The physical spaces we interact in say something about who is welcome, who might stick out and where cultures can interact.
Some of those spots are changing fast, as gentrification continues across the Bay Area.
How do we create more places where people of different races and backgrounds can encounter each other and build bridges?
And what do we do when it becomes clear that we’re just not wanted somewhere?
Listen to the most recent episode of So Well Spoken on issues of race and place.
On a related note:
In recent weeks, flashpoints over noise complaints made against drummers at Lake Merritt and black churches in West Oakland have exposed deep divisions in the city: between new and old, and black and white. In the era of gentrification, who owns communal space in Oakland? KQED's Sandhya Dirks reported this story last week.
This weekend the Oakland Police Department released a statement about the Lake Merritt incident with the drummers. It states that each side accused the other of assault.
Oakland Police say no one was handcuffed, no one was cited for noise, and no one was injured, but the officers cited two of the drummers, and the person who called the police, for battery.
“There are important discussions that need to occur regarding cultures clashing in Oakland. Those discussions need to be based on the foundation of what actually occurred during the incident,” says Police Chief Sean Whent in the statement.
Alameda County prosecutors are not pressing charges.
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