EDUCATION GENTRIFIED
Oakland, CA has recently been facing a lot of potential gentrification and in September 2016, Zaidee Stavely brings up the issue in an article on KQED. The article, Gentrification Threatens Oakand’s Few Truly Diverse Schools, highlights a number of schools –Manzanita SEED, Peralta Elementary, and Sequoia Elementary — which have traditionally been for low income families but in recent years have been so successful that middle class families are migrating so their children can get a better education. Stavely begins by talking about Manzanita SEED which won an award that attracted middle class/white families who in a sense cheat the system in order to ensure their child’s enrollment. Next the author recounts a conversation with Nikki Lethridge and brother Paul Musashi Lethridge: alumni and current parents at Peralta Elementary. Both are worried that the schools are changing for the worse due to such a high percentage of white students. Finally, Stavely explains that parents and teachers are reaching out to ethnic groups throughout neighborhoods and various churches. Through this outreach they are hoping to inform and encourage families to apply for enrollment earlier and to be aware of the changes occurring in the schools.
The author utilizes parents and administrators as trustworthy inside sources giving authentic views on the issues which provide a reliable, credible source for information. The insight these sources provide for the reader invoke a sense of anger and leave the reader wanting to take action.
When looking for credibility of a source, personal experience is a reliable indicator. The entirety of this article relies on information given by the people living through it with minimal use of outside sources letting Stavely’s article give off a sense of credibility and relatability. This is evident since the people have first hand experience and that there is more than one school effected. When Stavely talks to the people involved at Peralta, she finds out that “10 years ago [it] was 66% [black] and 21% white, [now] it’s 57% white and 16% [black]”.
The author and sources make connections to things outside the gentrification issue as a way to connect to the audience’s metacognition. By giving examples the author is making it easier for the reader to understand what the issue is. In assuming the reader understands what “‘flipping’ like real estate” means, she is using logos to connect to their logic which makes it easier to understand what she is trying to show.
Throughout this article the parents express their concerns for the school districts demographic and in doing this they portray a sense of sadness and anger which the reader feels too . This sadness and anger is transformed into action for the parents and faculty. At Manzanita SEED many parents and faculty began to reach out to other parents so that they can meet the enrollment application deadline. One parent says they do this outreach in order to make the potential families “feel like they’re…not in isolation”. At Sequoia Elementary teachers are bringing schools diversity up in conversation making sure future families value a school that has a lot of diversity and are willing to help work towards keeping the diversity in the schools. Through this use of pathos, the reader could feel encouraged to take action too.
Through Stavely’s strategic use of her sources the article extracts personal evidence from those in the community so that the audience can trust this article. By using comparisons and expressing their concerns, the audience becomes more understanding and can feel these emtions which will hopefully entice them to help educate others on the issue.
Stavely, Zaidee. “Gentrification Threatens Oakland’s Few Truly Diverse Schools.” KQED News. N.p., 2016. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
“Manzanita SEED.” Manzanita SEED. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
