Progressive movements are experts at policing their own behavior. Vast amounts of energy are spent reminding each other to stay peaceful and nonviolent in the face of state violence inflicted by political and economic forces. So often we sabotage our own momentum for fear of being too aggressive in our methods.
We retreat and wonder what we did wrong. We struggle to craft the right framing of our own narrative. Language is scrutinized. Introspection drifts into derailment. While purging ourselves of any controversial or ‘violent’ language, we often forget the ways systemic violence plagues peoples’ daily lives.
Bicycle/pedestrian advocates have escalated their vernacular with the introduction of the term ‘traffic violence‘; rightfully understanding that the thousands killed each year by cars were victims of a lethal system that rewards motorists with social privilege.
Applying this vocabulary to other spheres seems productive, especially where it concerns issues of housing justice. It’s not entirely new, but it bears repeating. Say it with me now: Gentrification Violence.
What happens when landlords try to force out low-income tenants? Watch How to Fight an Eviction: http://t.co/EL57nzhsSg #eviction #EllisAct
— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 9, 2014
Just as unemployment is kept artificially high to force workers to accept low wages or risk losing their job, so too is the supply of affordable housing kept artificially low to help drive profit speculation and to ensure workers tolerate high rent.
Is such a practice violent? Absolutely.
It’s violent in at least two distinct ways. Forcing people to become essentially economic refugees is itself violent. It harms people emotionally and psychologically. This stress can make it even harder for recovery. This structural violence is the most pervasive, yet least visible component of gentrification.
There’s also the more conspicuous reading. If you refuse eviction and attempt resistance without community support, the police will show up – armed and prepared forcibly arrest you. This is not rhetoric. All over this country, police are the enforcement arm of the corporate real estate market – executing laws that protect housing as commodity and prevent shelter from being shared as a human right. 
Rio de Janeiro police evict indigenous residents and arrest protestors prior to the 2014 World Cup.
And the methods police now use to evict families have become increasingly troubling. From the Portland Occupier, dated November 2012:
“Just after her husband had driven away to take their granddaughter to school on November 6, Heather Sirotak found herself confronted by 40 officers, some brandishing guns. When Sirotak tried to reach her husband Will, an officer took her phone away. Later, Will was prevented from returning to the house, as all streets leading to it had been shut down. This is becoming the new face of evictions. On October 30, three deputies from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office showed up at the home of Patricia Williams and Darren Johnson to enforce an eviction notice. There was a standoff, and the deputies decided they needed backup, calling in over 30 Portland Police officers. When members of the community came to support Williams and Johnson, police in riot gear were called in. Police used pepper spray on the protesters, and one person was arrested.”
No wonder people say ‘Fuck the Police‘.
This type of violence isn’t appreciated enough. More media outlets have become mouthpieces for the real estate industry. Even NPR has jumped on the pro-gentrification bandwagon, insisting that displacing the poor is just fine, because incoming residents won’t be poor.
Poverty solved!
It was just reported by Willamette Week that New-Gentrifiers-On-the-Block AirBNB have spent over $47,000.oo this year alone lobbying Portland city hall to get the kind of sweetheart deals other cities have “cracked down on”. Simply put, AirBNB is raking in profits by sucking up whatever ‘affordable’ housing is left. Mayor Charlie Hales and council don’t seem bothered by local neighborhood associations opposing the deals that this $10 billion dollar ‘sharing economy’ company has received.
@AaronMesh Maybe AirBNB could take care of the “street fund” #shortcut
— Corey Eubanks (@CoreyPortland) November 12, 2014
Truly, being forced to move due to rising rent or tenancy termination notice is humiliating, terrifying, and expensive as hell. For thousands who can’t already barely afford their rent, having the extra cash on hand to pay for deposit plus moving expenses – often miles away from their former home – simply isn’t feasible.
Exactly who is being evicted most is even more telling. Nationally, black women are being kicked out of their homes at rates that match incarceration rates of black men. Like so many unjust systems, gentrification is rooted in white supremacy.
If there’s to be a successful movement against politicians and dictator developers driving out the working class, such a movement requires a sharp vocabulary. Educating people about the immorality of gentrification and how exactly it works is paramount. The powers pushing this displacement are organized and wealthy – toppling them won’t be easy at all.
The abusive relationship imposed on renters by wealthy owners needs to end. Such an abolition demands a sophisticated, disciplined right to the city movement. If such violence is to be rejected, I can’t think of a better place to start than corporate real estate.
See you in the streets.
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Thumbnail image: SWAT commandos carries out an armed eviction in Idaho Springs, Colorado – 2012.