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It's going to be awhile for that to happen. Even Mr. West End, Caesar Mitchell, sends his kids to a charter school not on that side of town.
All things will happen in time. It took the public schools on the eastside about 10 years to get it together, and people still avoid a few of them to this day. But that is slowly changing too. I would say that it may take West End schools just as long. Caesar Mitchell is just one man. I can name a prominent person from nearly any neighborhood that sends their kids to a school not on their side of town.
All the residents need to do is get organized. There is a vacancy for the BTW principal and the school board for West End's district. The movement is slowly bubbling. Just because you don't see it right now, does not mean that it's not happening. Like the previous poster said, at least it is not declining...
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,244,294 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by equinox63
But here's a really interesting question. Is black gentrification of an previously or historically black area better or worse than white gentrification of that area? Because I can almost guarantee that it is both happening in the "West End area".
Good question.....I think that a really serious issue is that "Black Gentrification" isnt really acknowledged by the masses. Because people see black people in a black neighborhood and pretty much assume that they should be there/are not outside of what they think the norm is. The optics of it is subject to the prejudice of the observer.
Went thru this in Harlem when I moved from Atlanta.
The question that should be asked isnt why profesional AA's are in these neighborhoods because we are. The question that should be asked is why people perceive that were are NOT......
You can ask that again, or twice, or thrice!
Maybe folk who perceive the way Cqholt does could share their thoughts with us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by equinox63
But here's a really interesting question. Is black gentrification of an previously or historically black area better or worse than white gentrification of that area? Because I can almost guarantee that it is both happening in the "West End area".
Gentrification is gentrification to me. It's what group brings in certain features. I'm not sure we'd be able to see an uptick in racial profiling in the area, for example, since it already happens but most people who think of white gentrifiers to black areas always ascribe that as a huge concern.
I'd argue that black gentrification is probably harder to do (though possible) in areas where real estate prices are rising because of historic things like redlining or higher rejections of black applicants to mortgages. A quick google will show that's still a thing, I think NPR recently reported on a black university professor being put through the ringer compared to the unemployed white people given first choice. So to me, when I see a black resident I celebrate because I assume they went through the same things as me. We put down 20%, both are well employed and gainful, no debt except one person who is a car owner, and the mortgage company made us run laps like none other. I hear that's a thing for many applicants, but I find that my story shares lots of features with other black mortgagers when we actually chat about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SLIMMACKEY
Good question.....I think that a really serious issue is that "Black Gentrification" isnt really acknowledged by the masses. Because people see black people in a black neighborhood and pretty much assume that they should be there/are not outside of what they think the norm is. The optics of it is subject to the prejudice of the observer.
Yeah, masses seem incapable of seeing the difference. Black gentrifiers don't bring Starbucks, Whole Foods and the likes because we're not their target youthful audience. And policing doesn't die down, because we're their target audience. I think that's a few reasons why different racial gentrification appears different on the streets.
Quite a fan of Hop City, if only because I hate entering caged-up liquor stores to hunt for Georgia-made alcohol. Tried Boxcar upstairs and dined on the patio. Satisfied by both but annoyed by questions of "where are you coming from?" Not every person to Atlanta is from somewhere else. But it's totally understandable that they're probably trying to get a sense of their customer base anyway. Found that to be a question at the restaurant but not at Hop City. And ASW Distillery renovations are looking pretty nice.
Quite a fan of Hop City, if only because I hate entering caged-up liquor stores to hunt for Georgia-made alcohol. Tried Boxcar upstairs and dined on the patio. Satisfied by both but annoyed by questions of "where are you coming from?" Not every person to Atlanta is from somewhere else. But it's totally understandable that they're probably trying to get a sense of their customer base anyway. Found that to be a question at the restaurant but not at Hop City. And ASW Distillery renovations are looking pretty nice.
Both, to think things are gonna gentrify without getting a lot whiter is not realistic. In this country, even in cities like Atlanta, the people that have the wealth to buy 350k+ houses will be mostly white. The gentrifying neighborhood with mostly upper middle class blacks coming in is really rare. And I don't have anything against white people our schools and neighborhoods need more diversity. The problem occurs when these middle class-upper middle class whites have racist tendencies and change the neighborhood to the point where poor and/or minority people do not feel welcome anymore. The mall will probably go upscale, with vegan and organic everything everywhere.
Veganism is pretty big in the black community lately. So that would be a problem.
I wouldn't be too hard on folks. Think of all the areas that people refer to as Midtown or Buckhead or Decatur or Marietta.
And even old timers can be fuzzy about it. I was emailing with a fellow yesterday who mentioned that he grew up in West End. But then later he said he'd checked a map and maybe it was Oakland City...or Adair Park.
