Shifting marshlands and making amends

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Palo Alto, Menlo Park should acknowledge their land grab from East Palo Alto

by Debbie Mytels

As the tall black man began speaking, the room of 300 grew silent. "I almost decided not to come today," he said. "We've been over this topic so many times, and nothing changes." The topic was racism, and East Palo Alto's Bob Hoover, a longtime community leader, stunned the audience at the Leadership Midpeninsula Leaders' Forum in late February by telling a truth known only by some of his listeners. His remarks underscored a point made moments before by another speaker, Judge LaDoris Cordell: The reality known by people on one side of our nation's racial divide is usually unknown or denied by those on the other side.

As an example, Cordell raised the possibility that baseball player Sammy Sosa finished second a couple of years ago in the race for most home runs in one season because of racism. Her white housemate countered that this was absurd and couldn't be true. But Cordell said that every person of color knew that white pitchers tossed easy balls to Sosa's white rival, Mark McGwire, because they wanted to see him win the race.

Although it was said with lighthearted bantering, Cordell hit a homer with her point: It's easy for people "not to know" and to hold different "truths" about what's happening in the world.

Bob Hoover's truth hit closer to home, and not a spoon clattered when he raised a fact well known to established residents of East Palo Alto: "Palo Alto and Menlo Park stole our land." Most of the audience of community leaders blinked with surprise and wondered what Hoover was talking about.

He went on to explain how 40 years ago, at the behest of local officials, the Army Corps of Engineers re-engineered San Francisquito Creek, shifting the county line that separates San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. By moving the creekbed to the north, land that had been in San Mateo County was now in Palo Alto--and Palo Alto's enterprising city manager proceeded to develop a golf course, an airport and a commercial zone down Embarcadero Road.

As history is told in East Palo Alto, this land grab was repeated when Menlo Park annexed the Belle Haven neighborhood and adjacent commercial areas (including the Raychem site and the marshlands where Sun Microsystems now sits). Overall, the "county service area" that was to become East Palo Alto was reduced from 13 square miles to 2.5 by the time the city incorporated in 1983.

While Cordell pointed out that black and white people often see two different realities, Hoover reminded us that the black person's reality is often one of being harmed. When the creek was moved, valuable land was lost to East Palo Alto--and Palo Alto has been reaping the benefits of revenue from the businesses on that land for nearly half a century.

Racism makes it easy for white people "not to know" about the truths that others see. But when confronted with another aspect of the truth, can those of us who are white continue on as if nothing has occurred--especially when the broader view shows that another is being hurt? I think we have a responsibility to stop and say, "Whoa ... I ought to do something about this!"

Public atonement for past mistakes is a current theme in popular culture. The pope recently apologized to the Jews, Bill Clinton to his wife and the American people, John McCain to all the folks he's insulted. Bishop Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa is an international model for bringing forth the differing realities engendered in a racist society.

Here in America, the concept of reparations to the descendants of slavery is also gaining credence. While some dismiss the idea with questions like "How much would it cost?" or "How could we figure out who should receive it?", I think it's a good idea. Only by acknowledging that our nation as a whole has benefited from the wrongdoing of the past can we begin to repair the damage and move forward together.

Rather than waiting for the rest of the country to make amends, we in the Midpeninsula can make a start. The Palo Alto and Menlo Park city councils should honestly and publicly acknowledge the reality Bob Hoover dared to present. A council resolution could begin, "Whereas, control of certain lands was taken from East Palo Alto. ..."

Additional "whereases" could outline (1) the tax revenues associated with those lands, (2) that residents of East Palo Alto have for many years contributed to the sales tax revenues of Palo Alto and Menlo Park and (3) that the city of East Palo Alto needs funds for community services. The resolution could conclude, "Resolved, that control over these lands--and the associated tax revenues--will now be returned to East Palo Alto."

Not only is making this restitution the right thing to do, but the quality of life for all Midpeninsula residents would be improved if East Palo Alto had more funds for community services. Moreover, through the willingness of one community to say "we made a mistake," we would present a strong example to the rest of the nation.

No longer would residents on opposite sides of Highway 101 share different versions of "the truth." Instead, we'd share a common awareness of our history--"mistakes were made, but they have been repaired"--enabling us to move into the future based on a broader, shared understanding of reality.

Debbie Mytels, a special-projects coordinator at the Foundation for Global Community in Palo Alto and chair of the Midtown Residents' Association, is a member of the Weekly's Board of Contributors.

Publication Date: Wednesday May 24, 2000 

Editor's note: Debbie Mytels once served as a member of the Board of Collective Roots.