opinion-editorial
This tragedy defi nes us, but it doesn’t have to!
BY DR. LESSIE BRANCH
What if I told you acknowledging
how New York City dropped the ball
on the Fordham Heights fi re victims
could lead to transformation of defi -
cit framing applied to tragedy victims
in Black, Indigenous, people of
color (BIPOC) communities, move
New York City from austerity and
poverty policy responses to equitable
policy outcomes and help mitigate
future tragedies. Defi cit framing
disrupts the ability to connect
with BIPOC victims as deserving of
empathy, sympathy and resources
and instead blames them for their
tragic circumstances.
It is sadly not uncommon during
New York City winters for residents
in public housing or multiple dwelling
units, in under-resourced communities
such as Fordham Heights,
to have insuffi cient heat. But it
should be! Residents resort to using
ovens, stove top burners and space
heaters to keep warm. Trying to
stay warm in your home when temperatures
in your home are frigid,
is rational behavior. Rather than interrogate
residents’ methods to keep
warm in frigid apartments, why
isn’t there an indictment of austere
and inhumane conditions and the
policies that result in substandard
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housing and inhumane living conditions?
It was encouraging to hear Mayor
Eric Adams emphatically declare
blame will not be imputed to the victims
for the tragedy. And, as is so often
the case after horrifi c tragedies
in under-resourced communities,
Adams declared “… this tragedy is
not going to defi ne us.” The truth of
the matter is this tragedy does defi
ne us. But it doesn’t have to!
How this tragedy defi nes us
All manner of disenfranchisement,
including enslavement, the
unfulfi lled promise of 40 acres,
redlining and especially exclusionary
zoning, continues to reinforce
discriminatory housing practices,
subpar housing stock and living
conditions. Redlining continues to
prevent Black and Brown folk from
moving into better resourced middle
and upper-class neighborhoods.
The political economy reproduces
historical systems of structural disadvantage
and socioeconomic policies
that marginalize BIPOC and females,
divests communities of badly
needed resources and concentrates
and exacerbates poverty, especially
in the Bronx.
Steps to Pivot Acknowledgment,
transformation and reconciliation
It takes courage to acknowledge
that this tragedy in fact defi nes us.
Acknowledgement is a crucial fi rst
step that can move New York City to
understanding the compounded impact
defi cit framing has on the Fordham
Heights fi re victims and policies
that create systemic structural
inequity. From there, New York City
can shift from austerity and poverty,
to equitable social policies and
resources for BIPOC communities.
To be sure, acknowledging error
should not be equated with placing
blame. These structures were created
and existed long before us. To
not address and work toward dismantling
them, however, makes us
complicit in their continuation. Just
as the goal is to not “blame” victims
for the tragedy, neither is it productive
to blame government for the
confl uence of factors that delivered
this tragic outcome. The goal should
be acknowledgement, reconciliation
and equity in policy responses and
resources.
One method that I think might
work particularly well on the journey
to acknowledgement, transformation
and reconciliation is diagramming.
Diagramming involves
identifying the subject, the target
and the activity. In the instant tragedy,
diagramming can help refocus
equity gaps and redirect resources.
By clarifying the fl aw in defi cit framing,
policy makers, legislators and
other elected and appointed offi cials
can pivot to policy responses that
properly frame and emphasize socioeconomic
disparities. As presently
framed, the subject is the Fordham
Heights residents. The target is insuffi
cient heat. The activity is using
a space heater to keep warm. These
days engaging in pretty much any
activity while Black is interpreted as
irresponsible or suspect. The subject
should be austere housing policy and
non-working self-closing fi re doors.
The target, Fordham Heights residents
who suffered tragedy and loss.
The activity, trying to keep warm in
their frigid apartments.
Framed in this way, the subject
rightly becomes policy, equity and
resource gaps that are mainstays
time and again in marginalized
communities like Fordham Heights.
Kudos to Mayor Adams for putting
his foot down and not allowing the
victims to be blamed. The time, however,
is now for New York City to put
its money where its mouth is. Resources
must match rhetoric. BIPOC
communities have had to be resilient
for far too long, often paying with
their lives!
Dr. Lessie Branch is the director
for Programs Community Relations
for the Citizens Committee for New
York City, a member of the NYC Chapter
of the Scholars Strategy Network,
and the founder of the Think Tank at
The Thinkubator.
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A DIVISION OF
Mayor Eric Adams visits the scene of a
deadly apartment building fi re in the Bronx
on Jan. 9. Photo Michael Appleton/Mayoral
Photography Offi ce
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