Part I: After reading Michael Greenberg’s “Tenants Under Seige” article, Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” and Belmihoub and Corcoran’s short essay “Translingualism,” write a 250-word blog post that considers literacy in relation to the Housing Crisis. What messages in the latter two essays (Anzaldua, Belmihoub, Corcoran) do you think would be helpful to the problems outlined in the first (Greenberg)? In other words, how does literacy–the knowledge of and ability to use a particular kind of language–pertain to this crisis? You may decide to write on how problems of literacy perpetuate the crisis or, on the other hand, how a focus on literacy might lead to solutions.
Part II: Find an article published in the last week that relates to gentrification and bring it to class.
There were many causes to the housing crisis, but language and literacy caused large amounts of homelessness in NYC. “We call ourselves Mexican-American to signify that we neither Mexican or American, but more the noun American and the adjective Mexican” I think this quote shows us how hard it was for many foreigners to assimilate into “American life”. It shows how how they’re technically considered American, but the fat that they cant assimilate to the language causes a barrier for them, making it harder to find a job and live the “American life”. Part of assimilating is adapting to the language that the culture you’re trying to assimilate in uses. This can be a struggle for most people because learning a language at an older age while having to worry about having a place to sleep at night can be challenging for most people.
Randolph Harrison
I think that language perpetuates the problem of gentrification. The areas in which rich White suburban kids are moving into have been described by the Greenberg as culturally and ethnically rich in people. The differences in how these suburban kids and residents in these areas might be completely different to one another. One interesting sentence that Belmihoub and Corcoran state is, “Certainly some language varieties carry more weight in different situations. For example, on the job, if you don’t speak “proper” English you may face the very real possibility of getting fired or missing out on a promotion.” There is this idea of proper English and a certain bias toward it. This applies the same to real estate. People who speak “proper English” may be more likable and sought after by realtors. Suburbanites moving into the city usually have gained the education and come from white families who exclusively speak English. Realtors would then seek out these people to move into diverse neighborhoods, which leads into gentrification. Once there is a community of white English speaking people in a neighborhood, more white suburban kids will move in. The effect of this is that people will be evicted to make room for the people moving in, which destroys the cultural richness of the area. This experience is highlighted well through Greenberg, as she had grew up in an area which was completely renovated to fit the new white standards. The differences in language might also just make original tenements move by themselves, as the language barrier might be to great between the two communities. People like speaking their native language, so they would like to stay with people who speak their language.
As I read the first article, “Tenants Under Siegel” that discusses the New York’s housing crisis, financial issues played a major role and really stuck out to me. Situations that had also happened to people, with rent stabilized apartments who were still able to pay their rent, were being harassed by their landlords. People were not able to afford rent after increases in rent and therefore often times were left homeless in these situations. Financial literacy is the ability to understand personal finances such as investing your money. I felt that in many situations people in these situations were not educated about their finances, or laws as a whole. Many people with rent stabilized apartments were offered money to move out. A mother and young daughter lived together in an apartment and were offered 45,000 dollars to leave and sign away any legal claim she has on the apartment. Originally it felt like a lot of money to them and they had taken it because they had not understood that they were not finding another apartment at that price for them and quickly ran out of the money. They were thinking about the now and their financial situation at that exact moment vs the future. Another situation was a mother and son had lived in the same apartment for 40 years and were now offered 60,000 dollars to move and felt that they had to take it because the landlord said so. The landlords in these situations were educated enough to be able to find loopholes in the government policies and New York policies in relation to housing in New York City. (Which does not make it right). They were able to invest their money in their apartments and be able to sell them for double the price if not more. Many times, the homeless or people evicted from their homes were not educated enough to be able to fight back their landlords. If both sides understood financial literacy at the same extent, I feel that the outcomes would have been different.
