"There goes the neighborhood" is a phrase people use when their way of living is going to be disrupted or changed by something new entering into it. Usually, the "something new" is a group of people now occupying a place that they didn't before. Some examples of this in history are the English settlers settling the Native Americans' United States and Chicago's African-American project dwellers being relocated to some of the city's suburbs. In some cases, the arrival of the new inhabitants really isn't a cause for conflict. Stereotypes and prejudices dictate people's opinions on others. That causes them to be viewed in a negative sense without the opportunity to first establish a proper relationship. It's very easy for someone to be judged based on their religion, race or sexuality as opposed to their individual personality. In other cases, the new group of people really is a problem for the established community! For example, the English settlers' takeover caused bloodshed, disease and near-extinction for the Native American people.
A "there goes the neighborhood" instance that stands out in my mind is the African slaves being "freed" into society in the United States. The country's new citizens faced an oppressive movement that I believe is still taking place today against them. The general viewpoint of African-Americans in the country was that they were a nuisance to their community and the people did most everything they could to keep them contained and out of their way. This included voter suppression, segregation, restriction of resources, racism, social injustice, manipulation of the media and a lack of educational opportunities for African-Americans. Most of these undemocratic acts still take place today and are silently keeping the African-American community from being fully integrated into society. "There goes the neighborhood" said the people of the United States, and for over 100 years they've fought (unjustly and unfairly) to get their neighborhood back.
some questions to further your arguments...
ReplyDelete1) Why do you think people use/make stereotypes and prejudices?
2) Do you think stereotypes, prejudices, etc. have any truth to them?
I think people use stereotypes and prejudices to explain things about people they don't understand. It's easy to say that "all white people do this" or "all women do that" instead of figuring out why. However most stereotypes do originate from somewhere and most do have truth to them. It's unfair to make generalizations when they are only sometimes true though
DeleteGood post! I enjoyed reading your examples of modern cultural issues. I think you should elaborate a bit more on your views of African-American injustice today, perhaps giving specific examples.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that this is happening in Chicago? Also do you think that peoples stereotypical views of African-Americans are getting better or worse?
ReplyDeleteThey definitely are happening in Chicago. Look at the neighborhoods on the south side of the city. They're economically deprived. This is due to many things, but mainly a lack of resources being utilized by the city in the neighborhoods. Social injustice. It's hard to say if stereotypical views are getting better or worse. I would say it depends on the African-American presents them self. If they present them self like what is known to be a threat (e.g. a person wearing a hoodie) they are more likely to be perceived as a threat than people of other races.
DeleteDevin O'Bannion of course you are deeply spoken. You make solid points, extremely solid points on this post. You have some grammar mistakes in the 1st paragraph, but that's irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know though: in terms of modern segregation, do you think there is any city like Chicago?
(Kinda unrelated) And if Los Angeles is as integrated in terms of neighborhoods as they say, would you move there?