gentrification

Communities around the country grapple with what to do with their vacant and abandoned buildings, which, over time, can become eyesores. Not only are dilapidated buildings ugly, they can hurt the value of surrounding property and become hangouts for drug dealers, prostitutes and the homeless. Elected leaders know they are also major barriers to revitalizing urban areas such as downtown shopping districts and low-income neighborhoods.

For more than a half-century, social scientists have been exploring and debating the idea of “racial threat,” in which white citizens adopt more racist attitudes, and support more racially biased policies, as their perceived dominance becomes “threatened” by the growth of African-American or other minority populations in or near white communities.

From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Jackelyn Hwang, Harvard University.