Housing Rights

-

     With the traumatic events that occurred this week, I find it hard not to mention how important it is that we support each other the best we can, and support is something that can be found in communities, no matter what the community looks like, or who the community's citizens are. With this, we can look at the current and past housing situations that many families face. 

After our discussion in class about how segregation still affects multiple areas, especially Metro Detroit, I searched the internet for more information on Metro Detroit and its housing situation. Luckily I found the U.S Census Bureau's Quick Facts on Detroit City compared to the rest of Michigan.

U.S Census Bureau QuickFacts

This study yields information similar to what we discussed in class, but seeing this information compared to Michigan as a whole shocked me. The amount of Black or African American individuals in Detroit City is about 78.3%, while the amount of Black or African American individuals in the whole of Michigan is only 14.1% (as of 2019). But what shocked me the most was the median household income for Metro Detroit and Michigan, $30,894 and $57,144 respectively. 

When the annual income gap is this huge, how can we blame anyone for staying in a community where they can afford to live? I do believe that we should have the right to live wherever we want, but how? Low household income means lower education rates, which then relates back to low household income. 

If I live in a community that not only offers support, but also makes me feel like I fit in, then we could get through the tough times together, and stand together in support for other communities. I certainly wouldn't know the struggle that Black and African American communities faced during times like The Raisin in the Sun, but I do know what being in a supportive community feels like.

Comments

  1. Veeksha SudhirDecember 5, 2021 at 12:21 PM

    I agree with your post, I think we leave out the financial aspect of living in a certain community. We should also have the ability to be happy where we live and it is a psychological fact that we are happier and more comfortable when we are around people of the same race. This allso plays a big role in the build of our communities today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EvaDecember 5, 2021 at 8:33 PM

    You highlighted the issue of the trap of communities like those in Detroit excellently. It's so easy for us to tell people that you could live anywhere you want, but in a place where money is such a crucial part to deciding where to live, is that statement really true? Lower-income places can't afford to pay as much in taxes for public schooling, let alone to pay tuition for private schooling. It's a bitter loop, really.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's in a Name?

-
Image
     With this being the first 12 AP blog, I think introducing myself and talking about the origins of my name would be a better way to start the school year.      So the name Shambhavi (Shum-ba-vee). Having a unique name already distinguishes me from others. My name usually isn't something that people are able to pronounce correctly the first time. Instead, I'll get a few mispronounced versions of my name before the right pronunciation.      As a child, my appreciation for my name was much lower than it is now. I wasn't used to being the only unique name in between other Toms, Sallys, and Jims. In third grade, I chose to go by SGS which is my initials rather than my full name, which I wasn't able to continue for more than a week because of my teacher. Growing up my parents told me how my name was chosen, but the weight and significance of the name took longer for me to understand.      Shambhavi: the name of a...
Read more

Is our Empathy just? (The Leavers)

-
        A mother left her child all by himself in a world that seems to not be meant for him. He is seen as an alien by not only his peers, but even his own adoptive parents. “I can’t figure out how to act around him sometimes,” something no child would want to hear from their adoptive mother. We see the son grow up into becoming an alcoholic and gambling addict, but still trying to save his face, he seems to get better. While reading through the novel, I found myself constantly wondering what I would do if I was stuck in situations similar to Deming(the son) or Polly(the mother). Would I remain sane if my mother disappeared and never came back? Would I be able to save myself from a gambling addiction or alcoholism?      As humans we tend to believe that we would never end up in circumstances that Deming or Polly ended up in, "I'm smart enough, if my grade falls then I would work harder for it" or "If I became addicted to gambling I could pu...
Read more

Cathy Park Hong's Minor Feelings

-
     Last year in AP Lang we read a part of Cathy Park Hong's book Minor Feelings, specifically, The Indebted, and Hong's writing style and word choice stuck with me as impactful and gave me a new perspective on different ideas.      When thinking of beautiful words and poetry, the first thing that came to my mind was Minor Feelings and The Indebted. Although I haven't read all of Minor Feelings, there were two lines from the book that stuck out to me as beautiful.      “Innocence is both a privilege and a cognitive handicap, a sheltered unknowingness that, once protracted into adulthood, hardens into entitlement.” Hong's choice of words such as "unknowingness" and "hardens" brings a sense of (interestingly enough) innocence turning into the knowledge of self, which is exactly what Hong is trying to convey. Another notable word to point out is Hong referring to innocence as a "cognitive handicap", unlike others who would refer...
Read more