Research Question: What causes racial tensions to vary among neighborhoods?
Greenpoint is an interesting case study because there are clear cuts between ethnic groups but minimal racial tensions between the older Polish residents and the newer gentrifiers. The neighborhood is predominantly Polish, but there is also a large representation of Hispanic people. Although the neighborhood is clearly heterogeneous, there are hardly any reports of crimes involving racial differences.
We will compare Greenpoint to Midwood, a homogenous Jewish neighborhood which has had its history of racial unrest, despite its relative homogeneity. Unrest includes the incidents in January of 2012, in which swastikas and hatred messages against Jews were graffitied on houses. The neighborhood was quick to blame outsiders. However, it turned out that the Jewish man David Haddad was responsible for the attacks. We want to analyze the reaction of the neighborhood to the attacks. More recently, the neighborhood is undergoing rezoning and the Jewish population is worried that they will lose their stronghold in the political arena. On the other hand, Greenpoint is a diverse neighborhood, where many do not even speak English. Yet instances of racial violence and intolerance do not seem to have reached the intensity or frequency of those in Midwood.
The primary sources we will utilize in our paper will predominantly be newspaper articles. We have to trust that the media is unbiased as possible when they present the stories about the causes of racial tension. Fortunately, these sources are readily available to us online on the websites of major newspapers. We expect to analyze the newspaper articles learning about the different perspectives in every documented event and looking for common themes and differences between our chosen neighborhoods. Other primary sources will be research studies that survey that opinions to the residents of each neighborhood of ethnic tension, if any studies exist. Furthermore, we could analyze statistics reported by the NYPD on crime rates.
Stephanie Azzopardi, Patricia Ruiz, Kevin Tang
