Homework 6
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Homework6.pptxHOMEWORK #6 (DUE 11/1)
Watch the documentary, “My Brooklyn: Demystifying Gentrification,” and take note of the causes of gentrification in downtown Brooklyn and its effects on the racial and class demographics of this historic neighborhood. Then write a response paper that examines the issues raised in the following slides.
One of the central arguments of this documentary is that gentrification is a choice we make to dismantle one type of community in favor of another.
However, this phenomenon is not simply the result of individual people’s choices to “follow the market.” Instead, the market is directed by local decision makers’ choices to shape zoning laws and manipulate land values to direct the location of certain types of amenities; and by extension, certain types of residents.
Under these conditions, gentrification serves as a powerful tool for engineering the “character” of residential neighborhoods and business districts within the city.
For this response paper, I want you to think about the shifting character of Brooklyn, New York in the late 20th and early 21st century and the role of race, class and politics in this historical transformation.
Answer the following question in your response paper:
What role did race and class play in the gentrification of downtown Brooklyn?
In Part #1: DESCRIBE the historical racial and class demographics of downtown Brooklyn before and after its transformation. What type of people lived and worked there throughout its history? Who did the district primarily serve? Did it seem like a racially segregated or a racially integrated business district?
In Part #2: Then ANALYZE the specific roles of race and class in the gentrification of downtown Brooklyn. When are they related to one another and when do they have separate impacts? How do these factors create a perception of who or what is desirable? Think about the racialized responses people had regarding the reputation of this district before it was transformed, and why this perception did not match the actual economic contributions of down Brooklyn to the city.
