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My paper titled Colonial Construction of “Other”: Cultural Displacement in 19th Century America, explores the historiography scholarship of marginalized culture boundaries within urban spatial settings. The 19th century developed collective agents desiring to preserve the founding American spirit. These collective agents, largely women-ran organizations, sought new opportunities outside of the domestic sphere. Excavating new white-collar working class needs, women created Anglo-American cultural value centered in renovating real and personal property. Renovating rooming homes into single apartment upstarts, provides professional opportunities in real estate speculation, but, in turn, displaced impoverished industrial families, often first generation immigrants and established African-American communities.
I would like to review if upward mobility provided to women, through preservation, justify renovating established minority spatial environments. Specifically, why renovating established ethnic working class neighborhoods provided upward mobility to working-class women? How does spatially examining colonial construction of ‘other’ through romanticized views of the past exemplify perception of racial identity? Does the creation of the middle class create and jar cultural boundaries, as white-collar working class furthers economic opportunities? Does the Anglo-American group’s desire to create new spatial boundaries, based on regional and racial identity, embody myth building collective memories? How does the foundation of preconceived ‘other’ identities shape communal civic relationship between Anglo-American groups and diverse ethnic communities? Examining Chinese ethnic communities in San Francisco, African American Communities, like Cabbage Row and the Jewish community of Brownsville will provide spatial boundaries for this research. Does the cultural displacement of ethnic neighborhoods effect the minority communities upward mobility in obtaining the American Dream?
Currently reviewing 19th century redeveloped communities has lead me to uncover a few 19th century communities. I would like to further investigate potential primary sources by locating secondary sources on the Renovation Movement. Researching secondary sources like Roberta Brandes Grantz, Robert Young, and Ann Laura Stoler will assist in the forward projection of securing primary sources. Creating of a key-term list has proven essential in uncovering new insights on seeding gentrification in the 19th century. Terms like ‘white painting’ and disphoric identity along with colonial mentality are assisting in locating secondary and primary scholarly work. Looking at the idea of ‘Chinatown’ in Los Angeles, San Francisco, displacing true cultural, historical narratives in the 19th century will also aid in this research. My goal is uncover how gentrification is more than just the spatial removal of living environment and resources. Further, identifying how seeding gentrification in early 19th century grounds the idea elitist ethnic control of how define cultural importance and extracting acceptable ethic culture at an arm-length reach.