West Adams Neighborhood
As president of West Adams Heritage Assn., I would like to address your article (Dec. 1) on racial disharmony in West Adams, and also the subsequent editorial on the same subject (Dec. 4).
In the editorial The Times referred to white people “snapping up” houses. I, for one, struggled to buy a home in 1982. The house had not been lived in for more than a year, and had been vandalized. There were no windows that remained unbroken, and the doors were of plywood nailed to the walls. The ceilings had fallen. It was a house that only someone willing to devote many long, hard hours of his own labor would want.
I am not alone. This was the condition that most of us found our homes in.
We are not as a group rich people, and most of us can afford these houses only because we do our own fixing up. Like other middle-income people we have had to scrape together our down payments. We are hardly “snapping up” these houses.
The article and the editorial state that some older residents fear that inflation may prevent their children from buying homes in this area. Certainly, affordable housing for our children is a goal all people share. But I had thought that one of the goals of our society was also integrated neighborhoods.
As to the issue of gentility, these are words never used by our organization. But, what could be wrong with trying to alleviate crime on your street corner, trash in alleys, or graffiti on walls--or fighting to maintain a residential area. And this we have done together, black and white.
It seems to me that the gain from promoting racism in this instance lies with politically minded people.
The West Adams community is large. It covers two council districts and two police districts in approximately two square miles. It is not only black and never has been. Certain census tracts are overwhelmingly Hispanic. And yet, in your newspaper, only a handful of individuals representing a few blocks were allowed to speak for the area as a whole.
It is also interesting that not one of the officers of our organizations were contacted for the article. It is difficult to evenly cover both sides of a “battle,” the word The Times chose for its headline, without allowing the accused organization to respond.
As to the West Adams Heritage Assn. being a representative of white people in West Adams, I would like to point out that 32% of our members are blacks. There are also Asians and Hispanics in the membership. In fact, the only criteria for membership is a love of old homes. Our newsletter and meeting notices are mailed to 200 households, and many of our individual members distribute these same notices to their neighbors who are not on the mailing list. Our meetings are open to anyone who cares to attend, member or not, as are our other functions. The people whose homes are open to the public during our annual tour are not necessarily members of the organization, and are a diverse group, ethnically.
If the real issue here is to who takes the credit for sprucing up West Adams, then give it to all who participate.
JERRY MENDELSOHN
Los Angeles
