Features

After reading Paul Rauber’s commentary “South Berkeley’s Crime Enablers,” I feel sure that he misunderstood my opinion piece. Mr. Rauber refers to my “venomous Oct. 25 commentary” accuses me of “tossing around incendiary” charges of racism and then concludes by saying that my opinions “Make a firebomb look kind of benign by comparison.” Mr. Rauber’s choice of language and metaphor suggests that by merely raising the question of racism, I have somehow caused a harm comparable to the destruction of a firebomb. This is a surprising repudiation of the value of free expression coming from a man who makes his living as a writer. 

Mr. Rauber, I know that your situation is difficult. It is difficult for many of us. I have been held up at gunpoint in my neighborhood by teenagers. It isn’t pretty. Poverty, crime, lack of education and opportunity all conspire to make life hard for many of us. There is tremendous suffering in South Berkeley that goes unaddressed year after year. This is the reality that much of Berkeley seems determined to ignore. 

As naïve as this may sound, I really was hoping that we could work toward solutions if we involve the actual people with whom you have a conflict, identify what help the city is prepared to offer, and let go of the requirement that Ms. Moore sell her home as a prerequisite to the mediation. We need to look at the root causes of the conflict. This is not your responsibility nor is it Ms. Moore’s alone. The City of Berkeley and all of its residents have a responsibility to address poverty issues and the underlying causes of street level crime. We have neglected our young people and ignored the income gap in our city for too long and at our own peril. 

Mr. Rauber, please be assured that I had no “venom” in my heart when I wrote my article. My point was to encourage us to see Lenora Moore’s situation in its historical context. Looking at the bigger picture is not meant to minimize your suffering. It is meant to help us correctly diagnose a social problem so that we can create real solutions. Your group seems to be blaming Ms. Moore because it is convenient to do so, not because you really believe that she is the problem. 

Mr. Rauber, by bringing up the issue of institutional racism in Berkeley, I didn’t mean to imply that you were practicing racism. However, you can’t deny that gentrification is taking place right before our very eyes. The number of African Americans in Berkeley has declined steadily from a high of 30 percent in the ‘60s to our current level of 13 percent. African Americans in Berkeley live an average of 10 years less than white residents. They are also four times as likely to be stopped by police and profiled than white people in Berkeley. The “achievement gap” in high school education continues to impair the ability of our young people of color to compete for the kinds of jobs that would enable them to remain in Berkeley. Mr. Rauber, can you really believe that the legacy of racism and current economic conditions play no part in this situation and put no pressure on young people to participate in the underground economy ? 

By the way, I would like to remind you that I went to court with Ms. Moore in 1992 and am well aware of the problems in your neighborhood. I read the entire case that your group presented to Ms. Moore and tried to help her formulate a response. Be assured that I would love to meet with you and/or your group to discuss the root causes of the drug problem in Berkeley and how we can organize to address it.  

However, I find it a bit alarming that simply raising difficult questions about racism and the complexity of justice is enough to get me branded by you as a race-baiter and a crime-enabler. Even worse, my words actually inspired one of the plaintiffs to contact my place of work to complain that I had “encouraged” young people to commit criminal acts. I don’t know how you folks found out where I work, but I would hope that as the lead plaintiff you would encourage the others not to harass me at my job. 

Maybe your group will win in court. Maybe the judge will blame Ms. Moore for not being more aggressive in the fight against street crime. However, there are other grandmothers out there. I can point to numerous examples of grandmothers who are struggling to raise their grandchildren and to keep them away from the drug culture. What if we just go ahead and move all those grandmothers right out of Berkeley, too? Maybe we can pressure them to sell their homes, too. Surely we can replace them with some nice, young couples who are looking to get into the housing market through the purchase of an old “fixer upper.” And yes, Mr. Rauber, if we fail to look at the systemic causes of drug addiction, crime and poverty, then when those newcomers apply their fresh coats of paint, they might as well just paint over the history of African Americans in Berkeley, too. 

Andrea Prichett is a member of CopWatch and a South Berkeley resident.›