Lisa Jones
Soc. 323 Critical Thinking/Engagement Assignment 3
In my early years as a child, my mother and I moved to a working-class neighborhood that
except for some white families who had been residents since the late sixties to the early seventies
was largely black.
The neighborhood was located on the east side of the city, which is populated with an
overwhelmingly black population. My city of Saginaw, Michigan is separated by a bridge, one
side of the bridge is known as the east side and the other side of the bridge is known as the west
side, both sides of the bridge are surrounded by affluent subdivisions. The east side which is
where my home was located …show more content…
I believe the move was intentional because of a rise in crime and factory
jobs leaving the area. Also, accounting for the shift in demographics is the fact that businesses
and shopping centers were now moving to the west side of town.
The east side is riddled with blighted homes, overgrown yards, dirty and dilapidated buildings
and factories. The west side is bright, clean and has nice homes, with beautifully landscaped
yards. I do not feel that the level of segregation in my community is related to racial
discrimination in as much as class segregation. The people living on the east side of town
have suffered job losses and have become immune to violence. The different racial composition of the neighborhood that I live in now is not that much different
than the one in which I grew up, the exception is there are fewer whites in my neighborhood
and even fewer Hispanics living in my area.
Knowing my mother her choice of neighborhood had more to do with affordability than
racial composition. She was not a racially conscious person. I can honestly say that is the same
reason I chose the neighborhood I live in as well, however, I wish I had been aware of …show more content…
One way to do this is to build relationships between all ethnicities
within our communities, to do this we must talk to each other, we must also listen to understand
the plight of each race.
While I feel that people need to accept one another I do not think this alone will solve all the
problems of housing and educational segregation. The only way to address housing and
education segregation is to address the economic problems that exist in urban areas President Obama felt that if good paying jobs could be created that both blacks and whites would
benefit financially and I agree. I wish I had the answer as how to create jobs but I don’t I just
feel that jobs will provide underclass people better opportunities and the affordability to live in
.decent neighborhoods and give them the chance to send their children to better schools.
I also believe that the government should be committed to allotting more funds for education
to the states to invest in urban schools, for teacher training, updating the schools and buying new
books.
Unless people are given better economic opportunities our cities and schools will remain
segregated.
Soc. 323 Critical Thinking/Engagement Assignment 3
In my early years as a child, my mother and I moved to a working-class neighborhood that
except for some white families who had been residents since the late sixties to the early seventies
was largely black.
The neighborhood was located on the east side of the city, which is populated with an
overwhelmingly black population. My city of Saginaw, Michigan is separated by a bridge, one
side of the bridge is known as the east side and the other side of the bridge is known as the west
side, both sides of the bridge are surrounded by affluent subdivisions. The east side which is
where my home was located …show more content…
I believe the move was intentional because of a rise in crime and factory
jobs leaving the area. Also, accounting for the shift in demographics is the fact that businesses
and shopping centers were now moving to the west side of town.
The east side is riddled with blighted homes, overgrown yards, dirty and dilapidated buildings
and factories. The west side is bright, clean and has nice homes, with beautifully landscaped
yards. I do not feel that the level of segregation in my community is related to racial
discrimination in as much as class segregation. The people living on the east side of town
have suffered job losses and have become immune to violence. The different racial composition of the neighborhood that I live in now is not that much different
than the one in which I grew up, the exception is there are fewer whites in my neighborhood
and even fewer Hispanics living in my area.
Knowing my mother her choice of neighborhood had more to do with affordability than
racial composition. She was not a racially conscious person. I can honestly say that is the same
reason I chose the neighborhood I live in as well, however, I wish I had been aware of …show more content…
One way to do this is to build relationships between all ethnicities
within our communities, to do this we must talk to each other, we must also listen to understand
the plight of each race.
While I feel that people need to accept one another I do not think this alone will solve all the
problems of housing and educational segregation. The only way to address housing and
education segregation is to address the economic problems that exist in urban areas President Obama felt that if good paying jobs could be created that both blacks and whites would
benefit financially and I agree. I wish I had the answer as how to create jobs but I don’t I just
feel that jobs will provide underclass people better opportunities and the affordability to live in
.decent neighborhoods and give them the chance to send their children to better schools.
I also believe that the government should be committed to allotting more funds for education
to the states to invest in urban schools, for teacher training, updating the schools and buying new
books.
Unless people are given better economic opportunities our cities and schools will remain
segregated.