Take Back the Block

Take Back the Block illustrates the many different effects that gentrification has on communities and does not shy away from presenting the more hidden, negative aspects that occur. Most importantly, the novel is designed to inject a note of hope and declare that existing communities can find a way prevail or at least survive in the face of gentrification. Some of gentrification’s effects are physical and fairly obvious, such as the demolition of older neighborhoods and buildings to make way for newer, fancier dwellings and shops that appeal to affluent, upper-class, and/or white residents. Gentrification also involves the physical displacement of community members, many of whom are working-class and/or people of color, and this dynamic contributes to shifting racial and class demographics in affected neighborhoods. However, not all of gentrification’s effects are visible or immediately evident, and the author implies that the less obvious effects can be just as harmful. For example, the novel shows how gentrification can also contribute to the dissolution of friendships, families, and communities and cause bitter arguments. Additionally, the process often affects unexpected changes in academic or work environments and causes self-esteem issues among the displaced. In more serious examples, police misconduct, racial unrest, and even decreased levels of safety can occur. Despite these hardships that often result from gentrification, Take Back the Block suggests that communities can survive gentrification and continue to thrive, even if changes occur in the neighborhood and some community members are forced to move away.

Through Mr. Baker’s article, the novel likens gentrification to segregation because it renovates neighborhoods that were once havens for working-class people and/or people of color and alters them to appeal to new, more affluent residents. Although these renovations may seem harmless or even positive at first glance, the novel shows that they are actually harmful because what allows them to exist is the displacement of original, underprivileged residents. For example, although Wes is pleased with the new milkshake shop near where Kari used to live, he reflects, “I was starting to wonder what would happen if the Oaks got redeveloped. Would our street be the latest home to a bunch of stores that let you build your own pizza, bake your own doughnuts, and blend your own organic fruit smoothies?” (56). A new milkshake shop seems nice unless it has replaced someone’s former home, thereby displacing that person and sending their life into chaos. This concept is revisited later in the novel, for when discussing the changes to a nearby high school, Mr. Reggie says, “What bothers me is all these improvements to the school happened when the rich white people moved in. […] It wasn’t until we moved out and they moved in that someone spent some money to update the place” (181). This observation reveals the fact that racism and segregation are often intertwined with gentrification. Whereas nobody bothered to fix the school when it was mostly populated with Black students, the shift to a mostly white demographic resulted in quick improvements to the school, which the displaced Black students won’t benefit from. In this sense, gentrification does not really improve the communities it claims to improve; instead, it maintains racialized income gaps and different levels of access to quality education while simply moving communities to different geographical locations.

Beyond the obvious physical effects, gentrification also damages Wes’s community because it results in police misconduct, causes people to argue, and threatens to disintegrate long-standing friendships, such as those between Wes, Kari, and Brent. Fortunately, however, the boys’ triumphs over the novel’s “villain” of gentrification are proof of the resilience, power, and significance in the same communities that gentrification seeks to tear apart. The most prominent example of the problems involved occurs when unfamiliar, white officers start patrolling Kensington Oaks and the surrounding area, treating the Black residents with suspicion and taking Kari into custody for no reason. This incident and the underlying shift in dynamics threaten the safety of the residents, for the police are acting against the community instead of serving and protecting it. Another example occurs when Kari has to move again and switch schools, which causes him to suffer emotionally and get into more fights, illustrating some of the unexpected interpersonal effects that gentrification can have. However, when Wes’s family steps in to help Kari and reminds him that he still has a place in their community, this gesture illustrates the power of communities to rise above the negative effects of gentrification.