Is it Possible to be a Progressive Gentrifier? An Open Letter to My Fellows in Gentrification

This weekend, I was enraptured by a Netflix re-make of one of my favorite films, Spike Lee’s pivotal “She’s Gotta Have It.” The re-make is a ten episode series that puts a modern and feminist take on the 1980’s classic, and remains true to Lee’s ardor of his home turf, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Fort Greene. The series adds an important analysis of the neighborhood’s rapid gentrification and the effects it has on the longtime black residents. A particularly poignant scene involves a newer, white, wealthy resident who recently purchased a brownstone on the main character’s block calling the police on Paco, a local Dominican man who grew up on the block but currently pedals his art in a pushcart and sleeps on the stoops. The new resident is annoyed with Paco’s constant “blaring “of music and calls the police, alleging he spray-painted a green “G” (for gentrification) on her brownstone. The police arrive and arrest Paco, and when his neighbors stand up to his defense (“He’s been here forever. We call him the mayor of our block. He doesn’t bother anyone”) one of the police officers icily replies “This is a New day in America.”

Unfortunately, this on-screen travesty mirrors the reality that many people of color who have remained in their gentrifying neighborhoods encounter. Echoing the sentiments of the deeply racist “broken windows” theory of crime, which purports that seemingly minor signs of disarray such as broken windows and hopped turnstiles lead to much larger and more violent manifestations of crime and civil unrest — — the policing and reporting of these types of offenses in gentrifying neighborhoods throughout the country have increased, with newer, wealthier, and usually white, residents often offended by noise and loitering. Perhaps what these well-educated folks in liberal enclaves like New York and San Francisco (one could even say, folks like me) do not realize is that their attitudes towards their neighbors of color a) are influenced by harmful racial stereotypes such as the unruly and loud black folk, the black “thug”, the uncivilized, salsa-playing Latinos, the “illegal” immigrant. etc b) can lead to violent and grave police encounters that have serious legal consequences. Furthermore, this is built off an idea that, even though our neighbors were here first, “this is my space, and I deserve for it to be the way I want it to be.” Side note: black and brown people can be gentrifiers too. I am one of them.

In rapidly gentrifying San Francisco, a project called the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project released a study that revealed that 311 calls for nonemergency “quality of life” problems (ie: graffiti, dirty sidewalks, noise) have grown significantly from 2004 to 2011, specifically in the city’s most heavily gentrified areas: the Mission District, Downtown, and South of Market. San Francisco is one of the many cities across the country that has seen an uptick in “Order maintenance policing”, a term that police departments use for what is really broken windows policing. While the empirical evidence linking broken windows to effectively cutting down crime is scant- one thing is clear: it criminalizes already marginalized groups of people.

Gentrification is a complicated and multi-layered issue. However, what I want to make clear here is this: we, us gentrifiers, have a duty to occupy our new homes with humbleness, empathy, and deference. The other day, as I was riding the elevator, I overheard some of my fellow tenants discussing the Social Services and Welfare building down the block. “It’s so annoying to have to clear past all those people selling stuff on the street outside that building. If that doesn’t change soon I might call the police. They can’t be doing that legally.” The other woman agreed and actually used the term “riff-raff” to describe the (black and brown) people who generally were waiting outside that building every day. I was shocked. Our building hasn’t even been erected a year and already they are talking about this space, this neighborhood, as if they owned it. We don’t own any of this, my fellow gentrifiers. There were homes and lives and communities far before us. It is not up to us to decide what is acceptable, what is dirty, what is too loud, and to simply call the police without considering the ramifications. I love my neighborhood. I love living near where my dad and my grandparents grew up. I love the BAM and Fort Greene Park and the Brooklyn Museum. I love that it is diverse, scintillating, and beaming with art- but I know that what makes it great, what makes the heart beat, are the people who came before me. If we treat them with the respect, dignity, and empathy they deserve, that is the only way we can preserve the true soul of this place we love, and the only way that I can safely say that we too belong here. Is there anything we can actually do to ensure that this happens? I have some ideas:

1. I know you’ve heard it before, but it really is so paramount to go out of our ways to support local businesses. If possible, do some research to find out what the minority-owned businesses in your community are. Sometimes it means walking a few extra blocks to the bodega instead of the conveniently located CVS.
2. Attend your community board meetings and LISTEN. This is an excellent opportunity for you to meet your neighbors and hear their concerns, instead of dominating the space.
3. Take some time to learn about the history of your neighborhood, whether that means spending an hour of research on the Internet or checking out some books from the library. Part of acquiring humbleness is understanding and appreciating what was here before us.
4. Take some more time to learn about why and how gentrification of this scale happens. There are some excellent sources that cover the racist and classist origins of zoning laws in New York and other cities. Follow blogs like Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, Bowery Boogie, and EV Grieve. Know that gentrification is not “inevitable” and “unstoppable.” If you find yourself inclined, there are plenty of organizations that can serve as gateways to join the anti-gentrification movement.
5. As aforementioned, think twice before calling the police for things like noise, graffiti, etc. If you need to understand the true harm of this action, a simple google search for “Broken Windows Policing” will do the trick. I’m sure you attended the Women’s March and voted for Obama (maybe even twice!), but that means essentially nil if we’re just calling the cops on every brown person that makes noise.
6. Talk to your neighbors. Say hi. Don’t treat people like they are invisible.
7. Ask yourself some hard questions that might mean probing into some unconscious biases- for example, my aforementioned neighbors might question why they would assume that a group of black people congregated in a public space would make them presume illegality and make them uncomfortable.
8. If you are about to move, do a background check on your apartment and your building and your landlord! WE ARE PART OF THE REASON LANDLORDS ARE EVICTING PEOPLE. The City’s HPD portal allows you to check on things like building code violations, tenant complaints, whether there is any ongoing litigation in housing court, etc. Check your rent history on the State Department of Housing website, and check out the Worst Landlords Watchlist to make sure your building manager isn’t on it!

9. Vote in the city elections and work to elect candidates who stand up for working class and people of color, whether that means the D.A., the mayor, or a city council representative.

10. Know that this is uncomfortable and guilt-producing. Embrace it.

Sincerely,

A Brown Gentrifier