Navigating Intra-Ethnic Tensions

Gentrification studies have largely focused on displacement caused by racial capitalism, specifically middle-class white families moving into historically under-resourced areas. However, the impact of wealthier people of color participating in gentrification remains relatively unexplored.

In "Gentrifiers of Color: Class Inequalities in Ethnic/Racial Neighborhood Displacement" (Journal of the American Planning, Vol 90., No. 3) Yael Shmaryahu-Yeshurun conducts a comprehensive review and analysis of gentrification of color in the United States.

Challenging Roles

The author argues that newcomers have not necessarily upheld the interests of their lower-income counterparts, despite sharing the same ethnic or racial makeup.

While new residents may help prevent displacement, most research indicates that original lower-income residents often face displacement. In these instances, gentrifiers of color contribute by opposing affordable housing, promoting luxury development, attracting external capital and tourism, and commercializing the neighborhood.

While urban planners can form partnerships with artists and cultural gentrifiers to empower the cultural identity of an area, the author places the most importance on mitigating the displacement of lower-income residents. Intra-ethnic tensions, hierarchies, and inequalities can be masked under the guise of ethnic unity.

This issue can be addressed by prioritizing policies that support economically vulnerable residents, such as affordable housing.

Categories of Gentrifier

Due to significant growth in both Black and Latino middle-class populations over the past three decades, minority neighborhoods now face an increased likelihood of gentrification by people of color.

Through a literary analysis of 46 qualitative and quantitative studies on the gentrification of people of color in U.S. cities from 1960 to 2021, Shmaryahu-Yeshurun identifies five prominent profiles of gentrifiers of color: commercial, artist, developer, residential, and institutional.

• Commercial: Outside entrepreneurs can displace local counterparts, while commercialization often combines both, adapting to changes in neighborhoods like Barrio Logan in San Diego and Boyle Heights in Los Angeles.
• Artist: Creative newcomers play a key role in the aesthetics of gentrification. Some ethnic artists are committed to the neighborhood's identity, branding it against White gentrification in places like El Barrio in New York City and Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.
• Developer: Displacement can occur due to political elites, brokers, and real estate developers from the same ethnic or racial groups as the neighborhood. Some developers have been longtime residents engaged in local politics, as seen in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, and Miami.
• Residential: Middle and upper-class homeowners of color can contribute to displacement, both intentionally and unintentionally, as seen in the North Kenwood–Oakland neighborhood in Chicago and downtown Seattle.
• Institutional: Local religious and cultural organizations, such as churches and museums, can influence gentrification. They may promote it due to economic constraints or as a perceived opportunity for improvement, as seen in Harlem and Chinatown in New York City.

Planning for Community Retention

Gentrification of color was closely linked to urban policies encouraging neighborhood redevelopment and renewal, which commonly emerged during or after initiatives promoting business and commercial development in the area.

As the number of publications on the gentrification of people of color continues to grow, the author calls for more intersectional research. The author urges urban planners and policymakers to incorporate the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and class into their approach to gentrification.

Fundamentally, urban planning experts and policymakers must collaborate with gentrifiers of color to foster culturally inclusive urban development. They must prioritize policies that support economically vulnerable residents and actively seek their perspectives when making municipal decisions.

At the same time, urban planners and policymakers should consider that ethnic gentrifiers do not necessarily uphold the interests of their lower-income counterparts.

This analysis calls on urban planners to pay closer attention to social relations and the struggles experienced by lower-income residents in neighborhoods where intra-ethnic tensions, potential hierarchies, and inequalities within the minority community are concealed under the guise of ethnic unity.

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