Gentrification: The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people.
My girlfriends sister goes to Kentucky State. They (KSU) brought two bus loads of students to Atlanta to attend The Honda Battle of the Band and the Clark-Atlanta vs. Kentucky State game. After the HBOTB was over we proceeded to Clark?s campus for the game. Of course there was traffic everywhere. When I first moved to Atlanta my apartment complex was in the West End, therefor I?m very familiar with the back streets through Vine city and the West End. For those not familiar with Atlanta, Vine City is basically the area the separates The AUC and the Georgia Dome. The way that I went had us go through the middle of a housing projects. I parked right in front of the housing project and began to get out the car. My girlfriend responded ?where the hell are we at?? I stated, ?at Clark aren?t we going to the game?. We were parked 40 to 50 yards from Clarks Campus and Gym. She was scared to death and refused to get out the car, saying you need to find somewhere else to park.
Quick Background of Myself
I grew in the Historic District of Dayton, Ohio. My parent?s house is walking distance from the house Paul Lawrence Dunbar lived in. My father?s a Teacher, mother?s a Nurse. Being in the Historic District my parents have a huge house and yard. When friends from school would came to my house for the first time, I always heard ?You?ll must be rich?. I like to say I?ve had the best of both worlds. I have two college educated parents (one attended an HBCU) who really didn?t make a lot of money but did a great job of making sure their kids were rounded. Yet, most of my friend lived in the projects so I saw first hand what it was like to be ?without?. There was a huge housing projects two blocks for our house separated by Park. Most of my friends growing up lived in the Housing projects. I guess because of this, its no thing for me to walk through a housing projects day or night. My girlfriend on the other had, grew up in the Burbs of Cincinnati where her neighbors were doctors and attorneys.
Clarks campus is set up like this. You have Clarks gym, next is the University Homes (projects), then the rest of Clarks campus. It?s not an understatement when I say the projects is in the middle of Clark campus.
The AUC is said to attract some of our ?brightest? African America students from all over the country. I don?t know this as fact, but with Tuition and Board at nearly $20,000 a year, I would say the average student comes from a middle class to upper middle class environment. Why would you want our ?best? to live in the ?middle of the project? while attending college? Can you imagine how different Harvard or Vanderbilt would be with a trailer park in the middle of their campus?
I know a lot of our HBCU?s are in the same positions as Clark. Until recently, the was a housing projects behind Tennessee State. It was torn down a couple of years ago and replaced with very nice single family homes. It really improved the ?look? of the campus.
After saying all of this, are you for or against gentrification in the AUC?
My girlfriends sister goes to Kentucky State. They (KSU) brought two bus loads of students to Atlanta to attend The Honda Battle of the Band and the Clark-Atlanta vs. Kentucky State game. After the HBOTB was over we proceeded to Clark?s campus for the game. Of course there was traffic everywhere. When I first moved to Atlanta my apartment complex was in the West End, therefor I?m very familiar with the back streets through Vine city and the West End. For those not familiar with Atlanta, Vine City is basically the area the separates The AUC and the Georgia Dome. The way that I went had us go through the middle of a housing projects. I parked right in front of the housing project and began to get out the car. My girlfriend responded ?where the hell are we at?? I stated, ?at Clark aren?t we going to the game?. We were parked 40 to 50 yards from Clarks Campus and Gym. She was scared to death and refused to get out the car, saying you need to find somewhere else to park.
Quick Background of Myself
I grew in the Historic District of Dayton, Ohio. My parent?s house is walking distance from the house Paul Lawrence Dunbar lived in. My father?s a Teacher, mother?s a Nurse. Being in the Historic District my parents have a huge house and yard. When friends from school would came to my house for the first time, I always heard ?You?ll must be rich?. I like to say I?ve had the best of both worlds. I have two college educated parents (one attended an HBCU) who really didn?t make a lot of money but did a great job of making sure their kids were rounded. Yet, most of my friend lived in the projects so I saw first hand what it was like to be ?without?. There was a huge housing projects two blocks for our house separated by Park. Most of my friends growing up lived in the Housing projects. I guess because of this, its no thing for me to walk through a housing projects day or night. My girlfriend on the other had, grew up in the Burbs of Cincinnati where her neighbors were doctors and attorneys.
Clarks campus is set up like this. You have Clarks gym, next is the University Homes (projects), then the rest of Clarks campus. It?s not an understatement when I say the projects is in the middle of Clark campus.
The AUC is said to attract some of our ?brightest? African America students from all over the country. I don?t know this as fact, but with Tuition and Board at nearly $20,000 a year, I would say the average student comes from a middle class to upper middle class environment. Why would you want our ?best? to live in the ?middle of the project? while attending college? Can you imagine how different Harvard or Vanderbilt would be with a trailer park in the middle of their campus?
I know a lot of our HBCU?s are in the same positions as Clark. Until recently, the was a housing projects behind Tennessee State. It was torn down a couple of years ago and replaced with very nice single family homes. It really improved the ?look? of the campus.
After saying all of this, are you for or against gentrification in the AUC?
