Manuel Ortiz Escámez. Peninsula 360 Press.
"In Redwood City, the clouds are pink," I told my wife years ago - while in Mexico - and she didn't believe me. In time, when she visited this city for the first time, she proved me right.
From my perspective, I see, over the daily Redwood City, beautiful pink clouds, with tones that intermingle and degrade into oranges and blues.
But bad news for you: I'm color blind.
Don't feel sorry. Fortunately, color blindness doesn't hurt us at all; it's a condition of the vagaries of Genetics. We simply see different shades of colors than most do. So I can't say for sure if the clouds in Redwood City are, in fact, pink; I like to think so.
Pink, as well as the other shades of colors the sky can be tinged with, are combined in Redwood City with the vast colors of the sea, the salt marshes, the dense vegetation and the murals. To me, this vast array of colors represents the very rich ethnic diversity of the San Francisco Peninsula.
In the meantime, we cannot conclude whether or not we agree that the clouds here are pink. Keep my color blindness in mind. Where there is definitely no controversy is in ethnic diversity. In Redwood City, over 38% of the population is Latino, over 10% is Asian, 2.2% is African American, and there is also a Native American and Native Hawaiian population here, in addition to whites of course.
The enormous ethnic variety in the city of pink clouds, Redwood City, which brings knowledge, cultural and economic wealth, should be a source of pride for all the inhabitants of this region. However, this diversity is not adequately represented by those in power.
The efforts of some local politicians, such as Mayor Diane Howard, as well as Council members Alicia Aguirre and Giselle Hale, should be recognized for giving the importance they deserve to conducting diagnostics and open forums with the community in the search for "best practices on racial equity".
The adoption of Resolution 15877, which commits Redwood City government to do more work on ethnic equity, is positive. But, as community members pointed out at the city's Racial Equity, City Services and Policy study session on October 5, "there is still a long way to go.
It is important that we not only see white male faces at the helm of the Fire Department. In addition, while our police do not behave like some of the brutish officers in Kentucky, Michigan and much of the United States, the local demands of the Black Lives Matter movement need to be heard and addressed. It is urgent that more Latinos, Asians and Blacks represent their communities on the City Council.
Racism and ethnic inequality in the United States is a systemic issue. However, the country is going through a critical and shameful moment of divisiveness and brutal racism reinforced by Donald J. Trump and his misguided spokesmen.
The elections are coming soon and, consequently, ethnic communities must vote with social conscience and, above all, with historical memory. At the national level, "the man whose head the flies stand on" and his "boss" represent ignorance, division and hatred towards our communities. A vote for them is like shooting yourself in the foot!
Fortunately for Redwood City, there are good candidates for City Council. It is important to vote for who you choose.
From my perspective, Jeff Gee (District 1), Michael Smith (District 4), Alicia Aguirre (District 7), as well as Lissete Espinoza-García and Isabella Chu (District 3), have proposals and trajectories more in line with the theme of this column: the recognition of ethnic diversity and equity in the city.
We may or may not agree that the clouds of Redwood City are pink. However, let us not lose focus on the truly important detail: that we are able to recognize those who are attacking us and then vote against them, that we succeed in preserving and giving the enormous natural and ethnic richness of our habitat the place it deserves.
Redwood City and the San Francisco Peninsula could - with time and a lot of hard work by our communities - become a good example of ethnic inclusion and equity for the entire country.
It is up to us to make it happen.
