From this week’s readings along with the documentary watched last week, it became clear that race and public housing are deeply related. Public housing became a way of separating the minority groups and placing them into one compacted area. These crowded areas then became centers of high crime activity, violence, poverty and unhealthy living conditions. Instead of providing housing and better living conditions for low-income families/ minorities to live in, public housing just created “projects” and “ghettos.” Like Praveena said- The New York City Housing Authority as described in Pritchett basically forged a ghetto; and also what Alexandra said- the obsession with public housing was parallel to the obsession with race. These “projects” & “ghettos” greatly became associated with race.
The fact that Italians and Peurto Ricans wanted to be as distinct from each other, was a very interesting point. Both groups didn’t want to be associated with one another just to prove themselves not black and not become categorized with a lower group than white. This aspect rises questions more about self-identity of the two groups, than to which group is “not black” or which group is of a low stereotype. It wasn’t just a fight about which group is better, but deeper than that, more so of which race/group does the individual himself belong to or identify himself as.
Change is inevitable. And from these readings it can be seen how true this phrase really is. Neighborhoods change and transform from one ethnic group to another, East Harlem itself being a perfect example – Italian East Harlem to Spanish Harlem. However, is this phrase also true if we talk about it in regards with the “default font?” Will the default ever change to something “minor” or has it been the default for so long that it has now become inevitable to change it?
