Thanksgiving for the poor
Thanksgiving is almost here, and with this celebration we also welcome in the upcoming Christmas festivities. Gatherings of friends and family, parties and food. It is a very “spiritual” time as well. And with all the laughter, music and drinking, no one hears the crying of those who have little or nothing.
In recent months many families have been ejected from their neighborhoods, with their children leaving their schools, forced away from familiar people and places to another community or even state, in search of something so elemental: a roof over their heads.
For years Sonoma has been home to thousands of Latino families who daily contribute to our community, who are an integral part of Sonoma County. In construction, landscaping, hospitality, agriculture, even business and education, it is common to find Latinos contributing. In recent months these same hard-working mothers and fathers have been under attack to displace them from here, their home.
The reasons are not clear. But every day we hear of families who, by means of reprisal, threats or intimidation, and most commonly, huge rent increases, are forced to abandon their apartment or house.
It’s starting to happen that residents of Latino neighborhoods are literally and figuratively displaced by residents with a higher social status. The intention seems to be to let the “bourgeois” in, supporting “gentrification” at the expense of the poor. This is a phenomenon nationwide, and it is occurring locally where Latinos have been living, in Windsor, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa. Studies suggest that Latino “barrios” are experiencing the traditional gentrification of whites moving in. Latinos have also been removed under the pretext of urban renewal.
Options for help are extremely limited or nonexistent. Those affected usually turn to a nonprofit, where they only get a general orientation about their rights and maybe a telephone referral.
When these people have brought their situation to Supervisor Susan Gorin during forums and community conversations on the housing crisis, her response has been minimal or none. She has said she hears them, feels their pain and need. But to date she has refused to commit to any action such as rent control or any other immediate intervention to help those suffering the crisis at this very moment.
And meanwhile, the politicians ponder whether they can and will help the “poor in need.” The very ones who contribute to the wealth of this community.
It’s worthwhile noting that the right to housing refers not only to every person’s right to four walls and a roof to come home to; it also means having access to a safe community, where you can live peacefully, with dignity.
And there is a paradigmatic right –the interdependence of the various human rights –which suggests that every person has the right to a place to live adequate to guarantee the right to a family, the right of access to prosperity, the right to emotional health, and the right to success in society.
All that I have left is to hope for a miracle, that the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas will somehow bless those that don’t have a table to eat at, a bed to sleep in, a roof to protect them from the cold and the rain. And also those that are using their last savings to pay the rent, ending up with nothing to buy food, go to the doctor, or buy a present for their children.
One thought on “Thanksgiving for the poor”
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The landlords are not all nameless people. They are our neighbors, they might not even have more than us but they will raise the rent, invade our privacy and threaten to evict us if we request repairs. Meanwhile another house becomes a vacation rental and the county could give a hoot less. We need to vote them out and elect leadership that will actually reflect the hardworking, middle class families. We need protection from greed and no cause evictions. It’s a social cleansing.