The newly arrived, wealthy residents of Austin are having a hard time adjusting to the local weekend car club meet-ups hosted in traditionally Black and Latino neighborhoods, a Tuesday report shows.
Regular Sunday afternoon assemblies of car enthusiasts that have been taking place since the nineties in East Austin’s “Chicano Park” have caused disturbance among the residents of the newly-constructed apartment building “The Weaver” located across the street, according to The Texas Monthly.
Non-Hispanic white tenants have called the police on the members of the car club, labeling the event “scary” and a “display of toxic masculinity,” according to Texas Monthly. (RELATED: Elon Musk Joins Mass California Exodus, Moves To Texas)
In rapidly gentrifying Austin newly arrived white residents have been calling the cops on Black and Latino car clubs that have gathered in local parks for decades, labeling them a “toxic display of masculinity.” https://t.co/guYcigpjM0
— Peter Holley (@peterjholley) March 23, 2021
The newcomers’ obsession with exaggerated security threats has disrupted the harmony of the locals, making them feel unwelcome in their own communities.
“I have to refrain from responding, ‘Good lord, don’t you understand where you’re living and what this once was? But it’s too late now—the tsunami has arrived,” 78-year old local historian Chale Nafus said about the newcomers’ behavior, according to Texas Monthly.
Austin, one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., saw an influx of big tech companies, including Tesla, Samsung and Apple that has only accelerated since the pandemic. Many companies have been moving out of states like California chasing more business-friendly conditions, according to CNBC.
While it is good news for business, residents of Austin have been struggling to adapt to the gentrification of their neighborhoods, according to Austin Monitor.