The Color of Power: Racial Coalitions and Political Power in Oakland

4 Diversity and Perceptions

An International City? In May 1996, in a move reflecting the minority population’s heightened desire for recognition, the Oakland City Council decided to rename one of its major streets, East 14th Street, International Boulevard. This artery, running from Lake Merritt downtown to the neighboring city of San Leandro, became a symbol of the city’s ethnic and cultural diversity. This breath of ecumenical and multicultural celebration in Oakland provoked sarcasm from the most critical. Merely by going down the boulevard, one goes alternatively through homogeneous cultural neighborhoods and areas of astonishing diversity showing how porous borders are between neighborhoods. Areas of real ethnic mixing do exist, even though a form of racial segregation is still part of Oakland’s urban landscape. Between Lake Merritt and Fruitvale Avenue, Asian stores and restaurants gradually give way to Latino stores and restaurants. Beyond Fruitvale, in the heart of the Latino district, Chinese restaurants sit side by side with taquerias. Past High Street lies the most ethnically mixed section of International Boulevard . Seventy-third Avenue, finally, is seen as the entry point into the African American neighborhood, filled with Baptist churches and African American stores, yet with a significant number of Asian stores and Mexican restaurants. As one continues down the boulevard, vacant lots, empty parking lots, abandoned stores modestly boarded up, liquor stores in abundance, auto-repair shops, and junkyards come into view. The number of check-cashing outlets is inversely proportional to the number of banks, which seem to have completely deserted a large part of the area. Unanimously proposed by the eighty participants at the Economic Summit 4 Diversity and Perceptions Oakland’s spatial dynamics, 1970–2000 92 The Color of Power for the Development of East Oakland in November 1995, primarily residents active in community organizations, the boulevard’s name change carried the hope of attracting financial resources to build houses, granting loans for establishing businesses, and increasing possibilities for economic development. Participants even hoped to make the boulevard into a multicultural attraction for tourists, along the lines of Chinatown in San Francisco. The project was supported from the outset by the municipal body in charge of economic development , the Office of Economic Development and Employment (OEDE), which considered that Oakland’s diversity represented real capital for international exchanges and investments. Public declarations were fantastically optimistic, but in the eyes of the residents of East Oakland, who had seen conditions in their neighborhood deteriorate over the past thirty years, any hope for change was worth grasping. The plan was drafted by the African American city council member from East Oakland/Elmhurst (district 7), Dezzie Woods-Jones, who pointed out that the project was first promoted by residents, not politicians. The proposition also coincided with her own campaign for the Democratic nomination to the state assembly. But the project was delayed, primarily by Ignacio de la Fuente, the Latino council member from district 5, and an ardent supporter of Woods-Jones’s rival, Don Perata, who finally won the nomination. Indeed, the Hispanic community called for naming the street in honor of César Chávez. The multicultural enthusiasm of the promoters of the name change produced a hesitant “Why not?” from the city council. Yet it did pass the proposal by a vote of seven to two. The black Democratic mayor of Oakland, Elihu Harris , elected in 1990, voted in favor while simultaneously expressing his complete lack of enthusiasm, whereas John Russo, representing district 2, which had an Asian plurality, merely stated that the decision would not harm anyone and that it would probably cost more than $30,000 to continue quibbling about the issue. De la Fuente, along with the white councilwoman from district 1, Sheila Jordan, voted against the plan, arguing that his office had been overwhelmed with appeals against such a large expense for a purely cosmetic change that would not do much to deal with real problems. The city council exercised caution by deciding on a temporary (three-year) name change, after which time community reaction would be weighed. The city council also contemplated displaying Mexican and Chinese flags in the neighborhood. Illustrating all the ambiguity of promoting multiculturalism in practice, Woods-Jones’s original plan divided the boulevard into four cultural districts: Asian, Latino, African American, and “ethnically mixed,” reproducing the set- Diversity and Perceptions 93 tlement patterns of “ethnic” communities. These proposals raised questions, even among the most ardent advocates of...