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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, November 14, 2019
Volume 46, Number 10
ts on page Bl*
X 4'
THE CHRONICLE
Gentrification Symposium creates
platform for serious conversation
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Last week dozens of
community stakeholders
came together to discuss
the root causes and solu
tions to a phenomenon that
is taking hold of communi
ties across the country and
has the potential to do the
same here in Winston-Sa
lem - gentrification.
Gentrification is de
fined as the process of ren
ovating a house or district
so that it conforms to mid
dle to upperclass taste. It’s
no secret that gentrification
often leads to dismantled
minority neighborhoods
and priced-out residents.
Last year the city’s Hu
man Relations Department
and the New Horizons Fair
Housing Committee came
together to have a serious
conversation about gentri
fication and its impact on
the community.
With the growth of
downtown over the past
decade, many believe it’s
only a matter of time be
fore over-priced town-
homes and apartments
begin showing up in the
surrounding communities
and displace thousands of
residents. When discuss
ing the need for the sympo
sium with The Chronicle
last week, Wanda Allen-
Abraha, City of Winston-
Salem human relations
director, said with talks
of gentrification growing,
they felt the need to create
a platform where residents
could share their thoughts
and opinions with other
community stakeholders
and elected officials.
“The purpose is to cre
ate a platform for the pub
lic to be able to interface
with government officials,
non-profit organizations,
and a few people from our
local colleges and univer
sities to talk about some
best practices and solu
tions to what many people
perceive as gentrification,”
Allen-Abraha said.
The symposium held
at the Anderson Center on
the campus of Winston-
Salem State University on
Wednesday, Nov. 6, fea
tured several guest speak
ers and breakout sessions
that covered a number of
topics including a history
of gentrification and pub
lic housing and innovative
planning solutions to com
bat gentrification, just to
name a few. The opening
.speaker was James Perry,
president and CEO of the
Winston-Salem Urban
League (WSUL).
Before taking charge
of the WSUL, Perry
served for 10 years as the
Chief Executive Officer
of the Greater New Or
leans Fair Housing Action
Center. Perry led the cen
ter through Hurricane Ka
trina. He also serves on the
National Fair Housing Al
liance Board of Directions.
Perry said when dis
cussing gentrification, it
Submitted Photo
is important that we step
back and take a look at
segregation. He said the
most important precursor
to gentrified neighbor
hoods was segregation.
He said while some
people believe gentrifica
tion is a result of choice,
history tells us that policy
change is what led to wide
spread gentrification.
“Many people pre
sume that it’s simply about
people choosing not to live
next to each other. They
presume that it is a funda
mental decision by proper
ty owners to buy in a par
ticular neighborhood, but
what history suggests is
that that’s not true,” Perry
continued. “This doesn’t
just happen all across the
nation based exclusively
on this idea that people
choose where they want
to live, it really is about
the way federal funds were
spent in a very purposeful
way in the middle part of
the last century.”
Perry continued to dis
cuss the history of segrega
tion and how the construc
tion of the U.S. Highway
System and other policies
led to gentrified communi
ties. To support his claims
throughout his presenta
tion, Perry also showed
maps of several major
cities where widespread
segregation led to gentri
fication.
When looking at the
map of Winston-Salem,
Perry said although every
one knows Winston-Salem
is segregated, the data
shows that between 2000-
2016 there has not been
any gentrification. He said,
“We haven’t really suf
fered the consequences of
gentrification yet.”
Perry said the data
shows that most communi
ties have stayed the same
or become poorer. He said
although the data doesn’t
give the community any
thing to be proud about,
it does give us an oppor
tunity to stop gentrifica
tion before it takes hold in
Winston-Salem.
“I think we still have an
opportunity to get ahead of
the curve,” Perry said. “I
suspect if we look at this
map in about five years,
because of the changes at
Crystal Towers and Plaza
Apartments, we’ll actually
see some dramatic chang
es.”
To wrap up his presen
tation, Perry gave three
potential solutions to com
bat gentrification. He said
as a community, we must
focus on development
rather than displacement,
land banking, and more
opportunities for home
ownership. He mentioned
that having open conversa
tions about gentrification
like this symposium are a
step in the right direction
as well.
“Home ownership is
one of the few things that
See Symposium on A8
City staff, WSPD looking for solutions to combat violent crimes
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
In response to the rise
in shootings and other vio
lent crimes in the area, the
Winston-Salem Police De
partment (WSPD) and the
City Council is looking to
expand several initiatives
that are already in place,
including one that will
help restore suspended
drivers’ licenses for quali
fied residents.
Violent crimes are de
fined as crimes in which an
offender uses or threatens
to use force on a victim.
Some of those crimes in
clude murder, rape, rob
bery, and aggravated as
sault. In the past year
while robberies have been
on a decline, rapes and
aggravated
assaults
have
Submitted Photo
This map shows all the homicides and reported gunfire in Winston-Salem in 2019.
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Taste of the South
increased between 10 and
14%. When looking at the
number of homicides in the
city, with about six weeks
left in the year, there have
already been 24 murders,
compared to 2017 and
2018 when there were 26
murders for the year.
While making a pre
sentation to the Public
Safety Committee on
Tuesday, Nov. 12, Chief
Catrina Thompson said,
“Violent crime is leading
to premature deaths of our
young men and women in
the city and causing non-
fatal injuries to other mem
bers of our community.”
When discussing a map
that shows where the ho
micides are taking place,
Thompson mentioned that
the homicides in 2019
haven’t been concentrated
to one single area or ward;
she said they are happen
ing in every part of the
city. And a map, provided
by the WSPD, shows gun-
fire is even more wide
spread throughout the city.
“For the most part, ho
micides are occurring all
over our city. We have had
homicides occurring in ev
ery ward with the excep
tion of our West Ward and
Northwest Ward. Every
other ward in 2019 we’ve
had a homicide,”' Thomp
son continued. “I think
it’s important to mention
that while it’s no comfort
to us, this uptick has been
experienced all over the
country, particularly in the
state of North Carolina.
I’ve been in contact with
my colleagues in Durham,
Kernersville and Greens
boro as well, and they’ve
all seen an increase in ho
micides this year versus
last year.”
To combat these issues,
earlier this year the WSPD
formed the Violent Fire-
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V
arm Investigation Team
(VFIT). Thompson said
VFIT is comprised of de
tectives who are specially . •
trained in the area of bal
listic evidence examina
tion submission. Those
detectives focus investiga
tive efforts exclusively on
offenders who utilize fire-
arms in the commission of
crimes.
As of Oct. 25, VFIT
and the WSPD have inves
tigated more than 1,700 in
cidents in which a firearm
was unlawfully discharged
and based on current data,
the WSPD will seize more
than 1,000 firearms by the
end of the year.
Thompson said al
though she is grateful for
the VFIT team, she knows
that there are other violent
crimes and shootings that
don’t get reported. Thomp
son said she is hopeful that
with the award of a grant
under the Local Law En
forcement Crime Gun In
telligence Center for the
purchase of a gunfire de
tection system, they will-
have the opportunity to do
more to stop these sense
less crimes.
The gunfire detection
See Crime on A8
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