Ethnic Displacement in the Interstitial Community

rederick M. Thrasher's definition of a so-called interstitial community is typical of the sociological thinking of the 1920's, a thinking strongly influenced by the University of Chicago school headed by Park and Burgess.Thrasher, loyal to the concentric circle theory of cities, maintained that an interstitial area, one that would be•• called today a "ghet to", is typifi1d by deterioration, shifting population and by cultural isolation.The work of William F.Whyte and Herbert J. Gans points out that such areas not necessarily disorganized socially and are 2not deteriorating in terms of social organization and integration.However, the tem "deterioration" is too crude and value ridden for serious sociological purposes.Yet, Thrasher was correct in stating that the slum is plagued by shifting population and that it is essentially isolated from the rest of society.In these two respects, East Harlem is an interstitial area, or a slum.Both terms mean the same thing within Thrasher's concept.East Harlem is and has been a poor area and has had its share of social pathology, but it is its isolation from the rest of society that leads a slum to be known by the "outsiders" as a pathological and decadent area, simply because the subculture of the slum does not conform directly to the culture patterns of the dominant group.The.dominant group does all the labelling in society.Geographically, East Harlem is defined as the area from 96th Street north to the Harlem River.This area is divided statistically in terms of Health Areas, each of which is subdivided into Census Tracts. 21

Displacement (psychology) · Ethnic group · Geography · Political science · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

• War against Prohibition

  Francesco Landolfi•Italian American Review•2022

  Add to list