http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/12/16/pearl-clutching-and-urban-planning/ Race, Politics, Gender, Sexuality, Anger Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:00:44 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/12/16/pearl-clutching-and-urban-planning/comment-page-1/#comment-34401 clicktrigger Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:17:27 +0000 http://theangryblackwoman.com/?p=1333#comment-34401 Wow. Word to <i>this.</i> I lived in the Bronx during the "911 is a joke" years and witness my surprise when just a few years later, Alphabet City started to become gentrified. I'd never seen it in action before, and what struck me was how it took no time at all. Even as a kid, at some point it hit me, "Hey. Heeeey. If they know exactly what to do to turn a vial-strewn battlezone into a stroller-filled paradise in 3 years... maybe the condition of my neighborhood is no accident?" Wow. Word to this.
I lived in the Bronx during the “911 is a joke” years and witness my surprise when just a few years later, Alphabet City started to become gentrified. I’d never seen it in action before, and what struck me was how it took no time at all. Even as a kid, at some point it hit me, “Hey. Heeeey. If they know exactly what to do to turn a vial-strewn battlezone into a stroller-filled paradise in 3 years… maybe the condition of my neighborhood is no accident?”

]]> http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/12/16/pearl-clutching-and-urban-planning/comment-page-1/#comment-33299 Dr. C Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:47:56 +0000 http://theangryblackwoman.com/?p=1333#comment-33299 Very well put! Most in the mass media use inverted analyses. It is not some cultural defect that causes the dissolving of minority families and rampant crime in the ghetto/barrio. Rather, it is extreme, systemic oppression which creates the conditions that promote these behaviors. If White people were subject to these conditions (e.g., lacking a basic grocery store), you would see the exact type of street hustle that is currently viewed as only a black/brown phenomenon. Very well put! Most in the mass media use inverted analyses. It is not some cultural defect that causes the dissolving of minority families and rampant crime in the ghetto/barrio. Rather, it is extreme, systemic oppression which creates the conditions that promote these behaviors. If White people were subject to these conditions (e.g., lacking a basic grocery store), you would see the exact type of street hustle that is currently viewed as only a black/brown phenomenon.

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