Young adults of color, urban divestment and political socialization in neighborhoods

ABSTRACT

While urban inequalities are well studied and understood by scholars, less is known about how these inequalities are localized within a neighborhood context, especially among young adults of color who are most susceptible to the effects of these inequalities. In this paper, we argue that in order to better understand the political development of young adults by race and ethnicity, more attention should be given to how local neighborhoods frame experiences of divestment and racial inequality in a city. Drawing from a large-scale, interview-based study with 160 young adults, we find that neighborhood context is a critically important space for understanding how young people of color are politicized as they transition into adulthood. We argue that neighborhoods are mini publics within a broader city that both exacerbate urban and racial inequalities and yet also serve as spaces for political development and innovation among young adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Neighborhoods
• divestment
• urban
• racial inequality
• youth
• political engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Other experiences of divestment were deprivation, lack of police responses in the neighborhoods, mass school closures, and lack of access to healthcare and essential services.

2 Betancur, John J. and Youngjun Kim. The Trajectory and Impact of Ongoing Gentrification in Pilsen. 2016. http://voorheescenter.red.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/122/2017/10/The-Trajectory-and-Impact-of-Ongoing.pdf.

3 U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census. Summary File 1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

4 https://blog.chicagocityscape.com/what-does-the-2020-census-data-tell-us-about-chicago-and-chicagoans-f4bbd165eea8.

5 School Closings in Chicago: Understanding Families’ Choices and Constraints for New School Enrollment. Retrieved from https://consortium.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/publications/School%20Closings%20Report.pdf.

6 Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University’s Data Portal, 2016.

7 Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University’s Data Portal, 2016.

8 Pupovac, Jessica. "Pilsen Develops New Tools To Fight Gentrification." Window to the World (WTTW). December 19, 2017. Accessed December 2018. https://interactive.wttw.com/my-neighborhood/pilsen/gentrification.