Comments on: Race and Class on R Street http://dcentric.wamu.org/2010/11/race-and-class-on-r-street/ Race, Class, The District. Mon, 16 Jul 2012 03:01:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: nandalal rasiah http://dcentric.wamu.org/2010/11/race-and-class-on-r-street/#comment-141 nandalal rasiah Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:15:00 +0000 http://dcentric.wamu.org/?p=2096#comment-141 The first casualties of any process of gentrification are gay white men--not diversity--and simply stating that the binary exists is perceived as racist. It's a reaction borne of ranking displacement of poor people and the consequent decreased diversity over the bodily injury and property damage suffered by gentrifiers and poor people alike. Crime has been correlated with subsidized housing all over the country and this has been true since the inception of the concept. The local PD's 'willingness' to let the crime go on is largely the result of decades-old policy and of local politics. Nobody wins an election by promising to allow market forces to create affordable unsubsidized housing. It's quite easy, on the other hand, to muster community-wide outrage at the prospect of subsidized housing blocks being turned into pricey rental units and condos. The first casualties of any process of gentrification are gay white men–not diversity–and simply stating that the binary exists is perceived as racist. It’s a reaction borne of ranking displacement of poor people and the consequent decreased diversity over the bodily injury and property damage suffered by gentrifiers and poor people alike.

Crime has been correlated with subsidized housing all over the country and this has been true since the inception of the concept. The local PD’s ‘willingness’ to let the crime go on is largely the result of decades-old policy and of local politics. Nobody wins an election by promising to allow market forces to create affordable unsubsidized housing. It’s quite easy, on the other hand, to muster community-wide outrage at the prospect of subsidized housing blocks being turned into pricey rental units and condos.

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