I find myself in a scary and somewhat novel situation, I am admitting that I agree with Greg Luce on some subject.
Greg asks is it a coincidence that middle or upper income whites, (and middle and upper income people of color, I might add), benefit more from programs than do poor people. The answer is NO, it is no coincidence. It is the pattern of discrimination that marks every facet of living in Minnesota, (and most of the US). Is it a coincidence that the judicial system in Hennepin County treats these same neighborhoods differently? Criminals preying on poor people in neighborhoods with large populations of color, are released back into those communities to continue their victimization, much quicker and with much less penalties. The source of the above was an attorney charged with prosecutions. She stated that there was a clear pattern of discrimination against neighborhoods that were poor and occupied with predominately people of color. I believe the Constitution does not discriminate on this issue. In fact, even poor people, people of color, and those choosing to live in "Poor" neighborhoods are guaranteed "Equal Protection Under The Law". There has been a pattern of driving criminals into poor neighborhoods, and then enforcing the law differentially in those neighborhoods. Their has been a pattern of mitigating environmental problems for affluent white neighborhoods and ignoring environmental problems for poor neighborhoods. The lead Greg talks about is also, to a large degree, the result of a "Transportation Industry". Emissions from automobiles burning lead fuel, for almost 60 years, deposited this lead in our soil. Does anyone believe there has been as much attention to this problem as to "Airport Noise"? There are people in Minneapolis who need supportive housing because of special needs and handicaps. Minneapolis, realizing that affluent white people might be offended by the sight of someone less fortunate, has concentrated these people in the same neighborhoods as the predators who victimize them, which I talked about above. "Lets see now put the drug dealers where the drug addicted are, and put them somewhere where the people can't complain to much, and we don't have to deal with the problem." Sounds like the Plan. Minneapolis owns land in many neighborhoods that have no supportive housing. Since Federal Fair-Housing Law requires there to be a "Reasonable Accommodation" choice for people, you would expect Minneapolis to turn over some of that property so supportive housing could be built in the more affluent neighborhoods. Do they? Not in this lifetime, unless a Federal Judge orders them to do so. Look at the power more affluent, more white neighborhoods have to deny supportive housing. Is there a pattern? You better believe there is! MCDA tells these developers that they will receive NO funding if they attempt to locate in an affluent neighborhoods against the wishes of that neighborhood. What does it tell those who want to locate in Phillips, or Ventura Village? Jim Schiebel, of PPL, bragged to Bob Albee and I that they had guaranteed MCDA funding before PPL even had City zoning changes and against the wishes of the neighborhood. Wonder why? Could it be because of its placement in one of these poor, less white neighborhoods? Does anyone really believe that funding and support would have followed if they wanted to locate at the community garden on south Dowling near the Mississippi River? Or any of the affluent neighborhoods that have no supportive housing? As I said before, "NOT IN THIS LIFETIME" So Greg, you are a Lawyer, why not start a few class actions against these patterns of discrimination. Even if you do not want to tackle the Supportive Housing Discrimination Case, what about the Equal Protection Under the Law,or the Environmental Mitigation discrimination issues? We need lawyers who are willing to take on the "Big Boys" at City Hall. There are so many patterns of discrimination that it is almost impossible to discriminate between the patterns. Any good lawyer could make a life's work out of erasing all those patterns. That is if they can see the real pattern. The real pattern is that poor, less white neighborhoods do not have the power to stop being victimized. It takes legal help applying a liberal amount of Constitutional Due Process, Equal Protection, and Equal Access Law to be able to change that pattern. Do one of those and you might have some "poor neighborhood" residents, such as me, supporting you. Well maybe I might have went a little too far there? Don't want to scare and discourage you, so I will back down to simply respecting you. So as the card trick says, "Pick one, anyone will do", and go for it. Jim Graham, Ventura Village - I been climbing mountains so long that when I went up just a hill, I thought I was going down. ----- Original Message ----- From: Gregory Luce <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: WizardMarks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 9:56 AM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Neighborhood Environments (was Trainor website) > Here's a question for candidates and others on the issue of > environmental concerns in neighborhoods. Is it fair for a government to > find a way to abate sound pollution in Southwest Minneapolis, to a tune > of $200 million and growing, but put aside piddly money for lead > abatement and other environmental hazard abatement in poor folks' homes, > particularly over North?. After all, the sound abatement measures have > been done as improvements to existing homeowner and rental properties, > at no cost to the owner. Is it a coincidence that most of the folks > benefitted are middle to upper income whites, while poor people of color > must deal with lead poisonings and other environmental hazards in > Phillips, Near North, Hawthorne, Jordan and Harrison? > > Look for an environmental justice campaign from Project 504, coming to > your northside neighborhood soon. > > Gregory Luce > Project 504/Minneapolis (North Phillips) > > > > >> Environmental issues take a distinct back seat in this district > >> to issues of economics, education, and crime, in my opinion. > >> WM: Actually, that is far from the reality. It's not by accident that > >> the Green Institute is in Phillips. It was residents of Phillips who > >> pushed and shoved the legislature to get lead abatement money to deal > >> with the unconscionable number of lead poisoned children in Phillips. > >> Karen Clark authored/sponsored the lead bills (and probably whatever > >> came/comes to the Green Institute as well, but you'd have to ask > >> Annie Young about that one). The notion behind the Green Ins. is that > >> green industries could produce new jobs for Phillips residents and > >> that a green conscious Phillips would inprove health and economics at > >> the same time. > >> > > > > WizardMarks, Central > > > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________ > >> Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn > >> E-Democracy > >> Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > >> http://e-democracy.org/mpls > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > > > > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
