Scottie Gilg- Living Apart Exhibit (free response 5)

For my "Writing about the Environment" course, we went to the "Living Apart" exhibit in the Ferguson Center. This exhibit highlighted how Newport News and places near NN have been affected by redlining. Redlining definition is a “discriminatory practice that puts services (financial and otherwise) out of reach for residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity.” Redlining has impacted Newport News in the past and those affects are still apparent in those same communities now. In the 1920s, The communities that were highlighted as “bad communities” were based on the race that lived there. More diversity were given a lower grade, while predominantly white neighborhoods were given higher grades.


The parts of the exhibit that impacted me the most were the personal stories from residents that live in Newport News. There was one that talked about a street they grew up on. She explained that on that street was the first time she saw a dead body and how living there made her more mature than her actual age. Another reflection talked about gun violence on a certain street. It received the name, "33rd and Gun Smoke'' because they lost so many kids to gun violence. What impacted me was that the person who was speaking knew someone who was shot and killed. He just had a kid and now that child has to grow up without a father simply because he lived in the wrong neighborhood. These personal reflections stuck out to me because walking around where I was born, I never had to think about crime or it being dangerous. Before coming to CNU I was almost naive because I did not think about what it could be like for people living where crime is a problem. Another thing that stood out to me was having the maps right in front of me showing the parts of Newport News compared to Southeast Newport News. I knew Southeast NN and how it differs from other parts in Newport News, but having it right in front of me and the different categories and seeing the complete difference in places long 10 miles away from each other is crazy. I think it is beneficial to have the Living Apart exhibit where it is because many people that go to CNU or who live around these areas do not necessarily understand redlining or how it affects people other than themselves. The thought of "not in my backyard" is very applicable.

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