Race, Class, and Latinidad in New York City: The Decision to Stay Put When El Barrio Gentrifies

• In Event: Losing Place, Losing Opportunity: The Varied Experiences of Latinx Families With Neighborhood and School Gentrification

Abstract

Demographic inversion- where city neighborhoods that were once predominantly Black and/or Latinx are now seeing influxes of more affluent, mostly white, residents while once all-white suburbs are increasingly seeing influxes of Families of Color (Ehrenhalt, 2012; Frey, 2018)- has been a powerful trend (re)shaping metropolitan areas in recent decades. The New York City (NYC) metropolitan area- where Latinx residents are the largest ethno-racial minority group- has provided one of the starkest examples of this trend. NYC had the most gentrified neighborhoods and the highest number of neighborhoods with Latinx displacement in the country between 2000 and 2013 (Richardson et al., 2019). Yet, despite the growing presence of Latinx communities across NYC’s metropolitan area, and the country, we know surprisingly little about how Latinx parents decide where to live or send their children to school- a factor that is in part driving demographic inversion.

Drawing from a larger comparative case study (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017) that explores the decision-making processes of middle-class, Latinx parents about where to live amid demographic inversion in the NYC metropolitan area, this paper focuses on how the subset of parents who stay in gentrifying neighborhoods post-2000 decide to stay put as the neighborhoods they have called home for decades change around them and become increasingly unaffordable. I rely on 26 in-depth interviews and critical discourse analyses of public comments across three gentrified neighborhoods to understand how race, class, and local school reputations play into the decisions parents make. More specifically, I explore how their perceived racial identities and the racialized public discourse on demographic change shape their decision-making processes.

Building on research that emphasizes the importance of analyzing race within Latinx communities, I find that, in addition to the financial constraints placed on them by rising rent prices and a shifting commercial landscape, parents’ racial identities are central to how they conceptualize gentrification and their desire to stay put. Latinx parents who identify as Black or “not white”-as one parent put it- have a heightened awareness of the social dynamics of gentrifying neighborhoods and the increased hostility they and their children face with the influx of white families. Conversely, other Latinx parents emphasize the positive changes in the neighborhood and schools around them- particularly an increased sense of safety and the improvements to the built environment. These perceptions factor into how they characterize their decisions to stay put and where they send their children to school. To make sense of these varying perspectives, I employ a framework of complimentary social theories that places middle-class Latinx parents within the system of ethno-racial stratification in the United States and the ever-present social constraints that inform their daily lives.

By centering these parents’ experiences and expanding the research on gentrification in ways that address the variation within Latinx communities, the findings of this study provide insights for how schools and local governments can best meet the needs of Latinx families they serve and has direct implications for crafting anti-displacement policies and practices in schools and neighborhoods.

Author

• Diana Cordova-Cobo, Teachers College, Columbia University