Ka Lye Chan
Literacy may perpetuate the crisis of gentrification but it can also be a solution to this issue. In Greenberg’s article, he talks about the issue of displacement of folks in New York City even though it is one of the most progressive cities in the sense of housing regulations. This displacement then allows for those areas to be gentrified by those of higher social ranks. The causation of a lot of the tenants moving out when pressured to is that they do not know the laws that protect them and their rights as tenants. It now becomes an issue of literacy and the unconsciousness of the role that it plays. In “Translingualism”, they state, “Language turns into a body of knowledge instead of social activity”. This basically means that language is a form of knowledge and when people are uninformed, it is usually because of a miscommunication whether it’s between the state and its tenants or the tenants and the law. Language can be used here to understand a person’s rights, which is helpful in their situation. The issue with language is that people exploit it and use it to pressure others into confirming with the norms of the culture. As Anzadúa touched on, they were proud of their heritage but they tried to sound as American as they could while also not at the same time. The enforcement of this taming of their tongue can be through gentrification since the people in power with money set the rules, norms, and culture of the community. If we use language to educate people, it can help stop gentrification.
The common idea between the article and the readings regarding the role of literacy in gentrification, either through its physical manifestation or mental, is that it is exploited by those who possess it. On the other side of that, people who aren’t literate or as literate are then taken advantage of by the more literate. For example, one recurring idea in Greenburg’s article is the idea that many of the tenants who have been victimized by the gentrification process occurring in NYC, lack the financial literacy as well as the the literacy in terms of laws and legalities of their contracts. In this example, the landlords exploit the loopholes in the clauses of the city’s regulation, such as rent-stabilization, to increase the value of their units, which filters the “poor” out who cannot afford to pay and make way for the significantly wealthier target market. In a way, the article reminds me of the “separate but equal” clauses during the Jim Crow era, when the government tried to make it seem like they were addressing the issue, but in reality they were actually deliberately creating a flaw in the system to make it hard for the “black” folk to have access to their rights. This concept of the dominant culture swallowing up or inhibiting the existence of the inferior culture is what Anzaldua hints at in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. The same concept is present in gentrification where the culture of the wealthy drives the culture of the poor out. Going back to the idea of the “separate but equal” clause, in the context of gentrification, the NY local government claims to be implementing policies such as the one requiring apartment buildings to apportion 30% of the building for the “poor” tenants. Though, looking at the bigger picture, in a way the NY local government isn’t addressing the problem; they address the symptom instead. As a result, it is safe to say that NY local government plays a role in creating an inherent flaw within the anti-gentrification agenda to perpetuate gentrification.
Literacy is the knowledge someone possesses in a specific area, and in Greenberg’s piece of the housing crisis, he speaks of financial literacy and the lack there of; in the piece by Anzaldúa, and the piece by Belmihoub and Corcoran, they portray cultural literacy and the literacy in identity. This connects to the housing crisis, as the people being pushed out are either forced to conform to the owners demands or be treated poorly, like in the case of the mother and daughter. This is similar to the two articles as both speak on having to conform to the American culture, and if they don’t conform to the culture, especially the linguistic side, they face not obtaining a good job, which is what leads to part of the housing crisis. By not understanding the language, people are not going to be financially literate, which means that they don’t know the impact of their decisions, and if they are even making the right decision, even though 50,000 is a good amount it is not enough to find a new and stable place to live in. I believe that literacy can be used as a solution to the crisis, however it has to be a little give and take. The tenants should be able to know their rights as a tenant, but should also learn about the financial aspect of their lives. This would also mean that the owners would have to focus on helping out others instead of helping themselves, and obtaining more money. This is highly unlikely to happen, leading to more people struggling.
Literacy both propels the gentrification crisis and also provides a solution to it. The word “literacy” takes on several definitions when discussed within the context of gentrification. Many who suffer when areas are gentrified are not financially literate, nor are they literate in understanding their rights and the laws that apply to their areas of living. In recent years, the cost of rent in NYC has propelled and made it difficult for working class and lower income families to find affordable places to live. If the victims of this situation knew about section 8, rent control and other programs available to them, they would be able to find somewhat affordable places to live. In addition to this, when their landlords raise their rent, if they understood their rights, they could fight against this. If they become well informed, adequate literacy is a partial solution to the issue. Literacy also takes on a new role in this sense. The working class and poor of the city should also be able to communicate well with their landlords. Literacy takes on the form of knowing how to communicate and use language in this crisis as well.