At today’s Forum, a member of the audience asserted that African-Americans were losing their communities, that governments spent money in black neighborhoods only after whites started to move in, and that neighborhoods where poor blacks continued to live were in worse shape than 50 years ago.

At-large City Council member Vi Alexander Lyles rose from her seat in the audience both to acknowledge the assertion, and to explain some of the factors fueling the gentrification in Charlotte and other cities. Her comments were extemporaneous.