Houston:Historical Social Reproduction TodaySpatial Hierarchy | Education | Gentrification

Frank RodriguezSOC/PAM 41610

Spring 2013

Historical Structural Forces

• Historical Contexto Patterns of settlemento Slavery was a part of Houston life

o Once freed from slavery, African-Americans were forced into slave-like labor due to discrimination in housing, employment, etc.

• Formerly a resource based economyo Money in fields related to oil and working in the Port of Houston

o Historically building a platform for today’s Houston inequality

Implications:

Many municipalities with their own deed restrictions Concentrated hoarding of

resources and services One of the most economically

segregated cities in the US (Pew 2012)

Social distances Narrow understanding of broader

inequality

River Oaks 5th Ward

Sociopolitical & Income

Segregation

• Concentrated Disadvantageo Correlated with race and ethnicity

• Fragmentation in educationo Different educational outcomes within

the Houston area• No “Zoning Laws”

o Factories, warehouses, industrial centers, etc. can be placed anywhere near residential centers

o Industrial centers concentrated in SE and NE Houston (predominately Latino & African-American communities)

(From 2000 Census)

Whatever It Takes:Transforming American Schools

(Holland 2005)• Story of Project GRAD

o Founded at Davis High School (adjacent to Downtown) in 1992-1993 academic year• National non-profit that supports public education

• Awards scholarships to studentso Voices from students living in poverty in

the Northside Community• Value of education in their homes• Setting high aspirations and expectations in order to have college readiness come into fruition

• Engagement with the Culture of Povertyo Counters the belief of oppositional

attitudeso Explains the relation of structure and

history in the formation of these attitudes and outcomes

Policy: School Choice

• Houston Independent School District (HISD)o 7th largest in the US (Over 200,000 students)o “Open enrollment” policy

• 2012 BOND Proposal to Rebuilt and Revitalize HISD Campuseso Intended to be based on “need” assessed by

private engineering firms & cost per student enrollment

o Outcome: children were being invested in by different amounts

• Arguable Implicationso Deters strength from community feeder

patterns (K-12)• Avenue for displacement and

gentrificationo Further concentration of resources in the

“good” schools• Acknowledging the failure to deal with

diversity in HISDo Promotes further reproduction inequality

Looking Ahead…• Houston growth and expansion

o Racial and ethnic diversity• Future demographics will be representative

of the US• Grounds for testing race-focused policies

o Gentrification• Newly created “high quality urban

environments” for young professionals• Reinforced by the expansion of the METRO

Rail, connecting core with affluence• Displacement of Latino and African-American

familieso Destroying social ties, further social

distance and discriminationo Sprawl: Displaced Latino and African-American

families might be placed into isolated underserved areas

• Conflicting Political Interestso Within HISD: Decision to cut funding for Project

GRAD (2012)

• Concentration of Resources and Mentalitieso Related to the Culture of Poverty

• Certain behavioral, educational, incarceration, achievement, earning rates being associated with certain areas of Houston

• Disposition of “Us vs. Them”o Perpetuated disinterest in progressive policies

because of embedded self-interest