COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

ents to increase and attracts more affluent residents into the neighborhood. When more
affluent residents move into the neighborhood, they usually create neighborhood
association groups and neighborhood “watch” groups. These many groups hold meetings
where community issues are discussed and initiatives to help decrease crime and increase
development are debated. In this way, middle-class residents express their power and
rights to the city.
Further, when middle-class residents demand that more surveillance of the
neighborhood in the form of police patrol occur, the poor become further oppressed under
this surveillance. And when affluent residents create neighborhood association groups,
they become “spokespersons” for the community and are persuasive in gaining support
for their own initiatives to revitalize their neighborhood. Hanson (1986:110) confirms
the political power of community-based organizations and states,
An increasing catalyst for urban change is the locally based
philanthropy or community foundation. And in all community
based-organizations there is an inherent tension between
developing staying power and accommodating change. Such
organizations—unions, business associations, churches,
community organizations, political caucuses—must
simultaneously operate as agents of stability and agents of change.
While the middle-class implements revitalization projects, the poor become
further marginalized in their community and objectified under the scrutiny of middle-
class residents and the increased surveillance of police patrol. The poor, as targets of
these community groups, do not always benefit from such reforms and they have at times
resisted projects for community improvement. In some instances, the poor feel as if they
must commit crimes that showcase their animosity about revitalization projects. There
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