Through the readings Lighter Shade of Brown and How to Kill a City San Fran there are discussions about the ways that gentrification directly affects the demographic of cities and how the change in composition connects to the way systems ensure that Whiteness is prioritized. Within both of the readings there is discussion of previous California cities that were predominantly non-White and through efforts of remodeling of the city there has been a decrease of a diverse population. There is a polarizing perspective where White people view this as a method of integration while people of color view this as a threat to communities already established. How to Kill a City San Fran showcases a creative film in which the creator is attempting to convey a message through art expression in order to provide a new perspective to gentrification. While gentrification initiatives focus on the advancement of technology, an increase in finances for the city, and new opportunities, the film discusses the erasure of identities that occurs through these initiatives. Gentrification tactics refuse to acknowledge the realities including: “ There’s little neighborhood-level data on evictions, but between 1990 and 2011, the number of Latino households fell by 1,400, while White households increased by 2,900” (Moskowitz 131). Both these articles emphasize that gentrification efforts fail to discuss the realities of the people displaced. A difference in these articles is discussion of gentrification by the Latino community as they are hopeful that investment in the city can provide more resources which increases the chances of upward mobility. A concept distinct in the Lighter Shade of Brown article is “Gente-fication”: “Gente-fication is primarily understood as economic and racial uplift and, simultaneously, an alternative to white-led gentrification” (Huante 9). This discussion of some of the Latino support for this initiative is related to the differences in racial identities the Latino population is composed of and how it creates a variety of perspectives in the diaspora. While the pan-ethnicity known as Latinx is racialized in various points of history it is important to acknowledge that there have been times in which some Latinos attempt to assimilate to Whiteness in the United States in order to be able to mobilize or due to sentiments of exclusion due to being Latinx. This connects to an important and complex topic that at times some Latinx people can benefit from White privilege.
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