Where we are at

After our last visit to Robert weaver, joined by The Project lead, our group has a sense of where to go. The Project lead informed our group she had a specific survey for the residents assessing the needs of the community. So, our group members divided up and set out to speak with each of the residents. we asked them all sorts of questions pertaining to the needs of their houses. Many residents identified walkway obstructions, and leaks which need to be fixed. After gathering and compiling our data, we presented it to The Project lead. She graciously took the data and told us if we would like to further help we could become Project leaders. The leaders instruct volunteers on their tasks during the period the houses are being worked on.

Blog Post #5

blog post #5

Images of America Austin’s Rosewood Neighborhood.

                The first thing that caught my eye in this book was the description of a picture. In this particular picture a bridge essentially stood alone with no other development in sight. The description mentioned how the authors grew up in east Austin without a single pizza delivery joint. To get a pizza they would have to drive to a gas station on the west side of I35 and meet the delivery man there. It’s shocking to me how much the picture has changed since then. Now, pizza places and other restaurants appear to be on every street corner. After the picture of the bridge, yet before the pizza places, there existed the culturally rich neighborhood of Rosewood.

                 Another picture I was drawn to was a young boy walking down the street holding hands with two young girls. The picture displayed the community of the neighborhood and that joy seemed to radiate from the children. I wonder if the neighborhoods today lack that joy and community. Children now mostly play indoors and it is not uncommon for neighbors to lack relations with one another.

                Also in the book, a few pictures documented the Victory Grille. Many famous musicians visited the grille, supporting Austin as being the “live music capital of the world.” As you can imagine, the guests of the grille shaped the culture of the neighborhood. But it is important to note that Rosewood brought their own culture to the bar tables, making Victory Grille a lively place musicians dreamed of visiting.  

Blog Post #4

Like many cities experiencing gentrification, many middle income class families are moving into low income neighborhoods. The new home owners frequently redevelop the homes increasing the property taxes in the neighborhood. Consequently the low income families are unable to pay the increased tax and are forced out of their neighborhood to another they can afford. In Colorado Springs, Colorado gentrification is developing around the downtown (DT) area. The DT area is a place most cities are experiencing gentrification. There are many reasons why, however, I find one particularly interesting. “Hipsters” move DT. The Colorado Springs hipsters move closer to coffee shops and old homes with a lot of artistic potential.  In the Maboneng area of Johannesburg Hipster professionals are also moving DT intermixing with very low income families usually of color. The Gentrification in these two cities is drastically changing the culture and displacing many people of their social dynamics. East Austin directly compares to the former two cities except one way; the master plan of 1928 forced African Americans to move into East Austin. City leaders decided to segregate the people and create a neighborhood comprising of mostly low income families. While driving through East Austin on Monday I saw with my own eyes what gentrification looks like. I saw some homes were built in what looked like little regard to their neighbors and other home owners who seemed to think at least a little about the repercussions of building Mcmansion. Overall, the word gentrification became very real and I now understand what happens to a community when it begins.  

Blog Post #3

A few interesting facets from the two readings fixed my attention. First, reading what exactly the 1928 Master Plan did to people caught me off-guard. It should be of no surprise people can have little regard to another, but there was something profound learning of just how little regard the city of Austin demonstrated. The city completely took advantage of minorities by forcing them to move and create a new life. The article outlined how unfairly these people were treated. It is mind blowing how no one cared about up-rooting the minorities then, and now many years later, extensions of the minorities families are being faced with an up-rooting of their own. Still, few seem to care. The lack of ability to empathize with the minorities is from the creation of segregation. People don’t view the minorities as equals to themselves. It is hard for majorities to put themselves in minority’s shoes they believe to be fundamentally different. Comparatively, I found interesting the second article characterized a few minorities who were up-rooted to East Austin. The article exemplified that beyond color, the majorities and minorities were two in the same. Each had friends, family, hardships, businesses, and worth in the world. 

