The ways people of color are hurt by gentrification have been played out for decades: gentrification is racist and classist, hurts marginalized people, destroys communities and fosters discrimination and cultural appropriation. When privileged whites flock to a Black neighborhood, they are often the harbingers of doom. Rents skyrocket to the point where the original population can no longer afford them — and that population then often moves to low-income suburbs like Ferguson outside St. Louis. But how do white people benefit from this process that gives the people with more social, political, and economic power more control over the living space?
Benefiting From White Privilege
If you are able to live somewhere post-gentrification, are able to enjoy the amenities in a gentrified neighborhood, and aren’t somebody that people want out of their neighborhood due to some aspect of your physical presentation or identity, then you have some privilege that others don’t, as pointed out by everydayfeminism.com.
