This is part 2 of Anne Stevenson's viewpoint on Somervilleviolence. Part 1 was printed in yesterday's Daily.
Somerville has become a much safer place since Joe Curtatone waselected Mayor. He has gotten tough on crime and tried to crack downon gang activity.
The drug bust mentioned in yesterday's viewpoint went down underhis administration, as did the largest drug bust in the history ofSomerville that occurred soon after my neighbors were busted. Theneighbors across the street, after covertly operating for years,were evicted and are now in jail. The owner of their building wasfined and recently moved in some nice folks from Brazil who areexcellent neighbors. After another brawl between two other rivalgangs, the police arrested several of my gang-related neighbors,and I can now finally walk into my home without being degraded bycat calls in front of my son.
Mayor Curtatone has also passed a new anti-loitering ordinance,effective in parks. From what I understand, this law says that if agroup of people is loitering in the park, the police can ask themto leave, and they are unable to return for three hours. If theyrefuse to leave, then they can be arrested.
The first time I took Reece to the park near our house was lastmonth, after the city ordinance had been enacted prohibitingloitering. I saw that Mayor Curtatone had cleaned up the park andput in new playground equipment, and as usual Reece was bugging meto go "side." As I walked up with my son in his stroller, wenoticed that one of the neighborhood gangs was hanging outthere.
They had their car on the basketball court and were blaring hardcore rap music, cussing at each other and yelling loudly. It wasclearly not a child-friendly environment. I almost left the park,but then a car with tinted windows sped onto the court and I becameextremely afraid for the safety of my son and myself. Two men gotout of the car. They were city employees and they politely askedthe gang to leave. The gang obliged.
I was stunned. I went over to the two men and thanked them, andthen I took my main man to the slide to play. Clearly, things havestarted to turn around in my neighborhood. The ongoing trafficcircling the block stopped blaring their stereos at all hours. New,friendly neighbors have moved in. I even witnessed a prostitutebeing arrested this past summer.
Some have criticized Mayor Curtatone's anti-loitering ordinanceas biased racial profiling. One group on campus has even organizeda group to repeal the ordinance, but to them I say this: Move outof the comfort of your dorms and away from the Tufts bubble, giveup your meal plan and move to my neighborhood. Park your nice caron my street over winter break and see if it is still there whenyou get back. See how many of your friends elect to hang out atyour place.
I dare you to take a stroll from my house to the conveniencestore in the middle of the night next time you get the munchies.Will it make a difference to you if the person mugging you isSalvadoran or Haitian or Caucasian? Because I don't care, and Iknow Joe Curtatone doesn't either. We just don't want mugging,period.
What about my rights as a resident of Somerville? Don't Ideserve to live in peace and know that my son and I are safe? Thetime that the REPEAL folks are spending tearing up my neighborhoodcould be better spent helping to rebuild it. I would like tosuggest that they become Big Brothers and Big Sisters to a child inmy neighborhood, tutor a high school student for MCAS tests or jointhe CORES program.
They can also volunteer at the Haitian community center aroundthe corner from my place to help with child care and teach theresidents English, or help pick up trash along our roads. Betteryet, start right here on the Tufts campus and deal with the racialissues right in your own backyard.
As far as I am concerned, Joe Curtatone is a saint. I commendhim for the work he has done in our community. He cares aboutwhether my son is safe to go to the park and what will happen if hegoes to public school in two years in our neighborhood. He is ayoung family man, and he and his family live in Somerville, wherehe himself grew up. He plays hockey with my son's pediatrician. Heknows the city well and he really cares for all the people here,and he takes care of them without bias.
When Mayor Curtatone looks at Somerville, he has a vision ofwhat it could be and has a sense of pride for the place he comesfrom. Many of my neighbors, who have been here for decades andraised families here, feel the same way I do, and we do not want tomove.
It scares me that the people trying to repeal his hard work arenot native to this area and do not know the history. I venture toguess that the majority of the folks in REPEAL have never livedanywhere besides Tufts and their parents' homes. They have nevertried to raise a family and have never asked the residents whatthey think of being able to take their kids to play safely at thepark. Crime, violence and drugs are not color-sensitive where Ilive; they are universal.
Anne Stevenson is a junior majoring in politicalscience.
