Letters to the Editor: The racism of Redondo Beach’s anti-growth political leadership

To the editor: I hear crickets in Redondo Beach — not a stir about Mayor Bill Brand and his racist emails about how development with affordable housing threatens the way of life in this town. On NBC news, a Redondo Beach councilmember said those seeking affordable housing should live inland.

This is code for “NIMBY if you are dark-skinned.”

When racism is institutionalized, it becomes normalized, and that’s why people shrug at these racial undertones, especially in a white community like Redondo Beach.

People defending the mayor say of course he did not mean to be racist. Then what did Brand imply when he wrote the “increasingly latino laden Coastal Commission” would not like a project because it was too luxurious and exclusive? Do Latinos not fit in with Brand’s image of exclusivity?

The muted reaction to this is in stark contrast to the way Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León is being vilified after participating in a racist conversation. What Redondo Beach’s mayor and his allies are doing is worse, since it maligns all Blacks and Latinos as dangerous and undesirable poor people.

As a result, many families are denied a chance for affordable housing.

Luis Alfredo Vasquez-Ajmac, Redondo Beach

..

To the editor: How sad that a lack of impulse control and the unfortunate participation of racists in Redondo Beach’s efforts to prevent overdevelopment may cause some to reject the entire anti-growth movement.

But the sad truth, my fellow humans, is that there are too many of us pretty much everywhere on this planet, quite noticeably in Southern California.

Please consider the legitimate arguments against growth. Please dig a little deeper into the role that political contributions from developers play in legislation that is sold to the public as a panacea for everything from unaffordable rents to high numbers of unsheltered people.

These are complex problems that will almost certainly not be solved by less zoning and unbridled development.

Susan Wolfson, Glendale