Before I continue, could we make sure we're on the same page of what 'gentrification' is?
Now that we got that out of the way:
No, because in the end, they’re asking for protection from losing the roof over their heads. Some people will throw in problems about systemic racism into the conversation, but as long as you’re talking mainly about gentrification, you’re dealing with a housing problem. That’s always been the case, and I don’t think it changes here, either.
Like I said in the hidden aside, most conversations on gentrification in America focus on neighborhoods with poorer residents of color. Because there’s a history of segregation that already exists in those areas (think eastern Raleigh or downtown Durham), developments that cater to richer people will also have a racial narrative to it.
But activists against gentrification aren’t always NIMBYs; some of them are asking for fair housing reform to balance against market forces to protect the poorer residents. Public housing, affordable housing requirements, TODs… those are not segregation tools, but they’re still in the scope of things people against gentrification want.
I’ve never met anyone with/read any convincing ideas that actually asks to keep racial segregation going (unless the writer is showing their anger and frustration more than genuinely talking about policy). If anything, those people are asking for balance. Equity. A chance for them to fend for themselves against forces that, today, seems out of their control.
“They” aren’t a national, organized conspiracy. You can just look at the author’s Twitter, for example, and just find out his biases for yourself…