White Progressives are Hypocrites on Gentrification | Opinion On 6/3/21 at 8:00 AM EDT I once heard someone, who happens to be quite progressive and white, say the following, nearly verbatim: "I live in Harlem. I feel awful about living in Harlem because I do not want to contribute to gentrification. In light of this, I am going to move to Bushwick." My response to this—mainly out of politeness—was a silent nod. Deep down, I was furrowing my brow. I found their proposition to be peculiar and paradoxical. I find the general progressive agenda concerning gentrification to be equally peculiar and paradoxical in a similar vein. Progressives are known to be against gentrification. They're very vocal about their opposition to it. And to their credit, gentrification is worthy of being criticized. It drives out residents from their hometowns. Very often, this displacement is permanent and disproportionally affects minority groups. Yet, progressives are one of gentrification's primary drivers.