In a recent podcast, “Befuddled by Babies”, a listener calls in about her growing guilt being a Mexican-American who’s possibly contributing to the gentrification of her culture (like eating $4 paletas).
Code Switch offers their take:
First, don’t fetishize poor cultures as being the only ‘authentic’ ones. Acknowledge that everyone is striving for upward mobility. Gene Demby of NPR says it’s a good thing if a lawyer of color moves into a low-income neighborhood – they are setting examples, too.
“There are so many ways your class can be utilized to advocate for people in those communities. Your presence there is not necessarily detrimental,” replies Demby. “My life would have been improved if I didn’t live next to an abandoned building.”
Second, do not let your class prevent you from embracing your community. If you’re a resident of privilege who’s moved into a lower-income neighborhood, engage with your neighbors.
“If you walk down the street and never speak to anybody or you’re still clutching your purse when you’re walking past a group of kids playing hopscotch, it doesn’t send a good message,” said Karen Grigsby Bates, another NPR correspondent. “But if you get to know your neighbors and you’re part of the block club and you’re helping out then I think it makes a difference.”
Launched in 2016, Code Switch is an NPR podcast that covers the whole gamut of race and class. Some episodes will make you laugh until your sides ache, others will bring tears to even the most proudly dry-eyed among us. Each conversation offers relevant and interesting perspectives.
The eclectic team of journalists of color who make up this podcast is “fascinated by the overlapping themes of race, ethnicity, and culture, how they play out in our lives and communities, and how all of this is shifting.”
The podcast tackles issues like grappling with Asian-American identity through K-Pop, being Black in the legal marijuana industry and the ensuing stereotypes, and the very complex issues surrounding gentrification.