Introduction

Hello, my name is Jared Dawson and I am a 4th year accounting major at the University of Texas at Austin. I'm very interested in global social problems and development in local communities because of my personal experiences growing up and my study abroad experience in Cape Town, South Africa.  Growing up I saw how education and income level can divide communities.  My dad and my mom were both college graduates, and my dad continued his education and became a MD.  My parents instilled a love for learning and knowledge in my brother and I by taking us on numerous family vacations, museums, and other activities at very young age.  These experiences have shaped me into the man that I am today.  I also realized that not everyone has these types of experiences as a child. Some of my closest friends came from fatherless homes or very low-income communities where the learning environment in school is quite different.  It has become a passion of mine to examine these communities and societies more closely so that we can find a solution for these systemic problems that plague our nation.

My study abroad in South Africa was last summer has been one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life.  It was a time for me to immerse myself in a culture other than my own and learn a history of a different people group.  My time in South Africa has shown me that some of these global social problems are not that much different from the problems we face at home.  For example, in South Africa there was dramatic class divide between the darker skin-toned South Africans and the ligther skin-toned South Africans which is similar to the situation in America but more magnified.  If we can get past the language barrier and cultural differences we will find that we all are not much different from each other.

In our Global Development class, we are focusing on East Austin.  In the past, East Austin was abandoned by the affluent Austinites in the city.  It's separated from the rest of the city by I-35, not just geographically but financially as well.  Mainly low-income minority families have historically occupied the area.  Now, the property taxes and value of the area is dramatically increasing.  One Fox Austin article reports that homes in the 78702 zip code has tripled in value since 2007.  Unfortunately, this has led to gentrification and residents who have been living in the area for decades are now being pushed out by Austin developers.

I had the chance to interview Kirk who has been a barber in East Austin for about 13 years.  He explained to me that East Austin used to be a bad area but its never been as bad as other cities like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.  I asked him how he felt about the Austin city developers coming into the area.  "They want all the black folks on the other side of the 183." Kirk replied curtly.  He told me that some of these developers swoop in after the older generation dies to buy the property from the children who don't know the true value of their land. "A lot of these kids don't know better. They go off and buy these expensive cars with their money and don't have a place to stay."