Gentrification
Photograph: Gentrification on the once largely Hispanic neighborhood on Holly Street in East Austin, Texas, in 2018. Photo credit: Larry D. Moore | CC4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons.
Introduction
The following resources are examples of gentrification argued as a positive from some perspective: increasing a city’s tax base, etc.
Messages and Essays on Race, Land, and Housing
Mako Nagasawa, John Locke’s Theology of Private Property, edited by Grace Tien and Maria Eugenia Funes, Religion and Racial Capitalism. Palgrave MacMillan, 2025.
American libertarians and private property absolutists appeal to John Locke, remembered as an English political philosopher. Locke originally positioned himself, however, as a biblical scholar and theologian. As such, Locke departed from Christian tradition. I argue the relationship between Locke’s political philosophy and the Bible is that of a parasite and its host. Christian leaders prior to Locke believed that the earth is the Lord’s, the fruit of the earth belongs to all, and the political community could modify property in various ways because it was ethically and chronologically prior to private property. Locke, however, argued that individuals first create private property by enclosing land and laboring on it, then bring their private properties into political society, which was meant by God to defend individual property rights. He thereby defended both the English Revolution of 1688 and also English colonialism in the Americas.
Finding a Home in God’s Bigger Story
Intersection Journal, The Telos Collective, April 15, 2021. “Many Christian conservatives decry the decline of “culture”—while seeking “dominion” over media, government, etc.—without doing much to help local communities… More liberal-minded Christians often celebrate a little “diversity training” at work, while practicing NIMBY-ism (“not in my backyard”) in zoning, protecting their kids at all costs, and neglecting low wages and the high cost of living. Are we only interested in a middle- and upper-class diversity, in our unsustainable suburban lifestyles? God cares about our sense of home, place, and community.”
Slides of a presentation given to the 2022 Reconstruction class. The introduction features John Winthrop vs. Roger Williams to highlight the debate over freedom of religious Conscience vs. Christendom. The presentation highlights Christian accomplishments in health and hospitals, education and schools, land ownership and economic justice, and criminal justice reform.
A series of blog posts where we explore many issues as Christian heresy, for which Christians must take responsibility in the frame of repentance. We have designed a study guide to accompany the blog posts. Please consider using it for personal reflection or discussion in your family, church, organization, etc.
Other Resources on Gentrification Argued as a Positive
Peter Reuell, A New View of Gentrification. Harvard Gazette, Aug 1, 2014.
Natalie Moore, Why Don't Black Chicago Neighborhoods Gentrify? WBEZ, Dec 17, 2014.
Joe Cortwright, In Defense of Gentrification. The Atlantic, Oct 31, 2015.
John Buntin, The Myth of Gentrification. Slate, Jan 14, 2015.
Kay Hymowitz, Why Spike Lee is Wrong About Gentrification. City Journal, Autumn 2015.
City of Boston, Imagine Boston 2030. City of Boston, 2017.
Alli Joseph, Who Benefits from Gentrification? Salon, Aug 1, 2017. Re: NYC
David Roberts, Young Families Typically Leave Cities for the Suburbs. Here's How to Keep Them Downtown. Vox, Jun 11, 2018. Re: Vancouver, Canada
Jacquinn Sinclair, 'The Gentrification Game' Puts Boston's Stark Changes In Sharp Relief. WBUR, Oct 30, 2018.
Jovanka Beckles, Solving California's Housing Crisis. Jacobin Magazine, Nov 5, 2018.
Coleman Hughes, Why Do Progressives Hate Gentrification? Quillette, Nov 25, 2019.
Jason Segedy, In Middle America, ‘Gentrification’ Is A Useless Word. The American Conservative, Dec 13, 2019.
Jerusalem Demsas, In Defense of the “Gentrification Building”. Vox, Feb 14, 2023. How the ugly, boxy, bland looking architecture are cheaper to build as affordable housing. Developers build them in lower income neighborhoods. Displacement is what happens to people. Gentrification is what happens to a neighborhood or area. Thus, gentrification can happen without displacement.
Race and Land: Topics:
Race: Topics:
This page is part of our section on Race, which contains the following:
Church and Empire: Topics:
Race is a construct created by European colonialism. For more background, consider the Church and Empire section of our website. This section reminds us what Christian faith was like prior to colonialism, and in resistance to colonialism, to show that Christianity is not “a white man’s religion.”
