Redlining & Gentrification: One of the institutional barriers to becoming middle class is redlining. For most Americans, home ownership is the primary investment that can render a legacy for the next generation. Redlining resulted in generational delays in Black people’s ability to give the next generation a hand up to economic security and achievement of wealth. I chose to paint my Redlining series as abstract works because it would be impossible to show all repercussions in any one or collection of figurative pieces. Gentrification too can have its negative consequences. We all love the cool coffee shops and bistros, but they don’t mean much to people from long-established, high-functioning neighborhoods who are uprooted with no equivalent place to go.
