The main point in each chapter is gentrification and how the United Nations (UN) has been documenting its impact on global cities since 1985. These impacts are focused on the poor who have to move out of urban places due to gentrification. This is a problem because they can no longer afford the rent (Fullilove, 2016). Additionally, when the poor move out and the middle class move in, they are told to start dying and stop living. This statement is essential because it shows some of the impacts are from gentrification. One of these impacts is that less life has been created in cities due to gentrification.
Gentrification is a mor issue in the society since it leads to a community divide. This is because people are forced to move out of the neighborhood they have always known. They are then forced into an area where they do not know anyone and likely will not be accepted. More than half of the population in US cities lives on less than $15,000 per year (at 2014 prices) (Fullilove, 2016). This low earning population is compared to less than 20% in European cities (which are outside of the EU). People have been displaced often because of rising rent prices and homelessness (since there is no affordable housing) (Fullilove, 2016). Gentrification is a part of this way that poor people leave their homes frequently.
I am interested in paragraph four of chapter that stresses that the UN has been documenting gentrification since 1985. This means that gentrification has been an issue for cities in the United States for a long time. The documentation is interesting because it shows that this issue is not new, but it does not seem like cities are actively trying to solve it (Fullilove, 2016). However, the UN is trying to get countries together to talk about gentrification because it is the leading cause of global poverty. Chapter nine is particularly interesting because it spoke of how affluent white people go into areas where they are not needed. These white people go there, tell African Americans to leave, and then call them racists when they do not leave.
Intercultural communication connects to my emerging understanding of intercultural communication mainly because they cause unity. Intercultural Communication is often focused on how to understand and react appropriately to people who are different. Despite this, gentrification makes many people from diverse cultures not communicate and come to an agreement (Fullilove, 2016). Intercultural communication connects to my emerging understanding of communication since it affects public life. However, the UN is trying to get nations and cities together to discuss gentrification. This shows that this issue is old, but it does not seem like cities are actively trying to solve it. This book also emphasizes the needs of the poor, which visionaries and leaders would do because they would be concerned about peoples’ problems and hope that there is a way to fix them.
The questions I would be interested in exploring as a group are the following: What action would be taken to help whites move into black communities? Are there ways to ensure these people who live in low-income areas do not get pushed out of their homes? What would happen if we all stopped gentrifying cities and stopped wanting to live in them? Since the book is focused on intercultural communication, I feel that discussing the impacts of gentrification with the class can enhance student’s understanding.
Reference
Fullilove, M. (2016). Root Shock: How tearing up city neighborhoods hurts America, and what we can do about it. New York: New Village Press.