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OPINION: Lakeview Tiny Homes in Oakland Are Segregated, Critic Says

NNPA NEWSWIRE — It’s unfair to take up spaces that should be for people at the lake and give them to folks from Alameda. I’ve called into City Council many times, and I’ve also addressed Mayor Schaaf on this issue. We can’t have the administration formulate pilot programs that separate whites and Blacks. It’s also important that we take a look and make sure that there’s equality when it comes to finances that are going to each side of this community.

Published

2 years ago

February 25, 2022

Oakland Post

Nino Parker holds a sign outside of The Lakeview Village tiny homes on Feb. 22. Photo by Zack Haber.

By Nino Parker, introduction by Zack Haber

Since Nov. 16, Black Oakland residents Nino Parker and Assata Olugbala have been protesting outside The Lakeview Village, a tiny home community sitting along East 12th Street near Lake Merritt that Oakland has been using to shelter homeless people. Parker and Olugbala call it a racially segregated community.

One portion of the community is made up of people who used to live in tents, self-made homes, and vehicles at Union Point Park. Before living in the park, many of these people were evicted from homes in Alameda. After protests and negotiations with Oakland in March 2021, these people were able to secure a degree of self-governance in exchange for them agreeing to move from Union Point Park to a portion of The Lakeview Village called a “co-governed encampment.” During the site’s setup, the City of Oakland rented out hotel rooms for them. While they currently live in the same small pallet shelters as others onsite, this crew is in the process of building additional infrastructure for themselves and provides some of their own security.

People living in the other portion of Lakeview Village don’t live in a “co-governed encampment” and aren’t allowed the same degree of self-governance. They can’t build their own infrastructure and don’t have access to some of the services that those who live in the “co-governed encampment” have. The following are Parker’s words edited for readability and brevity:

My name is Nino Parker, homeless Black advocate, Bay Area. Recently, a lot of people have heard there’s been an issue at the Lakeview tiny homes. The problem is there are two neighboring communities, with a fence that separates them. One community is made of almost entirely of white people who used to live in Alameda. Of the 15 people that live there, only two are Black. That side got an advantage of having not only hotels that added up to $66,000 in bills, but they also got $350,000 in funding. On the other side of the fence, the community is mainly Black and mixed-race people from Oakland.

It’s unfair to take up spaces that should be for people at the lake and give them to folks from Alameda. I’ve called into City Council many times, and I’ve also addressed Mayor Schaaf on this issue. We can’t have the administration formulate pilot programs that separate whites and Blacks. It’s also important that we take a look and make sure that there’s equality when it comes to finances that are going to each side of this community.

What we need at this point, I think, is to take the fence down. That way we can work on a lot of the other issues in the near future here when it comes to allowing everyone access to whatever is in the tiny home community. If one portion has a kitchen, everyone should have access to a kitchen or any structures that are built there. We need to make sure that there’s equality in this program.

Our protest has been very hard. We’ve been here for over three months. The head of the LLC that had formerly been helping run the co-governed encampment assaulted me, which has damaged my hip, causing me great pain. One white resident has repeatedly stolen my signs. Some other residents, but not all of them, have verbally assaulted me and Assata. The city has stood by and done nothing. But we’re committed to make sure that this city is fair and equitable in its own services to Blacks and whites.

We don’t want programs separating two communities. That’s what this is about. I understand some of the young people here don’t understand what Jim Crow was. Jim Crow was when we had people, Black people, that sat on the back of the bus or sat in the balcony of the theater or had to go in the back door or the colored door. This reminds me of Jim Crow, but in this case it’s OakCrow.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

15 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

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WOMEN IMPACTING THE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Juanita Matthews

Sister Juanita Matthews

55 Years with Oakland Public School District

The Teacher, Mother, Community Outreach Champion, And Child of God

Juanita Matthews, better known as “Sister Teacher,” is a walking Bible scholar. She moved to California from the great state of Arkansas in 1971. Sister Teacher has a passion for teaching. She has been a member of Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church since 1971. She followed her passion for teaching, and in 1977 became the lead teacher for Adult Class #6. Her motto still today is “Once My Student, Always My Student”.

Beyond her remarkable love for the Lord, Sister Teacher has showcased her love for teaching by working for the Oakland Unified School District for 55 years, all but four of those years spent at Emerson Elementary and Child Development School. She truly cares about her students, making sure they have the tools/supplies needed to learn either at OUSD or Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

She’s also had a “Clothes Closet Ministry” for 51 years, making sure her students have sufficient clothing for school. The Clothes Closet Ministry extends past her students, she has been clothing the community for over 50 years as well. She loves the Lord and is a servant on a mission. She is a loving mother to two beautiful children, Sandra and Andre. This is the impact this woman of God has on her church and the community.