K.Miller writes,
{{{{"People want to tell the war stories because you want sympathy and you want
our "black" neighborhoods to sound like a war zone full of drugs, pimps and
prostitutes--that way, you are the heroes who deserve the praise of cleaning
up the neighborhoods and getting people like me to move on, just someone
trying to get on. We'll see in five years who's left, what's taken the
place of the Free Store, Peace House, Walgreen's, the Dollar store, etc.,
and who can afford what's been "cleaned up." It's easy to crack down--but
where does it move to and who gets swept up and out in the calls while they
are just trying to make it down the street?"} }
I agree whole heartedly with K. Miller--- the euphemisms that attempt to disguise the motives that drive poor people and people of color from one neighborhood to another do make me sick at heart:
among the euphemisms I have read in these e-mails are:
"crack down on crime"-- which somehow gets translated into poor people. homeless people,and people of color being the ones who are insinuated as the causes of crime.
"let's not ghettoize poor people by overconcentrating 'them': i.e. let's not face the fact that Kenwood, Linden Hills, Kingfield, the burbs etc fight tooth and nail to keep 'them' out via zoning laws, the MCDA and MPHA catering to welfare for the rich developers (no I do not mean non-profits that try to provide affordable housing).
The main reason that organizations like Plymouth Church have to fight for Lydia House is because there are hardly any neighborhoods that will "allow" such housing.
Or the city bureaucrats in the MCDA and MPHA do their stonewalling routine and refuse to do their job and create low income housing.( I user the term low income because the term "affordable housing" has been bastardized so much, it now seems to mean if you can afford to buy a $205,000 home, that is considered affordable)
In Kingfield--there was an empty nursing home for two years--about the size of Lydia House-- the MCDA and the MPHA sat on their hands, even after approached by neighborhood residents asking that this be used for low income housing.
I am also disgusted with the efforts to destroy Peace House--one of the few havens left for people who certainly do not fit into the plans for the gentrification of Franklin Avenue.
I am tired of the overconcentratoin of wealthy people--I think it is time for Kenwood and the Lake of the Isles area to be liberated from their insular existence.
Let's crack down on those who live in huge houses that certainly are far too large for any one person or family. Come on, have you checked out the size of those mansions along the lakes?
That Lydia House is the object of such disparagement and opposition is a sad comment. Why don't the people hiring lawyers to fight Lydia house hire lawyers to demand that supportive housing, low income affordable housing be required to be provided to everyone in Minneapolis? Pay those lawyers to demand that neighborhoods cannot continue with their petty, fearful opposition to provide housing to all who need it. Most of the energy I see expended is still about NIMBYism, not fighting to create more affordable housing in more neighborhoods.
Mr. Miller I thankyou for your words.
Margaret Hastings-Kingfield
p.s. For all who are interested, you are invited to the campout Jan. 30th and 31st on the lawn of the Government Center to demand a stop to harassment of homeless people.
