After Two Women Are Arrested In Crime That Police Say Was Partly Motivated By Race & Class, How Do We Address These Underlying Issues?

The Daily News published a distressing report this morning about two women being arrested Saturday after they allegedly “robbed and then intimidated three tenants out of their Brooklyn apartment” last Thursday, and the News goes on to say that law enforcement sources told them the “crime was partly motivated by race and class resentment.”

From the Daily News:

Precious Parker, 30, and Sabrina James, 23, knocked on the door of an apartment building on Ocean Ave. near Newkirk Ave. in Flatbush at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday and held a 34-year-old man, a 37-year-old man, and a 25-year-old woman at gunpoint demanding they move out or be killed, police said.
The women then stole $800, an iPhone and personal information from the tenants, police said.
The terrified residents left soon after, said a night porter, who declined to give his name.

The News reported that, after the tenants left, the two women allegedly squatted in the apartment.

“The source added the trio may have been targeted because of their race, as one of the women said she didn’t like ‘that white people were moving into the area,'” the Daily News stated.

The two women have been charged with robbery and unlawful imprisonment.

This is, clearly, an extreme situation, but we’re wondering what your take on it is – as well as how to address the tension that exists because of gentrification? These are serious, multi-layered, and often emotional issues, but they are very real problems that need to be constructively tackled so we can form a community that feels as though everyone is working together, instead of individuals feeling at odds with one another.

One of the major gentrification-related issues that we’ve discussed countless times on this blog is affordable housing (and the lack thereof) –  which everyone from the candidates running for the 42nd Assembly District to the Rent Is Too Damn High party founder Jimmy McMillan have stressed is an issue that must be dealt with in our neighborhood, which has experienced drastic increases in housing prices. Mayor Bill de Blasio too has repeatedly addressed affordable housing and recently said he hopes to take control of the rent regulation laws (now controlled by Albany) should Democrats win a majority in the state Senate.

We have many neighbors working for positive change to create better access to affordable housing – as well as maintain the affordable housing that exists, including Equality for Flatbush’s Imani Henry and the Flatbush Tenants Coalition.

As neighbor Cori Carl previously pointed out, Flatbush has a history of incredible diversity, with its tiny rental apartments to huge mansions paving the way for people from very different socio-economic backgrounds to live side by side. It can become easy to see articles, like the one from the Daily News, and become overwhelmed, but we are heartened by how many people we know are working to make this a better place.

So, in your opinion, how do we do that? How do we make this community stronger? How do we ensure that people do not feel as though they’re being forced from their homes because of skyrocketing rents, while at the same time welcoming newcomers?