"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown": But the Fight Against Gentrification Will Continue Anyway
"Monsa Nitoto, 65, a West Oakland activist who has lived in the area for 40 years, said the plan had flaws but would bring much-needed investment to West Oakland.
'There is some gentrification going on, but no more than these Occupy folks moving into West Oakland,' Nitoto said. 'They're gentrifying while they're talking about not gentrifying, and they don't know what is going on.'”
There is so much wrong with this statement. Having been present at tonight’s city hall council meeting regarding the West Oakland Specific Plan (WOSP), I can tell you that Mr. Nitoto, despite his good intentions, is being manipulated by those who have the most to gain from the re-zoning and development of West Oakland. By clumsily lumping Occupiers with gentrifiers (?) he really only made his own ignorance more obvious. What he more specifically said at the meeting was that the Occupy movement consisted of white people with “white privilege” and were thus gentrifiers simply for being white.
As if being white means you aren’t affected by gentrification.
The fight against gentrification is NOT just an issue of race or class, but a struggle against the loss of community and the spiritual health individuals feel when they are part of a community. In west Oakland, it is the black community who suffers first. But there are many others who feel that loss, understand it, sympathize with it…we’re on the same page! Unfortunately, so many people at the meeting were polarized when it came specifically to the WOSP issue, proving that though this plan has not yet been approved, it is already damaging our community by dividing us.
We need more than a statue of Nelson Mandela erected, as Mr. Nitoto proposed at one point. Is that supposed to appease the black community? That only gives them further power to patronize a minority group that they do not give two crumbs about, without really giving them what they need to thrive!
All in all, it was really disappointing to see the motion put through and approved. And in fact, the two minorities who were on the city planning commission voted NO, while the others, all white, voted YES. But if I know anything about Oaklanders, it’s that we’ll see this thing through til the bitter end.
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