PUBLIC HOUSING AND DISPLACEMENT: A RESPONSE TO THE LEIGH-MITCHELL PAPER

Patricia Thompson

Dr. Leigh's developmental description of "Public Housing and the Black Community" questioned HUD's commitment to providing decent and affordable housing for low-income people. This skepticism is well founded when one looks across the range of half-baked social service policies which espoused commitment to low-income people, but in reality only served to benefit the status quo.

In the past few years we have been witnessing the recent trend on the part of middle-income white families of moving back into the inner cities. This trend is commonly referred to as "gentrification." With the impending energy crisis and the uncertainty about the future, whites are opting to move into the cities in large numbers. As a result Blacks, Hispanics, and other low-income people are being displaced from their neighborhoods. They are being pushed out to the fringes of the cities where even less job opportunities, supportive services, and educational programs exist for low-income people and people of color. Some of the symptoms of dis- placement are: abandonment and neglect, arson, rent hikes, speculation (the buying and selling of property for quick profit), condominium conver- sion, and luxury housing developments in place of low-income housing.

The city of Boston, like many other major cities across the nation, has experienced substantial displacement. The section of Boston known as the South End was once part of the predominantly black-populated Roxbury. It was the home of many low- and moderate-income Blacks and Hispanics. Due to the influx of middle-income white families and the concurring revitalization strategies promoted by federal and local agencies, the inter- ests of low-income people were given a back seat.

One housing strategy which Blacks should be particularly leary of is that

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of "scattered site housing." While it is true that concentrated housing developments have done little to improve the housing conditions for low-income families, we have no reason to believe that a program which offers families a choice of living in areas which do not provide jobs and supportive services to low-income people will prove beneficial to low- income people. In the spirit of urban renewal programs of the 1960s, otherwise referred to as "Negro removal ," we now see phase two of the process.

This comment, while in response to Dr. Leigh's paper, is directed towards my peers- -young black and Hispanic students of urban planning, public policy, economics, political science, and other socially oriented courses of study. We have a number of decisions to make concerning our present and future roles and out commitment to low-income communities. We have to be actively involved in the planning and implementation of community development strategies which will enhance the viability and stability of our communities, for our people. Should we neglect this responsibility, we will be foreiting to the existing institutions which have more than demonstrated their allegiences when faced with conflicting interests.

No doubt, many of us will in fact be working in these same institutions when we graduate, as they offer challenging opportunities, financial secu- rity, and the chance to perfect our skills and ability. I fear, however, that too many of us are getting caught up in that pedagogical elitist headset which alienates us from our people and our commitment to our communi- ties once we are inside the prominent public and private agencies. My hope is that we will find the collective strength to build more institutions which do not have dual or conflicting commitments. The incentive has already been provided for us.

With the 1980s has come an even stranger delineation of people between racial and ethnic groups in the United States. These different groups are fighting to get their fair share out of the system, and as groups they are being assisted by concerned individuals within their groups. Blacks con- tinue, for the most part, to be on the receiving end of the policy making process. This is not to detract from the many dedicated Blacks who struggle day and night like Boston State Legislator Mel King. But we need more from more people---collective strength.

We are the only ones who are going to be directly responsive to the needs of our communities. If we don't assist black and Hispanic communities to formulate strategies which facilitate improvement, growth, and stabiliza- tion, then no one else will either.