美国国家公共电台 NPR 'There Isn't A Just Housing Choice': How We've Enabled The Pains Of Gentrification

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

And time now for the Call-In.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This week, we're talking about gentrification. Middle-class people move in. Property values and rents rise. Things change and improve but not for everyone. Roslyn Williams has lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant for years. She watched her neighborhood change.

ROSLYN WILLIAMS: For example, there's a Waldorf school down the block from a public school. And this Waldorf school, of course, is for those gentrifiers that are not interested in integrating or being part of the public school system.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Angel Poventud bought his home in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011 for $14,000. Now he says they're going for as much as 400,000.

ANGEL POVENTUD: We do really have this potential to displace everybody that's here now. And, really, even in the next five or 10 years, myself could get displaced.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's that displacement¹ that often changes communities of color. We're going to take a closer look now at one of those neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. It's called Inglewood, and it's been mostly black for decades. Here's Anna Scott from the podcast There Goes the Neighborhood.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

ANNA SCOTT, BYLINE²: You can't see it looking around this street of single family houses, but home values here went up more than 15 percent in the past year.

ERIN AUBRY KAPLAN: Five is kind of a handful.

SCOTT: Writer Erin Aubry Kaplan (ph) shares a home here with five dogs. She says her neighbors worry that even more black residents will leave.

KAPLAN: I got an email from my neighborhood Listserv - some, you know, someone just sent out a message - don't sell your house. Don't sell your house. Stay put.

SCOTT: Thirty years ago, Inglewood was about 50 percent black and 40 percent Latino. Since then, those numbers have flipped³. It's hard to pinpoint⁴ one reason. In the past, black residents left to escape high crime and failing schools. Now it's rising housing costs.

KAPLAN: If we're out of here, there's really nowhere in LA County to go. It's just too expensive.

SCOTT: We've been talking to black residents in Inglewood about the changes. By LA standards, Inglewood is still relatively⁵ affordable⁶. Even though home prices have gone up, you can still find a house for less than $500,000. But the city has made new development a priority. The biggest project is a $3 billion NFL stadium. It will be home to the LA Rams⁷ and the Chargers.

WOODROW CURRY⁸: From here, you can actually see construction on the new stadium site.

SCOTT: Woodrow Curry (ph) rents an apartment nearby and started a group called Uplift Inglewood. Their goal is for current residents to share in the new amenities⁹.

CURRY: I mean, our city in general has experienced so much disinvestment. Now that we're seeing investment coming in, we want to be able to take advantage of those investments, right? We see it as we want a home court advantage.

SCOTT: The stadium plan includes new shops, restaurants, and thousands of new apartments and townhomes. Curry wants some of those designated for people with lower incomes. But new money coming in is already creating winners and losers.

Anna.

HENRY MANOUCHERI: Hi.

SCOTT: Nice to meet you.

MANOUCHERI: Nice to meet you, too.

SCOTT: I met up with one of the winners, real estate investor¹⁰ Henry Manoucheri at his office. His company is called Universe Holdings. They're like bloodhounds for undervalued property. And they've sniffed¹¹ it out in Inglewood, where they now own seven buildings.

MANOUCHERI: Inglewood looks like a great buy.

SCOTT: Because it's just a short drive from the area known as Silicon¹² Beach, where hundreds of tech companies have opened offices. Manoucheri predicts those jobs will mean more tenants¹³ and higher rents for years to come.

MANOUCHERI: We look at this as a growth stock. We think there's a lot of room to grow because we're starting at the ground level.

SCOTT: As black neighborhoods gentrify, often, there's a racial change, and they become whiter often. I guess I wonder just what you think about that and how you think about your role in gentrification.

MANOUCHERI: I think it's nice that the area gentrifies because people learn to coexist amongst other racial types.

SCOTT: And for those priced out...

MANOUCHERI: If people can't elevate themselves economically by working harder and getting better jobs, there's going to be no choice for them but to move to the less affluent¹⁴ neighborhoods.

STEPHANIE WARREN: I can no longer afford this high rent.

SCOTT: Stephanie Warren (ph) used to live in one of Manoucheri's buildings. Her rent went from about $1,200 a month to more than 2,000. So we met at a doughnut shop close to her new place, which took her months to find. She says it's hard not to see the changes through a racial lens.

WARREN: Because the feeling that we really have there is they're trying to get the black people out because the new residents that was coming was younger white couples. I know a lot of African-Americans don't make that much money like that.

SCOTT: According to census¹⁵ data, black families in the U.S. possess just 5 percent of the wealth of white families. Then again...

LEROY CLEAVON: I'm into construction, so I have been making a lot of money in the last year and a half off of this. I ain't going to lie.

SCOTT: Leroy Cleavon (ph) is also African-American. On Sundays, he comes to this Inglewood parking lot to race radio-controlled cars.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO-CONTROLLED CARS RUNNING)

SCOTT: My colleague Saul Gonzalez talked to him there.

SAUL GONZALEZ, BYLINE: So for you it's good. Bring the boom on if there's a boom.

