The Work and Class of Women in New Orleans - Essay Example

The Work and of Women in New Orleans Introduction Individuals live under the struggle to ensure equity in the status of living. The urge to secure employment positions that are highly paying is on the rise despite the increase in privatized organizations. The prime purpose of this essay is on privatization and gentrification of organizations and the effect on the women living in the New Orleans Riverfront region. Additionally, the paper entails history of public housing and the role of activists in public housing. Further, the essay involves the result of gentrification in regards to who wins and who loses. Finally, there are reasons for a difficulty in the struggle of public housing in the New Orleans region. Privatization and gentrification of the New Orleans Riverfront region for tourism Privatization refers to a state where the government institutions turn to privately owned institutions. Gentrification is a term that has two contrasting definitions. For one, gentrification refers to the motive of individuals to advance at the expense of the poor. Secondly, gentrification refers to the desire to improve downsizing cities and to ensure equity in salary for people of diverse gender. According to Arena, gentrification in the New Orleans region comes in when the whites (activists to public housing) decide to have a minimal number of the blacks living in public areas. Historical look at the struggle over public housing St. Thomas public housing development in the New Orleans Riverfront region for tourism was originally the state’s property with the leaders strongly against it (St. Thomas public housing) being a privately owned development organization. Therefore, due to the state’s growth and a reduction in income generated by the public housing development, the leaders change their perception regarding privatization. The only way out to reduce the pressure of the undergrowth is to amalgamate the organization or have it as a private entity. The role of resident activists of public housing Activists are vital persons in ensuring that there is equity in issuance of property to diverse individuals in a particular region. Resident activists ensure that there is a limit in discriminating against human beings of different gender (Acker 29). Individuals living in the New Orleans public housing region for tourism were both men and women in need of aid from the government. The reason for public support is that most of the people are from poor backgrounds and therefore require several personal advances to have a better living status. The two distinguished social classes in the New Orleans are the poor living in public houses and the rich who lived in private houses. The strategic process of undermining resistance against the demolition of the historic St. Thomas public housing community A better way of ensuring that there is little or no resistance by people in the state for whatever changes are going to take place is of importance. Activists need to strategize better ways of ensuring that individuals within a certain region do not turn out of the stipulated change. People need to have prior knowledge concerning the anticipated change and the reason for the change. Impact of change depends on the strategy used to have individuals adopt the current position of the society or social class. For instance, a change from a middle class to low class is most likely to result in a conflicting situation while a change from a low class to a higher class of living may result to improved relations on the beings living in a specific region. Therefore, the best way of residential activists impeding change is by joining to fight for their rights. The role of the non-profit industrial complex The best thing to do when bringing in change to various individuals (especially individuals of diverse perception) is to have a dialogue with the leaders of the set society. Negotiating with individuals regarding relevant information for privatization helps reduce resistance. The non-profit industrial complex aims at strategizing policies that favor leaders of the public housing and the black urban regime looking forward to turn public housing to private entities (Morgen, Acker, and Weigt 65). As a result, it is vital to obtain better negotiation tactics to ensure that negotiation results to a win-win solution. The winner and loser with gentrification Gentrification resulting to a rise in social status of different persons denotes that the individuals fall under the winning team while gentrification resulting to individuals moving on to a lower class denotes that the private person as the winner. In the New Orleans region, privatization emerges the private owner as the winners, as they have full control of the public structures. The losers in the New Orleans are the blacks (current public inhabitants) because they have to move from the houses and search for other regions to settle with their families (Arena). Reasons for a hard fought battle during the struggle for public housing in New Orleans The struggle for privatizing public housing is tough due to various reasons. According to Arena, the struggle for public housing in Orleans was difficult because of the black urban regime fighting for the rights of the blacks. There is also a failure of private owners to accommodate all individuals in the privatized municipal housing. The New Orleans private owners failed to show evicted individuals were to move their families to, a situation resulting to disagreements between resident activists and private ownership activists. To help overcome such negative effects (specific disagreements), it is vital for the activists to ensure they set aside certain areas accommodating most of the evicted persons. In the organizations, merging of dissimilar organizations necessitates a concern for the welfare of the workers. It is of great importance to ensure that employees of the merged company secure some positions in the new organization. Impact of Hurricane Katrina to city leaders’ desires for further private development Dynamic influence on the city-states leads to the enormous destruction of property and human lives. The Hurricane Katrina is a deadly Tropical disaster that not only results in the destruction of the weak structures but also the abolishment of structures built long time and using much of the state’s finance. The Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans was flooded, which affected much of the privately owned property, since it was after privatization. The unwelcoming effect occurs when the set organization or public land is under destruction due to the unpredicted storm leaving most of the property drilled into the ground. It becomes an expense to have destructed private property, reconstructed for a continuation of the business. Private owners invest more capital in the reconstruction unlike public ownership where the government tops up individuals’ capital of rebuilding enterprises. Arena asserts for initiatives to work on prevention of Hurricane Katrina in the future. Effect of public housing in shaping perpetuation of inequality based on class, gender, and citizenship a) Class Social classes encompassing several individuals within the society largely depend on where one stays. Public housing is an effective indicator of unlike classes of various human kinds within the same region. Morgen, Acker, and Weigt state that the reason for public housing being the prime cause of social difference is that in entails individuals from poor societies (low-income earners) and others from the wealthy status (rich people). The desire for the rich to turn public housing to private owned lands brings in deviations between the poor and the rich. Therefore, it is worth denoting that activists should limit privatization of public housing to ensure there is equity in the allocation of available resources. b) Gender Gender is the base of discrimination in the society due to unfairness in the distribution of necessities between males and females. Most of the men lack the desire to see women excel in their lives and looks upon ways of exposing them (women) to difficult situations. Failure of women to provide shelter for their children results in an increase in the number of poor women. Acker (29) illustrates that it is an activists’ responsibility to ensure that ownership of public housing is for individuals of both genders. c) Citizenship The means of becoming a citizen of a particular region acts as a strategy for those who easily access public housing. Men citizens could own public housing while women citizens have a low probability of public property. To avoid unfairness when obtaining public services, activists need to ensure that all individuals are equal disregard of their type of citizenship. According to Acker (181), it is significant to enhance democracy through setting a level aimed at ensuring honesty in living standards. Summary and conclusion Gentrification and privatization of public housing portray a negative scenario on the poor people living within a certain region. Persons unable to acquire better lands for shelter to their families get aid from the government, which charges little cash on the houses as compared to the rental charges of private owned houses. Both gentrification and privatization increases poverty in the region and contrastingly enhances the wealth status of the rich who later on own public housing. The primary concern of activists should be to enact strategies that have positive impacts on individuals incapable of providing for their basic needs (specifically, shelter). Conclusively, the wish for privatizing public housing should be in such a manner that it considers the welfare of poor individuals. Privatization and gentrification should not discriminate against race or gender of the people currently taking refuge at public houses. Therefore, it is worth noting that individuals should aim at holding negotiations prior to the day of evicting public housing inhabitants to avoid conflicts or rioting of people. Works Cited Acker, Joan. Class Questions: Feminist Answers. Lanham, Md. [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Print. Arena, John. Driven from New Orleans: How Nonprofits Betray Public Housing and Promote Privatization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012. Print. Morgen, Sandra, Acker, Joan and Weigt, Jill. Stretched Thin: Poor Families, Welfare Work, and Welfare Reform. New York: Cornell University Press, 2010. Print.     Read More