Gentrification, Cops and an Article That's Arousing Ire

A blog post about gentrification of Oakland neighborhoods on the Oakland Local website is stirring irate comments from readers, who have called it "infuriating," "morally reprehensible" and "embarrassing for Oaklanders."

The piece, by Pilar Reyes, says that "new wealth" fueled by a San Francisco tech boom is pushing local residents out of the homes and neighborhoods where they have lived for decades — and that the locals are going to get "very, very angry at you for coming to Oakland. Probably in a way that makes you uncomfortable and is inconvenient for your image of yourself as an intelligent, worldly, open-minded, community-oriented individual."

Reyes (who also writes as Pilar Vree, a biographical note indicates) says, "When people with money flood into Oakland and eradicate the current community and replace decades-old culture with a new, arbitrary culture of money – a culture of 'We can price out the problem!' – then you’re going to run into a few problems.

"It’s easy to transplant yourself from across the bay and bring with you a mentality of economic superiority and a latent, at times unconscious, racist attitude ... we don’t stand to tolerate this kind of prejudice," she writes.

Reyes heats up when she writes about the difference in how newcomers and locals feel about crime in Oakland.

"We’re all well aware of the crime rate in Oakland, and nobody else really cares that your phone or car or wallet got stolen. It’s not news in Oakland. Second, why do out-of-towners always call the cops? Just so everybody’s clear: DO NOT CALL THE COPS...

"If there’s one piece of advice I can give to out-of-towners, it’s to not call the cops, because in Oakland there’s a long-standing culture of 'All Cops Are Bastards,' and snitches get stitches.

"If you move to a new neighborhood and it becomes known that you are snitch who calls the cops, things are not going to work out for you. You’ve been warned!" 

Oakland Local readers responding to the article, published April 23, have taken issue especially with Reyes' comments about crime.

"Is she [Reyes] really so apathetic/ignorant to think that the crime rate in Oakland is just part of its charm?" asks commenter Nathan Smith. "Does she really not care if I get mugged at gunpoint just because I haven't lived my entire life here?"

Another reader, identified only as Brooktoon, comments, "To suggest that a citizen shouldn't alert the authorities when they are are victim of crime is morally reprehensible. The 'don't snitch' sub-culture helps to contribute to the high level of crime in Oakland and to suggest that 'true' Oaklanders don't report crime is ridiculous."

Others questioned the wisdom of publishing the article at all.

"I find it really hard to imagine that a piece this intentionally divisive, ill-informed, confrontational and threatening would be published if instead of wealthy white newcomers to Oakland, the target of the rant were poor people of color," wrote a commenter identified as Wayfarer. 

Oakland Local editor and publisher Susan Mernit defended her decision to publish the Reyes essay by writing, "Oakland Local is committed to publishing diverse voices. This essay is one in a 4 part series by local residents--and we will have at least 2 more that readers are submitting. I understand you *hate* what this piece says, but we are committed to giving people their say--within our guidelines.

"I understand that this article is disturbing people. But, again, we're running 6 essays on this topic and this is the one that is the sharpest.

"I choose Pilar's essay because I think she's a good writer who has strong feeings and is not afraid of sharing them under her own name--and clearly, her work has struck more than one nerve with readers."

You may read the complete Oakland Local article here.

For another look at gentrification in Oakland and its effects, see these articles in the East Bay Express:

On Oakland, Violence, and the Future of First Fridays

The Year Oakland Exploded

Share your thoughts about gentrification and conflicts between "new" and "old" Oakland residents in the comments section below.