I think Javier’s analysis of Avila’s portrayal of the way that he depicts the losses communities of color go through as resilient is right on point. I feel that in a way, it is a common narrative with communities of color facing defeat when it comes to fighting for rights. Thinking of how communities of color had to ‘survive’ the freeway plays into the same kind of narrative, one in which the desires of our communities are heard, but not actually listed to.

Javier’s question of historical preservation reminds me of my hometown--Aurora, Illinois. I took a community college class when I was in high school called “Historical Preservation.” Looking back on the things we covered then and with the knowledge of Avila and this class as a whole, drives me to rethink the situations at hand. For part of the class, we covered how historical homes in the city were being abandoned due to how expensive it was to renovate them according to the historical society’s preservation guidelines. This area is highly Latino/low-income/immigrant and has a history of white-flight (our high school went from basically all white to now ~80% Latino). One consideration put out to increase the allure of purchasing one of these homes was to provide grants by the city to be able to make the renovations according to the strict guidelines. This did not happen, and it makes me think about the reasons behind what overall would provide an economic good to the city. Is historical preservation just a tactic used by the preservation board (all white) to try to maintain the areas they can with a homogeneous population?

This page comments on:

Comment on this page