Dear AlfredoI am an organizer with PODER, an environmental organization that works in the predominantly Latino Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. In 1990, members of the community organized to get the city to clear an abandoned industrial site and turn it into a community park. But when the city discovered the property was contaminated with toxic waste, the project came to a standstill. In 1997, we picked up this old demand and organized a campaign for the clean up of the contaminated site. We got the city to purchase the property, clean up the site, and designate it as a neighborhood park.
Suddenly, however, PODER is under attack from the local homeowners\' association. Most of its members are white, but some are Latino. They claim that this was their win and that their design for the park should be the one implemented. Andy Solow, a columnist for the neighborhood newspaper and an association ally, recently ridiculed PODER by writing: \"One wonders if all of this senseless activity is driven by a compulsion to place a statue of Che Guevara in the new park.\" PODER knows that the Mission is a multicultural neighborhood, and it was not our intent to make this environmental campaign into an ugly dispute that pits Latinos against other Latinos and Anglos. So, how should we deal with this?
Sincerely,
Geri
Dear Geri:The problem you are facing is a classic one, that of different communities looking at the world from different perspectives.
The homeowners\' association in your neighborhood is interested in increasing the value of their homes. To them, white and Latino alike, a gentrified community park which attracts yuppie homebuyers would be a gift from God. I bet you heard complaints about \"drug dealers,\" \"cholos with their loud boomboxes,\" and \"poor people pissing in doorways\" from Latino homeowners as well as from white yuppies when you went out doorknocking. On this issue, you\'ll likely find class difference to be as strong-or maybe stronger-than racial ones.
Many of your members are Latino immigrant renters with large families. They probably want a park which will welcome children, give them a safe place to play, to yell, to run around, kick a soccer ball around; and maybe it could provide a nice walkway where young people can look at each other and even fall in love. There may be two or three families in an apartment, with different work schedules, so there\'s always a need for a place to relax and hang out at all hours of the day and night. All of these factors probably contribute to the racial and class fear that some homeowners have of your members.
Yes! Both groups are talking about a park, but it\'s clear that the homeowners\' association is afraid of who this park may attract.
But that\'s ok, because the number one goal of community organizing is to fight for your constituents\' needs. And sometimes those needs are not the same as those of other people, even those that live in the same community.
So, the homeowners are accusing you of being radicals. What should you do in this situation? You can freeze and do nothing because you want to prove you aren\'t radicals. Or you analyze the accusations, meet with your leaders and members, and use the attack to strengthen their convictions and understanding of their community. Use this attack so that they can learn firsthand how to stand up and confront racism and class bias. Your community has the right to design this new park, and it should reflect the interests of your members who fought to make it a reality. Move your campaign forward, recruiting new people to support your fight, put pressure on your target, and stick it out until your leadership is satisfied with what they win.
And, to paraphrase an old United Farm Worker, remember: \"Any press coverage is good, even if it is negative, because it must mean that someone is scared of you.\" Che would like that.
