decline in the

The gentrification process is a trend in urban neighborhoods, which results in increased property values and the displacing of lower-income families and small businesses(Sims1994-1999). Many cities around the world have begun to adapt in order to bring in new revenue. This process is being done blindly, because the apparent change is not quite noticeable but the damage is being done. The fact that there is damage being done speaks volumes at the fact that this process is being done in a way that harms many children and schools. The toll that this process is taking on public education and minority families is rather clear. Families are being displaced from their homes and relocated to god knows where.

For the past two decades, gentrification has become a widely-known phenomenon in the U.S. as more wealthy cohorts of population move to quiet and cheap suburban areas instead of bearing the busy and costly lives in a big city. Changes brought by the influx of affluent newcomers in the suburban areas are often praised for fostering urban renewal as well as animating the areas’ local economy. However, the impacts of gentrification cause several types of new problems which now afflict long-time, low-income residents in “gentrifying” neighborhoods. With the soaring prices of the real estate market, landlords’ harassment against low-income tenants, and rising living expenses, gentrification further augments the inequality and conflicts between the poor and rich inhabitants.

Brooklyn, New York, was once an area that many people who were moving to the New York City region took as a granted place for low-rent homes and apartments. However, many people currently, particularly those people of color, are finding themselves displaced out of Brooklyn due to growing high rents and the inevitable growth of gentrification. Gentrification occurs in urban neighborhoods when the arrival of wealthier people and higher-end businesses results in an increased displacement of lower income families and small businesses. This additionally directly causes an increase in rents and property values and changes in the socio-economic structure for that town. For my paper, I hope to focus on the effects of gentrification for communities of color in Brooklyn.

Gentrification was major in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Some saw this as a positive since its focus was to rediscover inner-city neighborhoods, often referred to as the back-to-the-city movement (Levine, 2015). These neighborhoods were mainly homes of middle class or affluent people. This occurs “when young professionals—especially singles and childless couples—place new value on city living” (Levine, 2015).

A rising concern in recent educational policy is whether and how school choice policies affect individual students and neighborhoods. School choice policies have the ability to influence where people choose to live, and may influence the prevalence and rate of gentrification. Gentrification, a term coined by sociologist Ruth Glass (1964), is characterized by the middle class moving into a working-class space, taking up residence, opening businesses, lobbying for infrastructure improvements, and consequently uplifting the social status of that neighborhood. Whereas there has emerged a growing body of research concerning the effects of charter, magnet, and private schools on the academic success of disadvantaged minorities, not a lot has been done to investigate the effects of these schools on gentrification patterns. Many charter schools operate on a lottery system, in which students are chosen randomly if the number of applicants exceeds the number of spots available. However, some charter schools give preference to neighborhood residents, and this could affect where a gentrifying family decides to live. This study aims to understand whether and how schools that give preference to neighborhood residents affect the surrounding community and patterns of gentrification. Understanding these trends could be imperative to future policy changes and could help close the educational gap among children of varying socioeconomic status.

Since the early 2000s, gentrification accelerated in various New York City neighborhoods. Data shown that about 29.8 percent of New York City has been affected by gentrification in low-income communities (Governing Data 1). This is over a 20 percent increased from the previous decade in New York City alone. Gentrification is a term used to describe displacement or renewal in urban neighborhoods as a result of increasing property values and rent prices. Gentrification has existed since the 1960s but has rapidly increased since then . Gentrification has now become a common and global controversial topic in many low-income neighborhood. Although, gentrification hasn’t always been bad from increasing job opportunities to lowering crime rates. Gentrification has impacted and transformed underprivileged districts in New York City. However, at the advantage of who ? Thus, gentrification has only increased average rates of poverty and infused neighborhoods with “white privilege”.