Elite-Profit Making Strategies Reinforce Class- and Race-Based Inequalities in Cities - Essay Example

Elite-Profit Making Strategies Reinforce and Race-Based Inequalities in Cities In most of American cities, governments, policy makers, politicians, and elites are establishing policies driven towards encouraging individuals to visit urban areas in order to boost economic growth in these regions. They are introducing strategies aimed at attracting middle-class individuals to facilitate in the growth of retail and hospitality sectors. The key players in this issue are the elite in the society who have strong ties with the political environment. These issues are continuing to reinforce inequalities evident in class and race, particularly because blacks and Latinos are mostly the ones who are highly disadvantaged in the society. This paper will depict the manner in which elite-profit making strategies reinforce class- and race-based inequalities in cities, particularly with the support of public policies and electoral politics. Family Ties influence Class Inequality Popular knowledge reveals that new immigrants who have strong family and freindship ties have higher chances of being employed in the U.S. Their families and friends connect them with potential job opportunities, making it easy for them to secure employment or establish successful businesses (Kwong 57). This is particularly the case with those individuals having strong ties with wealthy families. Those who lack family ties are overburdened with significant smuggling debts and are exploited by fellow co-ethnic powers. Here, they encounter challenges while trying to run away from a society that has weak enforcement laws. In this case, the family plays a vital role with regard to safeguarding individuals from falling into poverty in American cities, widening the issue of race and class inequities in the society (Kwong 59). Discrimination, Prejudice, and Segregation Influence on Inequalities In the American society, the self-reinforcing cycle associated with discrimination, prejudice, as well as segregation was ended in the 1960s through the introduction of policies aiming at facilitating for equal acess into city resources. It was based on the widening rejection of racist opinions by white people as well as the number of federal laws and court decisions. These banned discrimination from the public sphere. For instance, in 1964, the Civil Rights Act banned racial discrimination with regard to employment (Massey and Denton 115). Moreover, discriminations in housing were eliminated. Even with these changes, the largest black societies were still segregated, indicating a pattern of extreme racial seclusion. Even though racial climate in the U.S. improved significantly in the 1970s, racism barred the blacks’ residential freedom. This is becaue the whites believed in ultimate domination of diverse resources and opportunities in cities. As such, it is true that prejudice and discrimination still dominate racist behaviors in most cities in America, especially in New York and Los Angeles (Massey and Denson 116). Housing Disparities show Patterns of Inequalities In the past 30 years, the issue of overt racism has gone down significantly, although most cities in America are still deeply isolated. Various other problems are prevalent in cities, particularly, inadequate public services and private enterprises among black neighborhoods in inner urban areas. These problems have prevailed in cities due to the issue of deep segregation. Presently, the major challenge is not about hindering individual white racists who emphatically excluded black people. For instance, various mortgage insurers and property owners in the 1960s articulated similar racial and social classes. This played a vital role with respect to helping them sustain stability in the market. Most provided financing to white suburban areas and refrained from offering mortgage insurance to minorities in the urban markets (Squires). This is because the issue of discrimination towards the blacks still dominated most cities, creating imbalance with respect to property ownership. Additionally, through the concentration of public housing to locations in center of cities as well as financing highways to create room for suburban development, the government has continued to reinforce dual housing in markets. Moreover, with the subsidization costs of roads, school construction, sewer systems, as well as other features of suburban infrastructure, the policies by the government encouraged urban sprawl. This means that a large number of people started to penetrate urban envuironments. As such, the white people situated in outlying communities realize increased benefits at the expense of the growing non-white population in cities and inner-ring residential communities (Squires). In this case, it is true that the initiatives that the government and other policy makers are embarking on are worsening the racial and class inequalities prevalent in American cities. Urban Space Militarization With respect to the issue of inequalities in class and race in Los Angeles, private police as well as high-tech surveillance systems guard wealthier neighborhoods. These mostly target the hillsides and canyons. Downtown, “urban renaissance,” which has been publicly subsidized, has encouraged corporations to make significant investment, bosting the growth of these regions. It has been separated from poor neighborhoods by moats and fortifications (Davis 307). Latinos and blacks characterize a number of these neighborhoods who are discriminated. The police have sealed them off with checkpoints and barricades. Various architectural buildings in Hollywood are highly secured to prevent