All things considered, is gentrification unjust?

People being treated unjustly have been part of society since civilization began. From slavery to racism to the more recent problems in Mynamar and Israel, minorities have been the victims of numerous crimes. My value for today's round is Safety and my and my criterion is John Locke's Natural Rights. I now offer the following definitions. Gentrification is The evolution of an area due to an influx of wealthier residents and an influx of their wealth into a specific area (black law dictionary). Safety, as defined by Black law’s dictionary is The freedom from injury, harm, danger or loss to personal property whether it be deliberate or accidental. John Locke’s natural rights theory is that all individuals are equal in the sense that they are born with certain "inalienable" natural rights. That is, rights that are God-given and can never be taken or even given away. Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are "life, liberty, and property."

Living in a low income neighborhood, you have to deal with the struggle of seeing rich people thrive while you and your neighbors suffer. Contrary to what many people believe, Gentrification is something that happens on a global scale. People living in countries like the Netherlands, Canada, The US, the UK, Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Myanmar, Palestine, France, Peru, India, Indonesia, and tons of other countries are affected daily by gentrification. The reason, a few rich people decide the fate of whole cities and communities. Gentrification is NOT a race problem but a problem with society. Society needs to stop viewing the poor as a disease or infection. Poor people in most cases don’t even have the same opportunities as the rich. In countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, immigrants who have lived in the country for centuries, still don’t have citizenship therefore limiting them to basic rights such as education, work, or owning houses. Once the poor are kicked out of their homes, they become jobless, homeless, and develop a sense of unbelonging. The feeling of unbelonging can then lead to horrible things such as suicide, depression, and the sense of rejection.  Rejection worldwide is the number one cause for suicide. 

Contention 1 - Gentrification Harms mental health

 By not gentrifying a neighborhood, you can actually reduce the number of suicides and mental health issues in the US significantly.  A study conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently published an article linking gentrification to mental health disease. For over a year, researchers from the department trawled hospital records and analyzed national census surveys for over 12000 residents across 28 city neighborhoods.  They concluded that hospitalization rates for mental illness—including schizophrenia and mood disorders—are two times as high in displaced people affected by gentrification versus those who remain in their own neighborhoods.

Contention 2 - Gentrification causes displacement

Once again, gentrification can cause widespread displacement. Professor Richard Florida published an article in City Lab stating that ‘displacement is a big issue in places where gentrification occurs.” The Professor warned that “gentrification may be complicated, but it’s not a myth and neither is displacement.”  Furthermore, research conducted between 2000 - 2013 showed that at least 200,000 people were dislocated nationwide because of gentrification. In Portland, 15% of the African American community alone was displaced (NRCR).  Another example of how gentrification displaces people is in Foxhill, UK. A new study concluded in February 2020 shows 544 homes are being demolished. Their plans would result in a loss of 241 social or govt subsidized homes. Residents would be forced out of the city and tenants would be rehoused in the area but probably with much higher rents (thegurdian.com). People who once lived in gentrified neighborhoods say they feel a sense of unbelonging and rejection. In an article published by AMediumCooperateUSA,  urban changes have caused residents to express grief over the loss of their older neighborhoods.  These changes demonstrated the city’s favoritism for neoliberal affluence and caused the displacement of residents. People who are forced to leave their city that they lived in, their parents lived in, their grandparents, and friends experience grief and unnecessary mental illness along the way.

Contention 3 - Gentrification DOES NOT improve education

Gentrifying a neighborhood DOES NOT improve the quality of education for the poor residents who lived in those neighborhoods.. According to an article written by the Pacific Standard, colored children that live in poor neighborhoods in the US have a graduation rate of 74% while colored children living in affluent neighborhoods have a 96% graduation rate.  White children suffer similarly with an 80% graduation rate in poor neighborhoods while white students living in ‘rich’ neighborhoods have a 96% graduation rate.  

Arizona University published a study showing that many teachers assigned to lower income neighborhoods have little or no experience in teaching.  Because of this, children who grow up in those low income neighborhoods do not have the same opportunities or  access to quality education as their affluent counterparts.  Gentrification DOES NOT solve this problem of education. It actually disrupts education by causing people to move schools constantly because they can’t afford the neighborhoods they’re living in.

When a neighborhood gentrifies, the poor are often forced to leave and relocate to another low income neighborhood where the education is the same or even worse. Furthermore, every time they leave because of gentrification, they move schools which in turn can lead to a feeling of unbelonging. The problem of DISPLACEMENT again.  

Contention 4 - Gentrification leads to higher crime rates

Problems don't go away once a neighborhood is gentrified, they actually become worse. Gentrification directly causes people to leave neighborhoods. Once an area is gentrified, the crime rates actually increase. According to an article written by Washington Post, gentrification often leads to an increase in crime. The article stated that in a nationwide research on gentrification, there was a significant increase in both robberies and larceny. The reason is that new wealthier residents pose as better targets for burglars and robbers. Most important is crime thrives on instability. Gentrification by definition, destabilizes a neighborhood (Washington Post). In another article written by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), it says that this pattern of “patchwork” revitalization, the disinvestment and the continuing population and housing diversity, and the continued diversity and partially abraded social fabric may be linked with high offenses (NCJRS).

Contention 5: Gentrification causes racial segregation  

Racial and economic segregation is a problem in the U.S. as old as the colonies themselves. Many now-gentrifying neighborhoods are likely to again be segregated therefore becoming overwhelmingly white. Just look at Manhattan for example. The city was 68.5 percent Latino in 1980. Today it is less than one-quarter due to gentrification and many of those who remain are heavily concentrated on the neighborhood’s poverty stricken neighborhoods.Furthermore. Gentrification causes something commonly known as a redlining effect. Redlining is a systematic denial of both federal and private businesses to minorities most notably black and latino. Examples of redlining, include the denial of financial services, such as insurance or health care. 87% of gentrifying cities of the U.S. have experienced or are experiencing the red lining effect. This goes on to prove my point that gentrification causes racial segregation.

What we have just learned is that gentrification is NOT a solution to the multiple ongoing problems of poverty.  Gentrification is just another way for the rich to expand their greedy ambitions in areas where the less fortunate call home.  The problems I listed above won’t go away just because a neighborhood is gentrified. This is an ongoing problem that society needs to come together and solve as a whole.