Over the years, social scientists have devoted much of their time to understanding the neighborhoods of low-income blacks. However, few studies seek to provide insight into the residential enclaves of middle class blacks. In this project, a case study of a black middle class subdivision in New Orleans, Louisiana is used to understand black middle class community building. Pontchartrain Park was established in 1954 and marketed as New Orleans' first black middle-class subdivision. This analysis of Pontchartrain Park pre and post Hurricane Katrina provides a unique context to understand the process of community building and how the black middle class responds to disaster. Specifically, I investigate how Pontchartrain Park residents use churches and neighborhood organizations to establish and maintain community solidarity over the years, the role churches and neighborhood organizations play in the rebuilding process after Hurricane Katrina and the role of racial uplift in creating and maintaining community solidarity. Multiple-data collection strategies, including in-depth interviews with current and former residents, ethnographic observation of neighborhood meetings and archival research show how original residents relied on the ideology of uplift to create and reinforce the neighborhood's respectable image. I argue that although uplift ideology served as a source of solidarity for the black middle class, it also reinforced oppression and created tension between other blacks in the city. Black middle class community building also sheds light on the changing meaning of black middle class over time. Black neighborhoods, organizations and institutions were once a necessity for original homeowners in Pontchartrain Park. Findings from the case-study, however, suggest that neighborhoods and organizations continue to play a significant role in the lives of the new black middle class despite a decline in overt racism. Finally, in-depth interviews and observations of neighborhood meetings suggest that an uplift ideology has been important in the neighborhood's recovery. I argue that uplift ideology is more than just contesting negative stereotypes through respectable behavior. This ideology also promotes self-help and racial solidarity. In the aftermath of Katrina, neighborhood churches and organizations have been instrumental in providing resources for residents who wish to return to Pontchartrain Park / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_25718 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Contributors | Gafford, Farrah D (Author), Gotham, Kevin F (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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