In 2020, being a person of color in America comes with many disadvantages. People of color come from a past in America filled with hatred, segregation, discrimination, and unfair judgement from society (white people.) After segregation ended, the majority of originally segregated communities were still segregated because of the low prices and diverse communities established. These communities had unity and culture, which passed down from each generation. But in today’s age, many of these homes in inner cities and diverse neighborhoods are getting bought and resold for a higher price. This means there is less and less of a percentage of homeowners of color in these areas due to the average colored family’s income. Destroying diverse, traditional neighborhoods through gentrification is a major problem, and it must stop. Without a major change in policies, gentrification will kill the soul of the city.
In many places’ gentrification is accompanied by displacement of people of color, Black and Hispanic residents in particular. For example, in “Washington DC over the course of 10 years 20,000 black residents were displaced. In Portland Oregon, 13% of the black community was displaced over the last decade. (National Community Reinvestment Coalition) One of the most startling community changes is happening here in King County in the Central District of Seattle. Seattle Central District was the largest community of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest until recently. This very special community, home to memories for so many African American families and small businesses is on the brink of vanishing due to these rapid changes.
“The insidious cycle of gentrification usually doesn’t work out for people of color. That’s because we start on the wrong end of the power dynamic.” (Nelson, Crosscut) People of color are on the wrong end of the power dynamic because gentrification takes the lower class and makes it even lower. Ther...