I live in a historically black neighborhood on the edge of Annapolis, MD, about five miles from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The neighborhood was once a single large farm on a small peninsula between several small creeks emptying into the Bay. It was inhabited by several black families freed after the Civil War; the Johnsons and the Browns and the Pecks. My house is a former part of the Johnson property. These days the neighborhood, “Brown’s Woods”, is like a checkerboard, racially, socially, and economically. There are old shacks and cottages, there are million dollar waterfront homes, and then there is everything in between. We moved to Brown’s Woods when I was 7 years old. The first day we were there I met a kid Kenny, he lived one house
Campanella writes, “Blatantly racist deed covenants excluded black families from the new land, and the white middle-class denizens of the front-of-town leapfrogged over the black back-of-town and settled into trendy low-lying suburbs such as Lakeview” (Campanella 2007, 704-715). The water management infrastructure created the Lakeview district. Lakeview attracted buyers of all races, yet systems of spatial segregation that emerged in the early twentieth century denied African Amercians and other minorities access to property in this part of New
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
Newark began to deteriorate and the white residents blamed the rising African-American population for Newark's downfall. However, one of the real culprits of this decline in Newark was do to poor housing, lack of employment, and discrimination. Twenty-five percent of the cities housing was substandard according to the Model C...
...r of inequality in America, with so much poverty located within such a close proximity to the White House. That being said, gentrification efforts in DC appear to be focused on removing poor people, or at the very least, the visual image of crime, poverty, and corruption as it relates to the most powerful city in the country. Community activist groups have tried time and time again to stop gentrification from affecting their community, but often times, to no avail. What is truly sad is that while this cycle is continually perpetuated as a matter of “haves versus have nots” the way in which this system seems to always disproportionately marginalize one race of people in favor of another, does raise the question as to whether or not gentrification was orchestrated to operate in such a manner; and if so, what are the affected groups going to do about it.
The first place comes to my mind is Chinatown, the place I have been living for three years, but never got a chance to have a close-up view of it. When I came to Chicago, it was the first place I went to and it really gave me a different feedback. It made me feel like I was back in China, because there were a lot of Chinese people and Chinese restaurants in the town. The landmarks of Chinatown are the Chinatown Gate, and the Nine-Dragon wall.
This ‘city within a city’ was predominantly black between the 1900 and 1948 due to increasing segregation in D.C. during that time. It was the most populated area of restaurants, bars and clubs owned by African- Americans in the city. It wasn’t until the Supreme Court ruled that restrictive real estate based on race was
My perception of our world is that racism exists everywhere, even in the land of liberty, America. I am aware of the fact that there is racism against not only blacks, but also whites, Asians, along with people from all other ethnicities. I believe racism is deplorable in any form. Therefore I do my best not to be racist in any way.
Culture is something that we all have. It illustrates who we are as people. There are many types of cultures in this world. The one culture that illustrates who I am is Mexican. I was raised in which some would call a typical Mexican family. In my family are my mom, stepdad, and siblings but my real dad is German and African American, which I still see whenever I want which is a lot. It's common that my parents have extended family over like cousins, grandparents etc. and nobody in my family is quiet and I mean nobody. Everytime I walk in my house it's loud, festive as if we were having a party or a fiesta.
I would wake up Saturday morning to birds chirping. I would get up, get dressed and go outside. The children in my neighborhood would come to my backyard, and we would play 'til our parents called us in.
Wait. Be still. Don't go over the line. Don't let go. Wait for it. "BANG!" My reactions were precise as I sprung out of the blocks. The sun was beating down on my back as my feet clawed at the blistering, red turf. With every step I took, my toes sunk into the squishy, foul smelling surface, as my lungs grasped for air. Everything felt the way it should as I plunged toward my destination. I clutched the baton in my sweaty palms, promising myself not to let go. My long legs moved me as fast as I could go as I hugged the corner of the line like a little girl hugging her favorite teddy bear. The steps were just like I had practiced. As I came closer to my final steps, my stomach started twisting and my heart beat began to rise. The different colors of arrows started to pass under my feet, and I knew it was time.
My whole life changed drastically when I moved from the suburbs to the “hood” or “ghetto”. My appearance , the way I talked, and behavior changed a lot from what I used to talk like or dress like. I had moved from my mom’s house to my grandmother’s house which was in a very rough neighborhood filled with gang activity and police. When I moved in to my grandmother’s neighborhood I could definitely see the changes from my previous neighborhood the streets were dirty trash everywhere and wherever you went you felt like people were watching your every move. I saw patrol cars riding up and down the street ten minutes and it was not a quiet neighborhood it seemed like everyone was playing music through a speaker all at the same time.
The wind howls, the waves crash, the sky is falling, the world is crumbling, the ground is shaking, my family is dying. “Mom, watch out!” my life flashes. The world turns black. No one around, so silent. All I can see is a tiny dot of light miles away. Maybe it is my family! I run toward it getting faster and faster. As I get closer I can see more and more light. As I reach the edge everything bursts with color. Birds in the sky, trees everywhere, and the waves crashing on the sand. My world, back, in front of my eyes. Where is my family? I need to find them.
The community that I had been living here for the past couple of years is Woodside. Woodside is my home where there are a lot of varieties of things to do with people’s lives. In fact, it accommodate how people in this community interact with others such as going to varieties of stores, enjoying themselves at the park and etc. The best view point of my community that I like to talk about is the park and the good foundation of stores that are provided in this community.
My neighborhood is pretty quiet, so when it is nice outside I go to the tennis courts and do yoga. The tennis courts are never occupied so I have the freedom to go anywhere I want. I never actually go onto the courts but right outside them in the grass. To the left sits a grassy field filled with weeds and wild flowers, a truly beautiful sight. Behind the small field there is a thin layer of trees to separate my neighborhood from the next. Peeking through the trees is a silver fence, which encloses a backyard that is always filled with dogs. Big dogs I presume, because they are quite loud. A big tree sits on the other side of the tennis courts, with its massive roots peeking through the dirt. Also on the other side of the courts sits a bench swing, looking over the neighborhood close by. I had never really paid the lone bench swing any mind, but now I can’t seem to leave it.
History is said to repeat itself, but in my opinion that theory is an easy out. It is an easy way to excuse inexcusable behavior. It’s a way for the common person to justify their unwillingness to change for the better.