AALS Workshop on Poverty, Immigration and Poverty/Perry on Gentrification and Transracial Adoption

I got my registration brochure this past week for the AALS Midyear Meeting to be held in San Diego in early June.  Along with two criminal justice programs, it features a Worskhop on Poverty, Immigration and Property that brings together a fascinating mix of presentations from scholars frequently referenced on your favorite land use law blog. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend; but, I look forward to seeing the papers. 

One panel that drew my eye features work from David Reiss (Brooklyn), Marc Poirier (Seton Hall)  and Twila Perry (Rutgers-Newark).  We have previously blogged about related work by David and Marc.  Prof. Perry has written extensively about transracial adoption, but I was not familiar with her work prior to receiving the mailing.  She will be presenting in June on Gentrification: Race, Class Law and the Integrationist Ideal.  I came across an earlier work she published comparing gentrification and transracial adoption entitled Transracial Adoption and Gentrification: An Essay on Race, Power, Family, and Community, 26 B.C. Third World L.J. 25 (2006).  Here's the abstract:

In this article, Professor Perry finds common ground between the two seemingly disparate contexts of transracial adoption and gentrification. Professor Perry argues that both transracial adoption and gentrification represent contexts in which, in the future, there may be increasing competition for limited resources. In the former case, the limited resource is the healthy Black newborn. In the latter, it is desirable, affordable housing in the centers of our cities. After explaining how a competition between Blacks and whites over Black newborns could arise, Professor Perry argues that in any such competition, Blacks will increasingly find themselves at a disadvantage stemming from the consequences of institutionalized racism. The article argues that there is a public discourse in both contexts that blames Blacks for the problems facing Black families and Black communities and valorizes whites who transracially adopt or move into inner-city neighborhoods undergoing gentrification. Professor Perry urges increased government involvement to preserve Black families and to protect Blacks against the displacement that often results from gentrification.

Jim K.