The New Harlem
I just had a disagreement with a friend, over what I call the 2006 version of the Harlem Renaissance. Specifically, the rise of condos, of chain stores -- indeed the rise of gentrification in this historic neighborhood.As a short-time (6 years) resident of Harlem, I have no true claim to the area. Unlike some of my neighbors, whose families have lived here for years, I cannot speak of the new faces and places in a 100% disparaging tone. Because I have to admit, I was ecstatic when Duane Reade FINALLY opened a store 2 blocks from my house. When Pathmark added to its stable of stores by opening a branch on 145th street. When Quiznos opened a franchise this summer just down the street. Shoot, even an internet cafe is 'coming soon'. Gentrification, I suppose, has its benefits.
But I also see the changes it has caused in Harlem, changes about which I do not hold my tongue. And so it was my latest observation that angered and hurt my friend, who is Asian. She was complaining about a downstairs neighbor - we live in the same building - and how loud he was. I was saying how tough it can be to deal with noise at all hours when people, as we do, hold jobs and have to get up the next morning. She responded by saying that if our landlord jacked up the rent, maybe our building would only attract professionals. I replied 'Oh, he can't do that, then the whole complexion of the building will change.'
She immediately took issue with my statement, saying (and I am paraphrasing here) 'Why are you always so concerned with complexion anyway? I know that you want black people to have a space here but Harlem wasn't always black. And neighborhoods change. I liked this neighborhood and was priced out of my old one so I moved here. And when you make these statements, that are so full of resentment, I don't feel welcome here. I feel like you look at me as just another one of those people.'
I looked her in the eye and said 'I wouldn't say that at all.', which is true. Because Harlem's gentrification was in full swing three years ago when my friend returned to NYC from a fellowship, with a new job but in need of a place to stay. Knowing that the apartment next to mine was available, I immediately called my landlord, who showed her the place that night. She got her apartment on the strength of our friendship -- and was pretty much unfamiliar with the area before she moved in, as she didn't visit me that often. So I reminded her that if I didn't want her to live here, I would never have let her know about the vacancy.
But let's get to the larger issue, with a little historical context. For those of you who are unaware, Harlem - spelled Haarlem initially - was founded by Dutch settlers in the 1600s and later became an enclave of wealthy white landowners. Remnants of that time, including the Alexander Hamilton house (he would be the chap on the $10 bill), still exist in the area. This fact is not a new one to me; in fact, I am the one who informed my friend/neighbor of it some time ago. I have no confusion on the genesis of Harlem.
Blacks began to move into Harlem in the early 1900s, due to construction, racial strife, real estate shortages and other facets of New York city life. As we moved in, whites moved out -- and it was that migration that laid the foundation for the Harlem we know (and many of us love) today, the cultural cradle of African American life.
Harlem is a place where African Americans have struggled, survived and thrived for many generations -- without the assistance or care from mainstream society. They were here, grinding it out, day after day, because it was home. For them, Harlem wasn't a placed they moved to because it was the last affordable housing market in Manhattan, Harlem wasn't a place to snap pictures of from a tour bus or a place to drop in to hear gospel music on Sundays and then forget about in the days ahead. Harlem was and is HOME, where they raised their children, attended church, agitated for social justice and more.
So, now that I think about it, I guess there is some truth in my friend's statement: maybe I am a little resentful...
I am resentful that it takes people who look like her or Bill Clinton or whoever moving to Harlem for people to view it as a viable, beautiful and worthy neighborhood.
I am resentful that it takes people who don't look like me or my superintendent or my landlord moving here for the banks/pharmacies/'insert store type here' of the world to recognize that there is a market and they can turn a profit here.
I am resentful that I have never seen more police activity in my Striver's Row neighborhood than I have in the past 18 months -- and the precinct is all of two blocks from my house.
I am resentful at statements like 'I liked the neighborhood and I was priced out of my old one, so I moved here', because it shows me that people are viewing Harlem as a piece of property rather than acknowledging its historical and cultural significance.
And I am resentful that the only housing available seems to be of the luxury variety, designed with the pockets of the upwardly mobile in mind, while those who have been here for generations are being pushed and priced further out.
All of these things, whether taken on their own or in the aggregate, make me wonder: do the lives of my people not count at all -- or do our lives increase proportionately in value, based on those who live around us? To anyone offended by my comments - and as I said to my friend - if my thoughts and words hurt, I am sorry; I do not intend for them to do so.
But I think this is an issue on which we will have to agree to disagree. To want the people of Harlem, who have been here in good times and bad, to reap the rewards of its resurgence is not something to be ashamed of. It is something toward which we all, new Harlemites and old, should strive.
posted by Miss E @ 1:18 PM
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