people of other races from entering them (Davis 309). Therefore, it is true that this continues to aggravate the problem of class and racism in American cities. Attracting Elites to Cities Encourages Inequity At the time when America was witnessing rapid urbanization in the late 19th century, the municipal governments of the country managed politics attributed to city building politics. Their goal was to ensure that the growing population was accorded public services, vital security, health, as well as civic education. After a century, governments of cities shifted their duty to other tasks, such as investing in activities that would encourage people to visit cities. Presently, city regimes not only devote significant resources and energies to making basic as well as traditional municipal roles, but also make cities to emerge as entertainment zones. This process targets building of expensive entertainment facilities, mostly by collaborating with private investors. These amenities are designed with the ultimate goal of attracting people from outside towns, including middle classes from suburban areas into cities. This practice is evident even in America’s poorest and dilapidated cities, such as Newark and Detroit (Mollenkopf 334). Building a city for entertainment purposes is quite different compared to building a city that will house residential interests. Although building a city for entertainment purposes is regarded as a mechanism of generating resources to address residential interests, it is not easy to reconcile the two perspectives. For instance, a major feature that distinguished municipal services’ development in the late 19th century was their vital democratic state. These aims were not only meant for the affluent individuals, but also for the ordinary city dwellers. All classes of city dwellers in America gained access to free schools, clean water, parks, public libraries, as well as public health facilities unlike the comfortable middle class people in Europe’s great cities (Mollenkopf 335). Presently, cities are regarded as places that facilitate play. They are built manifestly to address the needs of middle class people who are capable of eating in outdoor restaurants, engage in professional sporting activities, attend various trade and professional agreements, as well as shop in festival malls. Most of these individuals are city visitors (Mollenkopf 332). Therefore, in the local leaders’ perspective, they should be safeguarded from the common city residents. Today, the city does not serve as a place where people from different classes and races meet. Instead, they should create an environment where city residents do not interfere with the activities of the visitors who visit these regions for entertainment and investment purposes (Massey 336). In this case, most city leaders are making entertainment projects to be the cornerstone for economic development in urban areas (Mollenkopf 342). They anticipate generating high levels of unemployment and ancillary investment particularly in retail and hospitality sectors. Influence of Political Inequality on Class and Race Interactions With regard to the issue of political inequality in the context of New York, a number of political inequities have influenced the class, racial, and ethnic structure as well as geography in the city. These issues had an insignificant impact than would be anticipated in the electoral politics of the city. Native-born blacks in New York resisted political domination of ethnic whites, who dominate most of the large cities in America. In this case, questions arise as to whether the city will encounter racial succession in the future, despite the fact that the first mayor to be elected in the city was black. Even though non-Hispanic whites are the minority in the entire population of New York, the electoral coalition is primarily white (Eisinger n.p). In this case, Latinos and blacks are underrepresented based on their potential white challengers. Conclusion Governments, policymakers, politicians and the elite individuals in the society play a vital role in influencing the state of class and race inequalities in cities. For instance, strong family ties prevent an individual from becoming impoverished after visiting an urban environment. Additionally, historical perceptions towards discrimination, prejudice, and segregation have played a vital role in driving inequalities in matters of race and class in cities. Moreover, issues such as discrimination in housing and militarization of urban space have forced people of different classes and races to live distinct lives, further aggravating inequalities in cities. The issue of inequality in class and race is also encouraged by when the government and politicians encourage the prevalence of elite individuals in predetermined locations in cities. Works Cited Davis, Mike. Fortress Los Angeles: the Militarization of Urban Space. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992. New York. Eisinger, Peter. The Politics of Bread and Circuses: Building the City for the Visitor Class. New York: Sage Publications, 2000. Print. Kwong, Peter. "Poverty Despite Family Ties." Maskovsky, Goode. New Poerty Studies. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 57-78. Print. Massey, Douglas S and Nancy Denton "The Continuing Causes of Segregation." Bridge, Gary and Sophie Watson. American Apartheid. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. 110-122. Print. Mollenkopf, John Hull. "Politial Inequality." Mollenkopf, John Hull. Dual Cities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1992. 333-357. Print. Squires, Gregory. "The Indelible Color Line." 2001. The American Prospect. web. 14 Nov 2014. . Read More