CLEAVON: Bring it on. Bring it on. Now, it's going to price the poor people out. You know, you got to give and take somewhere.

SCOTT: Inglewood's mayor, James Butts¹⁶, who's African-American, says there isn't any deliberate plan to push out black residents. Whoever can afford to buy in Inglewood should. But back at Erin Aubry Kaplan's house, she says race always plays a part in who wins and who loses. Her home value is going up, but it's also changing the community. She can't think of an LA neighborhood that's gotten the benefits of gentrification, the new shops or restaurants, and stayed largely black.

KAPLAN: Populations expect certain amenities when they live there. It's kind of - you know, it's the American sense of entitlement I guess. And we've never been able to share on that, and that's real equality. When you move somewhere, Trader Joe's comes to you. That's equality.

SCOTT: She calls it retail¹⁷ justice. It's not the same as racial justice, she says. But it's a kind of equality she'd like to see here in Inglewood. On Shannara (ph) Avenue, I'm Anna Scott for NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Anna's story is part of a collaboration¹⁸ between member stations WNYC and KCRW and the NPR Cities Project.

When you hear a report like that, what goes through your mind?

JOHN SCHLICHTMAN: How complex this issue is. I hear keywords such as disinvestment, devalued, reinvestment, revalued, retail justice. I mean, these are all very important things that have quite a history to them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: John Schlichtman is an urban sociologist¹⁹ at DePaul University. He's also co-author of the book "Gentrifier." He told us more about the history of those words and why you can't decouple race from gentrification.

SCHLICHTMAN: Race is, at its heart, a class issue. A gentrifier is a middle-class person who moves into a disinvested context at a time when other people are doing the same. And that has a huge effect on the fabric²⁰ - the economic fabric, the political fabric, the social fabric. And that effect occurs regardless of the racial, religious, class background or, you know, class upbringing of that individual. But they're entering into a context in which that devaluing occurred through decades and decades of unjust policies - defunding by the government, redlining, racial covenants²¹, blockbusting. And so in order to consider just reinvestment, there has to be an eye towards the disinvestment, the devaluing.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So what is the responsibility of the gentrifier, though, that comes into one of these communities?

SCHLICHTMAN: So we hear a lot about gentrifier guilt²², but that guilt is felt because there is a perception that someone is benefiting from an unjust gap. The first question I ask in regards to gentrifier guilt is, what is the just context for a middle-class housing consumer? Is it the suburb? Is it the devalued neighborhood? Is it the bottom of a middle-class enclave in the city that has never had the devaluing? Is that the just context? And so, number one, I would argue that we have painted ourselves into a corner because of our history in the United States, where there isn't a just housing choice.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What advice do you have for people moving into these neighborhoods and people already living there?

SCHLICHTMAN: You can't behave your way out of gentrification, right? So I just want to say that off the bat. But you can be a kind person. Much of the pain that occurs as a result of gentrification is the result of people who move into neighborhoods, and they're imagining a future neighborhood. So no, supporting businesses that are currently existing - that's not going to stop gentrification, but it is going to - it is going to make people like you more, right?

So I think people need to own - people need to own where they live. Don't say you can't live somewhere else - if you're middle class. Of course you could live somewhere else. You could live in that suburb that isn't gentrifying, but there's other things that you're looking for. You're looking for class diversity, a racial diversity, an ethnic²³ diversity. You're looking for restaurants. You're looking for a specific type of architecture. So be honest about your housing choice.

And finally, this needs to be fought with large-scale things. We need to put pressure on our city governments as a community to not put profit and investment as the No. 1 priority. It can be balanced with other priorities of community.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: John Schlichtman wrote "Gentrifier" along with Marc Lamont Hill and Jason Patch.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Next week on the Call-In, Super Bowl Sunday is coming, but football has had a bumpy²⁴ year. The past few NFL seasons have been mired²⁵ in controversy²⁶ from findings about concussions²⁷ and brain damage to protests on the field. Have you changed how you watch football as a result? Call us at 202-216-9217. Please tell us your name, where you're from, and a phone number, and we may use it on the air. That number again - 202-216-9217.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S SONG "MY DEAR")

1 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

4 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

8 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

9 amenities   

n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快

参考例句：

• The campsite is close to all local amenities. 营地紧靠当地所有的便利设施。
• Parks and a theatre are just some of the town's local amenities. 公园和戏院只是市镇娱乐设施的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

11 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

13 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

14 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

15 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

16 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

17 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

18 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

19 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

20 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

21 covenants   

n.（有法律约束的）协议( covenant的名词复数 )；盟约；公约；（向慈善事业、信托基金会等定期捐款的）契约书

参考例句：

• Do I need to review the Deed of mutual Covenants (DMC)? 我是否需要覆核公共契约(DMC)吗？ 来自互联网
• Many listed and unlisted companies need to sell to address covenants. 许多上市公司和非上市公司需要出售手中资产，以满足借贷契约的要求。 来自互联网

22 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

23 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

24 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

25 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

26 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

27 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网