Gentrification is Unethical

Gentrification is Unethical. The rising rate of rent in New York and Washington DC, and most probably other American cities is obvious. It is a clear whitewashing of neighborhoods, pushing hardworking working class poor out of neighborhoods that they have lived in for decades into isolated crowded neighborhoods unseen, or even worse into the streets.

Homelessness and ghetto-ization seem parallel with not only the clashing image of affluence that makes one wonder how can anyone afford to live in such neighborhoods in Prospect Park, Long Island City, or near Union Station, but what jobs are fuelling their economy and no one else’s; but it also parallels the refugee crisis in Europe from Syria. It seems only in due time that poor income Americans, many immigrants to the US, will be marching out of these cities completely in droves. Unless they stage a protest on a major scale, but that is most likely not going to happen due to being too busy to make ends meet and fending for one’s own. Only leaders from a socio-economic class level may temper and tamper some noise. Yet America is also more equipped for any such demonstration with its militarized police force.

In the light of Europe’s declining populations, an influence of immigrants could significantly help the waning nations; however, fear of losing cultural identity makes many EU nations appear resistant and racist. In America, the gentrification, or pushing housing levels to rates only the wealthy can afford, mostly white dominant, is racist as well; this stark reversal, and yet the aware and unaware privileged should resist moving if it is driving those who cannot afford away. It is almost in drastic comparison to Israeli settlements that are intentionally ignoring Palestinians, as if their right to existence is nil to none. This is Unethical.

At least in Europe, the residing can afford to embrace human beings fleeing an immediate violent threat between homeless emigration or death, by showing open arms of assistance. In America, this could be true too, the gentrification is a slow process but it is accelerating. If it were not for greedy landlords or wealthy elites wanting a stark image of hierarchy of affluence, the ability to keep prices affordable would be a simple action. Instead, the rise in apartment trends in cities like New York, in Queens and Brooklyn, and in Washington DC, should follow the trend of Tom’s Shoes, for every pair bought another is donated to someone who needs a pair; for every new escalated apartment,  another should be donated for a  family in need.       

Why Haven’t I Written a Blog Post in Over A Year

It doesn’t seem clear. I used to amorously write blog posts for nearly three years. It wasn’t as if there hasn’t been topics of grave concern occurring locally and globally from the BlackLivesMatters’ protests to the Bernie Sanders’ campaign, from the nonstop evidence of corporate corruption with the likes of Volkswagen, General Motors, and a peanut butter baron.

So why did I lose pace? I did go to protests, I did create voice but I did so off of the computer. Just because a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, it indeed has fallen. Just because a voice is not always on a Blog, a Tweet, a FaceBook share, or merely just not on a computer, does this now mean that the individual no longer exists?

Off the grid, but how does this translate to the modern era?  I have been teaching. Maybe, if I am a sure believer, I have been teaching as bell hooks, teaching to transgress.  The Adjunct teaching life certainly has its negative side that one can write about for hours upon hours: from the lack of pay to the migrant status, to the lack of benefits. Of course, but as an Adjunct, I see multiple angles. Still hoping that it is not too late to teach empathy and truth.

I teach classes at four different institutions. I teach at two-community colleges in New Jersey; One being mostly low-income students from diverse backgrounds, immigrants, children of immigrants, and other minorities. The other has mostly middle-class students, with just as much diversity, but a learning style much less motivated, because life was a bit more affluent. I see students who know nothing about America’s history and I try my best to inform them. I teach in Paterson, where life is not easy for the majority of citizens as students to balance school, work, and social exploitation.

My third school is at a privileged four year institution, and it seems often enough classes that appear segregated at times. The diversity is less extreme, but it does exist, just minute. Sometimes this location is the hardest to reflect on America’s inequality challenges. I, myself, can recall even when I was in undergrad at a liberal arts school, just how naïve I was to political troubles of my time, which seem minuscule compared to the challenges America has faced in the last fourteen years. However, I find the best learning advice is for one to go outside one's realm and see the country and to see the world; one will only breakdown naivety by conversing with people of very different walks of life. I did that twelve years ago, when I joined the Peace Corps and was brought to a country I had never heard of prior, and it changed my life. I think of a recent clip I viewed in class by the comedian Maz Jobrani, about how Americans can connect with Iranians as well as other Muslims, just by having the will to meet, discuss our similarities, and even laugh.  

My fourth school is in the heart of Brooklyn. City students who see how life moves so fast as the urban lot pushes everyone to levels of social distances. New York can make people easily ignore everyone, just so that the individual can thrive. Yet my students are eager to discuss the Political. Yes, students are eager to learn and ready to get involved in the system. Can I help my students in all my locations see the system for what it is? Or can I just reach a small few? Time will tell.

So just incase you don’t see me, though I may be off of the Blog grid, I am still contemplating a way to resist the Consuming Beast of the 21^st Century’s Sinking teeth.