Posted on 05/02/2023 5:32:41 PM PDT by grundle
Dallas historian Donald Payton says gentrification like that in Gilbert-Emory is common nationwide. It’s a story, he said, about the fight to endure and protect in the face of development in traditionally Black communities.
A historically Black neighborhood in Dallas is watching itself vanish as gentrification continues to sweep in.
Gloria Johnson’s residence is in West Dallas’ Gilbert-Emory neighborhood, one of the city’s most sought-after areas. According to The Dallas Morning News, the community received its name for Cecil and Helen Emory and Nathan and Margaret Gilbert, two Black families who ran grocery stores that provided food for the locals during a time when segregation prevented them from doing their shopping in white districts.
Many old homes in the formerly redlined area have already been destroyed by the swift gentrification sweeping through Dallas. Johnson believes developers have taken the historically Black neighborhood’s identity.
“We actually feel like the place that time has forgotten,” said Johnson, who believes developers are trying to force her out of the neighborhood, the Morning News reported. “Not important. Not significant. They don’t care.”
While many of Johnson’s childhood friends no longer reside in the area, she wishes to remain on the land her father worked two jobs to acquire.
According to census block data, roughly half of the neighborhood’s population was Black in 1990. Black people now make up only one-fifth of its populace.
Dallas historian Donald Payton noted that the issue Gilbert-Emory residents face is common nationwide. The story, he said, is about the fight to endure and protect in the face of costly development that puts housing in traditionally Black communities in danger.
According to research, Black homeownership rates in Dallas are significantly lower than white ones. Payton says the effect is a loss of Black culture, generational wealth and community.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Comical isn’t it how they tie themselves up in liberal knots.
a lot of the gentrification of black neighborhoods? they first used to be white neighborhoods
Since Biden wants to spend 40% in underprivileged neighborhoods, I guess, this one does not get the money!
It isn’t really a race issue. Gentrifying developers will move in on a potentially profitable neighborhood regardless of existing racial makeup. It does present problems though to lower income residents, when property values rise. If you are renting, and suddenly your apartment building becomes a target for a takeover, rents will go up and maybe out of reach— you just can’t afford to stay where you are. If you own your home, maybe inherited it, and you’re not that wealthy otherwise, real estate taxes can skyrocket and price you out of your own home.
I drive around such neighborhoods in the Cleveland area, and I enjoy seeing old homes renovated and restored, but I realize that this ‘improvement’ comes at a price that I don’t have to pay.
How dare you turn our crime-ridden ghettos into respectable neighborhoods!
How many historically white neighborhoods have disappeared? I know of several in my city. Unsafe places now.
Why that that newsworthy? Nothing is wrong with a mixed race neighborhood! If a black family that lived in a neighborhood is looking to sell, the fair housing laws makes it that you have to sell to whites.
Why is the writer racist? He wants blacks to sell to blacks and whites to sell to blacks, if I read it correctly.
“Black people now make up only one-fifth of its populace.”
Seeing they are 13% of the general population, I would conclude that they are still being over represented.
EC
I thought all these problems were solved back in 1964 when Lying Lyndon Johnson declared WAR ON POVERTY!
And URBAN RENEWAL!
And Lady Bird Johnson’s effort to BEAUTIFY AMERICA!
So why do these problems still exist?
Let me know when people succeed in holding on to an “historically white” neighborhood.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.