Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same
The Sacramento Observer has a series up on the gentrification of urban Black neighborhoods. Yes, gentrification is a code word, but I don't know what else to call it. Besides, it's not a cut-and-dried issue:
Johnson's investment is part of a movement by wealthy Blacks, such as poet Maya Angelou and singers Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, to invest in areas of Harlem. Johnson's entrepreneurial skill has opened the way for many Blacks, who otherwise might not support big chain stores, to grab a cup of coffee at his Starbucks or watch a movie at his theater because he is African American.
"It just complicates matters," the business owner adds. "How can any Black person be against Magic investing in the Black community? But if his enterprise continues to expand, he's going to kill many of these businesses."
Long before the commercial outlets came, Harlem, like other Black neighborhoods, was known for a host of Black-owned small businesses. But when property values began to soar, these businesses were forced to move elsewhere because they could no longer afford to stay put.
"You can't maintain these small businesses when larger businesses are coming into Harlem and people are not really shopping at the small minority-owned businesses," says Thelma Russell, executive director of the Harlem Business Alliance, a coalition of local businesses in Harlem. "These businesses are really suffering. They are trying to maintain themselves, but many of them are on a month-to-month lease and they don't know if they will be able to continue doing business."
But Russell and others are cautious to curb themselves.
No one who remembers the dilapidated buildings that stood vacant in Harlem throughout the 1970s and '80s wants to return back to those times. But community and business leaders are struggling to find a nice compromise that would allow the big businesses and the minority-owned small businesses to share in the local wealth.
"We need to co-exist, and I think you can have them both," Russell says. "Everyone has to stick together. We can't overlook the small businesses and go straight to the big ones. We need to support each other."
The series consists of:
Part 1: The Whitening Of Black Neighborhoods
Part 2: Middle-Class Blacks Also Change The 'Hood
Part 3: Black, White Churches Spur Growth
Part 4: Lessons From Columbia U, Harlem
Part 5: Whites In Black Areas Can Be Allies
Part 6: Gentrification Squeezes Harlem Businesses
As a resident of Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill and Prospect Hts in Brooklyn, I've seen this trend first hand over the years. However there are some important nuances that the articles miss: (1) many of the sellers of these brownstones are (a) black folks who've been in the neighborhoods for 30+yrs and now own a home worth more money than they ever dreamed ($1MM and up) and are looking to sell and retire back down South or to the Islands, (b) white folks who "settled" in the midst of the turbulent '70's and '80's that you speak of and cleared squatters and drug-heads out of their homes; (2) these neighborhoods were in desparate need of basic amenities like real grocery stores, banks and restaurants which are now blossoming all over these neighborhoods as a result of "gentrification"; (3) many of the black businesses (and individuals) that have been priced out of these neighborhoods fundamentally missed the opportunity to buy the buildings that they were tenants in for so long - demonstrating a lack of confidence to invest in their own neighborhoods.
It's more than a little disingenuous to paint the current trends as largely negative. One can be but so angry at the person who values something that you had a chance to, and were unwilling to buy.
Well, the first point is perfectly understandable. The second, though, remedies the situation that caused the third point. And the situation being remedied by point two was caused by redlining and other bad social policies.
As I said, it's not a simple set of issues. I haven't finished reading the whole series so I'm not making any additional comment on it yet. I can definetely see both sides of the problem. In fact, I think most people can.