Cultural Assessment

Blog Post 2

Question 1.
       Since the beginning of time people have been using one another to achieve gains for themselves. the reason for this is simple, humans crave power over others and a sense of feeling important. Throughout time, however, there has been a large scale movement from taking advantage of an individual, to taking advantage of an entire race. France, US, Brazil, and others have sought after the hunger of power in similar ways. What happens is the "exploiter" or the before-mentioned nations, uses and abuses the "exploited," usually consisting of colored people, for selfish gain. In all cases, the exploited are labored  exhaustively. All of their work is rewarded to the exploiter, while the exploited receive only suffering in return. In the US, and France their segregation was very apparent. The whites continually told the colored people that they were less significant and were told to be submissive. These Nations didn't sugar coat what they believed to be true. However, in Brazil the segregation was not as pronounced, most likely because this way they could achieve segregation without people knowing what was happening.
Question 2.
       Racism has created a seemingly everlasting inequality in the housing market. People of Color have been forced into low income neighborhoods with no little to no way out. Segregated neighborhoods and even whole communities are a direct result of this, more often than not, the factors creating the segregation, are the same factors inhibiting a change. Racism enabled a diabolical cycle for segregation which has trapped many in what feels like a steel cage.
Question 3.
       : Complexity of Developing an Identity
       : Dominance and Subordination- there is inequality, dominant wish ignorance on subordinate
       : Dominance and Subordination- it is possible to be both. ties back in with identity
Question 4.
       1. I have two parents who support me.
       2. I know if i ever needed help with rent, i could count of family and friends for support.
       3. I can apply for a job and not worry that others might judge me based on skin color.
       4. I am able to go to University
       5. I live in a neighborhood that is statistically safe.
       6. I can be comfortable I will not be denied a job based on sex.
Overall, reading an article like this should be something I do more frequently. its important to understand the privileges I have so I don't take them for granted or dismiss them as nothing.
     

Getting an Understanding

Hello,

                My name is Erik Behr and I am a third year student studying Social work. I have attended 3 different colleges throughout my undergraduate education and during some of these transitions I discovered the hidden interest I have with global social problems and development in local communities. My first year of college was spent at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, fl. I was playing lacrosse there and about mid-way through the season I was taken out with a back injury. From here, I knew life would be changing and I had the option to choose a new direction to head for. Before finding another college that I felt was a good fit for me, I decided to take a semester off and head to Uganda to do some volunteer work. While there I was challenged in countless ways and manners while learning about how happy one can become by simply attempting to make others happy. Uganda exposed a hidden passion I have with global and local development. Since then, I have transferred into the School of Social Work and have been presented with a remarkable opportunity to take a class such as this one.

                Today, I found out the interesting perceptions people have of East Austin. I decided to interview my two roommates. One of whom -Collin- has lived in Austin for 3 years and seems to have a pretty good sense of the city, at least, when I ask him where the post office is or how to get to target he can give me step by step directions. The other roommate –Greg- has only lived In Austin for 2 months but works in northeast Austin and is around a different community of people than the small city we have going here at UT. Even though both of their experiences with Austin have been quite different, the things they have heard or know about East Austin are pretty similar. Collin said he has heard East Austin is pretty “ghetto” and run down. He said in his experiences of driving through this neighborhood in the city he saw many abandoned building, trash fill streets, and overgrowth overtaking the development in place. The first thing Greg said was “I have been told to never go there,” I asked him to elaborate and he explained that a few of his coworkers live in East Austin and told him “if possible, never find yourself on that side of the highway.”

                After conducting some brief internet research, there are a high number of people who say similar things. It seems that most people have been complaining about the condition of the neighborhoods and have been trying to get attention in order for some intervention to occur. The help that has been given seems to be opposite of what the people wanted. “Gentrification,” defined as: the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents, has been pushing people out of their homes from raising property values, and has made people lose identity with their neighborhood. The other thing that was frequently talked about was how great of a place East Austin is to live if you are a hipster. Downtown Austin entertains all the hipsters with the great coffee shops, indy music, and the community unity makes the place feel as home. It’s interesting to see all of the different perspectives of East Austin, but I can’t wait to get a sense for myself.