The reading, South Central Farmers and Shadow Hills Homeowners: Land Use Policy and Relational Racialization in Los Angeles explains the dichotomy in land usage and advocacy within two different identity groups. The central argument within the piece uncovers how current policies that affect how land is utilized and navigated is dependent on historical context. In the past, land distribution and accessibility were catered to White people and ensured that the land accessible to people of color, primarily Latinx communities in Los Angeles was embedded with uncertainty. An important concept includes: “The racialization of space achieves its own momentum, setting the geographic framework within which activists struggle to maintain or improve their social status and quality of life” (171). This emphasizes that mobilization becomes difficult when systematically intentional barriers are placed to cause challenges when attempting to amend policies that disregard the communities established in land spaces. The comparison in socio-economic status between South Central Farmers and Shadow Hill is important to understand as it relates to the segregation Los Angeles has between the communities established there. This connects to the intentions to ensure that community groups are not integrated but separated by space. These discriminatory actions are focused on creating towns, cities, and areas of living/working beneficial for White middle-upper class people and disregarding the experiences of Asian, Brown, and Black people who live in Los Angeles. It was evident that areas with a large population of people of color were correlated to underfunded areas, lacked essential resources, and were isolated from successful areas. To ignore the dichotomies and refuse to question the establishment of land is a failure to understand how the United States attempts to maintain a separation of people in inexplicit ways. This connects to the dangers of gentrification as this initiative that is portrayed to focus on technology advancement, remodeling, and creation of a better place of living in actuality invests in a cheap area, displaces community members, and creates spaces for those that are wealthier. The context of advancements hides the harsh histories and present-day situations of housing displacement, barriers to community spaces/mobilization, and stories of those directly affected by unjust policies.
Author: Quiana Rodriguez
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Quiana Rodriguez Week #6 Response
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. -
Quiana Week 4 Reading Response
After reading Still Falling Through the Cracks: Revisiting the Latina/o Education Pipeline I learned and explored how the climate of education for the Latinx population connects to the current efforts to increase Ethnic Studies in the U.S. education system and modify a system that creates educational barriers. It is evident that the disconnect with Latinx people having access to equitable education is due to an unwelcoming environment, systemic inequalities, and a lack of a diverse curriculum that makes it challenging for the Pan-ethnicity to feel supported in their education. The reading states: “Schools must create an ethos that encourages Latino Students to believe that their schools care about their academic needs and their aspirations to be successful” (8). Many times there is a discriminatory analysis towards the diaspora when explaining why there is a significant educational gap, which fails to acknowledge how the educational system sets students of color to fail due to discriminatory policies and limited resources depending on the county. A solution discussed is the initiative to provide studies that educate students about their culture as it empowers students and through programs that personally guide students through their educational journey there can be an increase in achievement (8). An important analysis in the reading included “Research has found that students of color on college and university campuses continue to face incidents of racial/ethnic harassment, bias, and discrimination” (13). This connects to the formation of Latinx Studies at Emory University as students came together to advocate for programs that are inclusive of a diverse student body. In addition, these barriers in our education system continue to be seen today as universities including Emory continue to take actions that do not take into consideration all voices and at times create an environment where marginalized communities are targeted, an example being arrested students on campus. While this study was conducted in 2010, it is relevant to today’s climate in education. It is necessary to continue these conversations and have communities come together to advocate for one another. Changes in policies will only occur through the uplifting of voices of different perspectives and research that focuses on the gaps within Latinx education is an example of useful information that can shape implementation of programs/systems that can bridge the inequities.
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Quiana Rodriguez Week 3 Response
Within Whiteness as Property there are discussions of the two cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, the malleability of identity in the United States, and how policies through history reinforced an environment of racial discrimination. In the piece, it becomes evident that Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education are cases that demonstrate the United States attempt to implement change that works toward racial equality but due to vague language and lack of actions that work to create equitable change, society remains stagnant and people of color continue to face racial discrimination embedded within the society. This connects to the idea that “Whites have come to expect and rely on these benefits, and over time these expectations have been affirmed, legitimated, and protected by the law” (1713). Instead of creating a system in which all are uplifted and receiving the same resources, historically and in the present the United States has created a system in which those that are White are able to benefit the system more due to decades of racial discrimination. Along with discussion of specific cases, Harris discusses how identity is interpreted differently throughout time, especially racial identity where depending on the identity groups you have to prove your identity in order to access or be prevented from having access to resources (1714). The government’s intention of categorizing humans in order to decide the access to resources connects to the principle that Whiteness as Property means that policies and implementation of policies work to aid White people and it becomes an asset that those not of the racial identity group can access. These observations by Harris are important to understand due to it currently affecting present day life, the way different identity groups navigate, and to be informed of new policies that dismantle this racist agenda or support it. One of the topics I enjoyed reading in Harris’s writing is the discussion of affirmative action as she connects the historical connections of White privilege and its intent to “remove the legal protections of the existing hierarchy spawned by race oppression” (1779). It is an important topic especially due to recent government actions to eliminate affirmative action which opens a conversation about different methods to approach ways to implement changes in the system that benefit racial equity.