As tackled in the eighth chapter of The Color of Law, the lack of successfulness the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) experienced stood out to me. During the mid-twentieth century, there were no prevailing areas in Milpitas, California, that willingly sold or rented to African-Americans. However, this all started to change after Ben Gross, the chair of the Ford plant’s union housing committee, initiated the process of discovering a housing development who agreed on the integration of African-Americans and whites. Nevertheless, despite the several new subdivisions of unsold units, the AFSC ineffectively persuaded developers to interchange with African-Americans. My reasoning towards this matter revolts around the number of open houses…
In “The Realty Code”, it states that “the FHA underwriting manuals not only adopted the phraseology of “inharmonious races and classes,” but advocated racial restrictions, physical barriers, racial covenant, and racial zoning as methods of excluding certain racial and…
The recent housing developments in Hollister illustrates how an individual’s race and gender can allow them to gain an unfair advantage or privilege over others. Only individuals with access to a significant amount of wealth would be able to purchase these houses due to the incredibly high prices. More often than not, these individuals would be white males. As a result of their skin color and sex, they are able to have high skilled jobs and receive a higher paycheck than their colleagues. A recent article by CNN substantiates this assertion by revealing that African Americans and Hispanics are experiencing lower wages, household wealth, home ownership and higher unemployment in comparison to white Americans.…
Segregation in America What makes us different? Why do some of us have unearned privileges while, other will be lucky to receive the bare minimum? These are the questions that Eduardo Bonilla-Silva strives to answer in chapter 2 of his book Racism without Racists. He explores the segregation that still occurs in America and how it has changed but, not disappeared.…
These are just some of the ways in which structural inequality was practices in housing. However, in the 1900s segregation practices had reduced significantly, though the concept of de facto discrimination was visible. This happened when minority race groups found it difficult to get approval for a mortgage loan compares to the white persons who had applied for the same services. In conclusion, race and discrimination among Africa-American was a real national catastrophe and many had to voice it out in different ways, including through demonstrations and violence, just to be heard. America has achieved a great milestone in this venture but, of course much is still needed to eradicate the…
In the article “The Good, Racist People,” Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses an event which resulted in Forest Whitaker being accused of shoplifting. What could possibly be a reason to assume Whitaker, a famous actor, had committed shoplifting? From Coates’ point of view, many others want to believe that this encounter was a misunderstanding that had nothing to do with race. Whitaker was accused of shoplifting and then was frisked, based only on his appearance. Coates then goes on to claim that the owner’s apology argued that the incident was a “‘sincere mistake’ and how the worker was a ‘decent man’ who was ‘just doing his job’ ”.…
This did not simply mean an investment, but the opportunity to make the American Dream a reality. However, real estate agents have not seen any potential to invest in the Black community. First measure was taken by giving the lowest rating in every Black neighborhood regardless of class. Even a middle-class Black was forced to settle in those neighborhoods without consent and desire. With poor maintenance, old and substandard complexes, no potential for improvements and increasing infringement of hazards, the panorama on every Black community seemed…
In the article “Why I Live in a White Neighborhood,” Chris Ladd reflects on why he lives in Elmhurst, Illinois and how social, economic, and political forces nudged his family to the suburbs of Chicago. In the article Ladd blames everyone but himself for moving into a rich neighborhood including organizations, realtors, and the push from society. He highlights how class difference has an effect on where you live and how you live . In the article he addresses how towns like Elmhurst are now wealthier and whiter than ever (Ladd). By this statement he means that he is falling into society’s push in which society separates class more and more.…
The multifaceted class interests defines the communities like NKO, which consist of predominantly African Americans. Since gentrification is a familiar story, in which people believe that gentrification is only about improving residents’ living standards. Pattillo’s story is different because she looks at the process of gentrification within a mixed-income community while new residents deftly negotiate their stay with the formers. I enjoyed reading about how Pattillo created gentrification as being a vicious cycle of conflicting inter-class and interracial interests and not just focusing on neighborhood improvements. Although that is very important, I found it to be more enlightening to learn about how race and social status influenced urban development as Pattillo succinctly summed it as “the politics of race and class in the city.”…
Communities, that have lived in the Bay Area for decades, are being forced out of the Bay Area and further into Eastern California. Communities of color are unable to afford the outrageous prices of the Bay Area real estate. The importance…
Unfortunately, in the United States the color of an individual’s skin will have an effect on the way a person is treated. Agustin Fuentes in his essay “The Myth of Race” discusses how the social idea of race impacts the way some races are treated. Fuentes mentions statistics about discrimination due to race and that “In test of housing markets conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), black and Hispanic potential renters and buyers are discriminated against (relative to whites) nearly 25 percent of the time” (Fuentes 529). The race, or skin color, that renters prefers is showed to be white as blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be judged. The result of this discrimination tends to segregate neighborhoods between the good white communities and the black or Hispanic dangerous communities.…
In order to understand the significance of buying a house, which is where the institutional racism comes into and the most, we must understand how these people lived. The apartments did not have bathrooms, rather a community bathroom for the entire hall, which was almost always occupied. The complex had rats and roaches and was extremely in need of maintenance attention. The Younger family was in fast need of a change. Walter Lee hated his job, he went on to say, “ A job?…
Leana’s American Dream was to buy a house for her and her family. She was going to achieve this dream by getting the check from the insurance agency for her husband’s death. Her dream was deferred because people have said that it would bring enormous problems in the neighborhood that they looking at. “I’m sure you people must be aware of some of the incidents which have happened in various parts of the city when colored people have moved in certain areas”(115). Mama doesn’t care if it will produce a problem between her family and the whites the important thing is to get her family out of that apartment they are living in right now.…
Ms. Moore starts off with an incisive criticism of segregation, its underlying causes and the apparent unwillingness of Chicago Mayors to focus on it. However, Moore argues that even so, the South Side is a “magical place”. She describes it as a strong community with “vibrant business, bars, funeral homes”. The author briefly describes what is beautiful about having been raised in the South Side and then proceeds to relay her point to the readers: Diversity is worth celebrating, high-poverty segregation is not. She then explores the negative effects of segregation and then proceeds to briefly examine the effects on segregation the housing crisis had.…
Many commentators have claimed that this concentration of poverty has produced enormously negative societal consequences.” Written by Michael R. Diamond, these two sentences describe perfectly how public housing was used as a tool for segregation and aided in the failure of…