The Urban Displacement Project: Redlining And Gentrification

Discrimination is deeply woven within the fabric of America’s urban centers. Throughout American history, we see different forms of discrimination take root across the country. Discriminatory practices range in scope and severity, from subtle practices such as redlining, to violent practices such as police brutality; these practices converge into an intersectional highway of prejudice and the lessons learned from them act as stepping stones for our modern society. Minority groups and people of color, specifically the African American community, experience the intersectionality of discrimination due to systemic circumstances. The intersectionality of racism, classism, homophobia and transphobia will be examined within this paper.

Racism was

These color-coded maps designed by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) were crucial in the development of American cities; an area’s desirability levels were largely based on the racial and ethnic composition of its residents (The Urban Displacement Project). People of color were largely assigned to places designated as hazardous or “blighted”. Residents who lived in these areas were unable to secure loans, buy property, or fix the existing structures (The Urban Displacement Project). This practice propelled forward a viscous cycle of disinvestment that led to the slow disintegration of neighborhoods considered “blighted” by the HOLC. The Urban Displacement Project. Redlining created stark divides in the structure of the American inner cities and a cycle of disinvestment from government and investors that led to an overall lower quality of life for residents in redlined areas. Gentrification Explained, by The Urban Displacement Project, offers another key insight into the shaping of American cities. In the 1950s and 60s, a massive exodus of white middle-class families from America’s inner cities to the suburbs led to a massive depletion in city tax dollars (The Urban Displacement Project). This massive depletion of tax

Keisha Blain in “Violence in Minneapolis is rooted in the history of racist policing in America” elaborates upon the governmental condonement of police brutality on black Americans and its effects. Like redlining, state-sanctioned violence from police officers against the African American community has shaped the history of U.S. cities. Police failed to punish white residents, inflicting harm on their black counterparts, and as a result, many black people were lynched, and their killers were never brought to justice. Police are far more likely to arrest and fatally shoot black people in comparison to those who are white, and they rarely receive any reprimand for their actions. The death rate of Black Americans at the hands of police today, is almost the same as what it once was during the lynchings a century ago (Blain, 2020). The film, Fruitvale Station, by Ryan Coogler, examines the life of a young man, Oscar, who lost his life to police brutality. Oscar was a kind man and a good father, whose hopes and dreams are shared with the audience throughout the film. Oscar’s mother requests that he and his friends take the train to the city in hopes of avoiding possible run-ins with the police. Per his mother’s request, they do, but sadly they are still victims. Oscar was approached and jumped by the white male on the train at Fruitvale Station, however, when police were rounding up those involved, they