CHAPTER II WILL THE COMPTON CORRUPT ELECTED OFFICIALS AND BUREAUCRATS…, PLEASE STAND UP? Written by E.F. Mohammed Martinez Compton’s Black and Brown people, feel their voices have never been taken into account by the indifferent powers that be for almost anything, except during election and re-election time when they want their votes. It’s only then when these politicos will come out from their entrenched city hall and CUSD bunkers as they turn into soothing first rate circus clowns while performing for their “audience”…, the VOTERS with their political rhetoric juggling acts! Is it because these decent hardworking people are not of an economic and political influential class status? Most of them are hard working class and poor low income residents who are generally rental and struggling home owners, including a number of small business proprietors, adjacent or nearby to this decaying Rosecrans Ave. Bridge, yet they are the most economically and politically ignored. I invite all concerned citizens to visit Frank Acevedo (Frank’s Carburetors) at 413 East Rosecrans Ave., a 51 year family business owner, located on the North side, next to this specific progressively decaying bridge. Frank will obligingly guide anyone interested in inspecting it for themselves as he points out the underneath of this continuous separating cracks of this bridge at close range and other unstable construction deteriorating defects. I cringe just thinking about this preventable inhumane worst case scenario if this bridge ever implodes. God help those innocent homeless souls, men, women and let’s hope not…, the sleeping children whom I have been told that at one time or another, they too have lived and slept under it! Without question, these poor of the poorest human souls will be the first body bag casualties if this tragedy ever comes to pass! Compton’s taxpayer$ should ask themselves about the Rosecrans Ave Bridge; Is it possible that the overall former and present Compton city council politicos, will take full responsibility if this would-be impending human tragedy ever occurs when it will INEVITABLY one day collapse due to Compton’s negligence and lack of maintenance since it was constructed in 1992? Will these politicos be able to look at themselves with a clear conscience if this preventable human disaster in waiting ever becomes a human tragic reality as it will leave death and destruction in its path? Or will they continue to be power drunk with mucho self-ego tripping consumption? It’s important to note, that if this disaster ever happens, our white supremacist adversaries will be getting in line to glee as they will waste no time to rabidly vilify a minority run city (Compton) government with no end in sight. Can this city afford this white racist backlash? Compton has the potential to be the model city for the entire nation as Black and Brown people work together as one! Let’s not blow it folks! We ALL can do better! Acevedo has had a long judicial and bureaucratic battle history against the self-indulging municipal powers that be in regards to this bridge structure and his five decades family owned business. This businessman has had to confront them on several occasions, especially with a one specific hardnosed Hispanic city hall department head Senior Planner bureaucrat with an always negative demeanor who has made it hard for Frank almost at every opportunity to operate his carburetor shop. Frank alleges this Senior Planner has also made it hard for other Latino business people as he is alleged to play “favorites” to some and turns others down at whim. Hmmm, I wonder why and why so? Not too long ago, I was asked to attend one of these bureaucratic “civil servant” Senior Planner’s office meetings at the request of Frank Acevedo and others as they met with this uncompromising bureaucrat at city hall to just listen in about Frank’s business building layout structure. This “private” meeting did not end with a good cordial finality. When the city manager, the Senior Planner’s superior, found out this journalist was present, he immediately asked me to leave the meeting before it commenced. The Senior Planner’s superior, serves as Compton’s city manager as he sits on all the city council meetings. Apparently it seemed he did not want any media presence to record (witness) this “private” meeting. In all fairness, that was his prerogative. If this “city manager” had nothing to hide, why did he ask me to leave? Whatever happened to government public transparency and my First Amendment right of the free press? It’s common knowledge among the Compton Latino immigrant population who feel powerless and bureaucratically “bullied” by the politically entrenched Compton “yes men” (…and women) bureaucrats who profile and harass them with all kinds’ of aggressive and discriminatory business sometimes petty “code violations” by its city’s code enforcement agents for simply being immigrants, belonging to another culture and speaking a “different” language, especially against those who cannot speak English. These residents are in the belief how these elected “hand maiden” officials and their certain selected rubber stamp “civil service” department notorious adherents can violate their civil rights at whim. Some these miscreant city officials even look “brown” like them too who have also taken a malicious design to push them (Latino immigrants) out of Compton altogether instead of making them feel welcome as part of its population. Case in point; One long time established immigrant shop owner nearby the Rosecrans Ave. Bridge, commented; “We (immigrants) are rounded up and deported by the white racist Americans who stole our Mexican lands (California to Texas aka Aztlan)…, and now we feel that as an immigrant population in this city, we are also now being pushed out by those same people who were mistreated and discriminated by our same anti-immigrant/anti-Brown white cotton plantation thinking extremists!” This is the view of other at random Brown non-English speaking Compton immigrant residents who have commented these same sentiments when I asked them how their lives have fared in this city since their arrival. This same shop owner continued; “Our children are American Compton born and it’s not the Black people we have problems with, it’s those in power within this city who have made our lives practically impossible to live here, but please understand that not all Black people feel this way towards us either. We have good Black friends, and some are even our next door neighbors with whom we both share our food and the good times too. There are also Blacks and Browns whom we know that are inter-dating and/or inter-married. Some have children too. I just cannot understand why we are discriminated when we have done nothing wrong to them (City government and local school board officials.). Is it because we speak Spanish and the color of our Brown skin? Like in everywhere else, there are some bad people and there are some good kind hearted decent people in every race, so I’m not bitter against all of them (Black Americans).” Another small business owner I encountered nearby the Rosecrans Ave. Bridge /Alameda corridor, also chose to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, commented; “When I moved here a few years ago and opened up my own business, I thought that me and my family were going to be accepted, but because we (immigrants) are going through severe massive anti-immigrant racism today as when Africans were brought into this country to work as slaves, and I fully understand what they (Black Americans) went through in this country then and in present day, but I now feel their unwelcome treatment towards us Mexican and Central American immigrants. We are seen as an invading intrusive people by those who politically control this town and others. I see how the ones, who have been in power too long at city hall…, just don’t want us here”. She continued; “We Mexicans have no problem with our Black friends and neighbors whatsoever, its only with those who make their adamant mean spirited laws against us (immigrants) in this city who see Brown people as a threat to them from the day we started arriving here in Compton. Besides, we (undocumented immigrants) are not a burden to this state or this nation.” She angrily continues; “We came here (to the U.S.) to work and make a living like everyone else. We do not receive welfare or food stamps or any kind of government social services, yet we pay our fair share of taxes, but we never get any of it back. Many of our Mexican countrymen are exploited as workers and more often than not, they get robbed off their labor and on many occasions they just don’t get paid with the threat of deportation by their unscrupulous employers!” Another Compton businesswoman also commented about an incident that she had with a non-Latino petty city hall “activist” whom she allegedly described him as nothing more than just an opportunist looking for a quick dollar at the expense of the vulnerable Latino business people. She alleges that when he approached her and her husband’s place of business to obtain information from her to locate another person, her reply to him was that she did not have permission to give him this information. Since he did not get his way, he turned to her husband and sternly asked him if he was “legal” in this country which his demeanor was very insulting to this family. He acted like an arrogant wannabe ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) immigration agent. It’s alleged that he is known to act like a bully and is actually not well liked by many Black and Brown people because of his alleged self-centered selfish much to be desired behavior to others. (Please note, most of these Latino persons interviewed chose to remain anonymous due to their legal status and for fear of political and business reprisals against them.) E-Mail; aztecchicanointifada@yahoo Face Book: E.f. Mohammed Martinez
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 16:36:29 +0000