That old timer is for sure in the minority, most folks I know wouldn’t get that type of stuff confused. If you’re from Oakland City your’re from Oakland City, if you’re from the West End you’re from the West End. Someone who grew up on Donnally and Lawton isn’t going to say that they’re from the West End, and someone who grew up on Oglethorpe and Lawton isn’t going to say that they’re from Oakland City. Even though we’re talking about a 4-5 block difference, it’s not the same and close promixty or not, it matters.
Which is why it annoys some folks from those areas when some people think the West End is everything south of I-20 or even the entire Westside as a whole. The Westside is and has always been very neighborhood centric, that stuff didn’t make you, but it had a decent amount to do with what type of person you were, and more than a few were proud of their particular section and even discussed the differences in people from certain areas when among friends just shooting the breeze. Just to pick one at random, Cascade on the good end was called simply Cascade, but the tougher end we jokingly called “Ca-cade”. Same street, but totally different areas that produced totally different types of people. If you were from Cascade and Veltre you probably were solidly middle class to upper class, if you were from Cascade and Avon, you could be middle class or lower middle class, Cascade and Olympian, you were probably section 8. And that’s just that corridor. Same for Bankhead (Hollowell), Simpson (Boone), MLK, and Campbellton. They all have their own sections and areas, and getting one confused with the other probably doesn’t mean squat to those not from that side, but don’t get surprised if someone from Burbank Ave gets offended if you call that area the Bluff.
And you can’t compare folks calling unincorporated areas in Cobb that people call Marietta with this. And I think most folks know what’s Buckhead and what isn’t, and to a lesser extent Midtown too
That old timer is for sure in the minority, most folks I know wouldn’t get that type of stuff confused. If you’re from Oakland City your’re from Oakland City, if you’re from the West End you’re from the West End. Someone who grew up on Donnally and Lawton isn’t going to say that they’re from the West End, and someone who grew up on Oglethorpe and Lawton isn’t going to say that they’re from Oakland City. Even though we’re talking about a 4-5 block difference, it’s not the same and close promixty or not, it matters.
Which is why it annoys some folks from those areas when some people think the West End is everything south of I-20 or even the entire Westside as a whole. The Westside is and has always been very neighborhood centric, that stuff didn’t make you, but it had a decent amount to do with what type of person you were, and more than a few were proud of their particular section and even discussed the differences in people from certain areas when among friends just shooting the breeze. Just to pick one at random, Cascade on the good end was called simply Cascade, but the tougher end we jokingly called “Ca-cade”. Same street, but totally different areas that produced totally different types of people. If you were from Cascade and Veltre you probably were solidly middle class to upper class, if you were from Cascade and Avon, you could be middle class or lower middle class, Cascade and Olympian, you were probably section 8. And that’s just that corridor. Same for Bankhead (Hollowell), Simpson (Boone), MLK, and Campbellton. They all have their own sections and areas, and getting one confused with the other probably doesn’t mean squat to those not from that side, but don’t get surprised if someone from Burbank Ave gets offended if you call that area the Bluff.
And you can’t compare folks calling unincorporated areas in Cobb that people call Marietta with this. And I think most folks know what’s Buckhead and what isn’t, and to a lesser extent Midtown too
Well, it may be a generational thing. We lived in Oakland City when I was a youngster and although we knew it was Oakland City folks generally referred to that neck of the woods as West End. My grandpa used to live down that way and he also talked about living in "the West End."
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,244,294 times
Reputation: 1041
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy
That old timer is for sure in the minority, most folks I know wouldn’t get that type of stuff confused. If you’re from Oakland City your’re from Oakland City, if you’re from the West End you’re from the West End. Someone who grew up on Donnally and Lawton isn’t going to say that they’re from the West End, and someone who grew up on Oglethorpe and Lawton isn’t going to say that they’re from Oakland City. Even though we’re talking about a 4-5 block difference, it’s not the same and close promixty or not, it matters.
Which is why it annoys some folks from those areas when some people think the West End is everything south of I-20 or even the entire Westside as a whole. The Westside is and has always been very neighborhood centric, that stuff didn’t make you, but it had a decent amount to do with what type of person you were, and more than a few were proud of their particular section and even discussed the differences in people from certain areas when among friends just shooting the breeze. Just to pick one at random, Cascade on the good end was called simply Cascade, but the tougher end we jokingly called “Ca-cade”. Same street, but totally different areas that produced totally different types of people. If you were from Cascade and Veltre you probably were solidly middle class to upper class, if you were from Cascade and Avon, you could be middle class or lower middle class, Cascade and Olympian, you were probably section 8. And that’s just that corridor. Same for Bankhead (Hollowell), Simpson (Boone), MLK, and Campbellton. They all have their own sections and areas, and getting one confused with the other probably doesn’t mean squat to those not from that side, but don’t get surprised if someone from Burbank Ave gets offended if you call that area the Bluff.
And you can’t compare folks calling unincorporated areas in Cobb that people call Marietta with this. And I think most folks know what’s Buckhead and what isn’t, and to a lesser extent Midtown too
Great post. Hit the nail on the head bruh.
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