Hole in the Wall
History Is an Important Factor in Las Manitas' Loan
RECEIVED Wed., June 20, 2007
Dear Editor,
This is a response to the letter titled Austin's Corporate Welfare at Its Worst [“Postmarks,” June 15] that referred to the help of the city to Las Manitas as a leg up and handout. Until recent years, the government showed partiality and favoritism toward whites. Now that some help is being offered to Mexicans, we hear other businesses complain of not being offered the same deal!
I believe this deal is not only good policy but also a small step toward the compensation of injustices suffered by peoples here in their motherland. The city and state have a moral and political responsibility and obligation to repair such damages.
Some developers in Austin are obviously ignorant of Texas’ tragic history. They also seem to be lacking in virtues, having no qualms about demolishing historical buildings for yet another hotel, IHOP, or whatever their hearts' desires. With the destruction of each old building, Congress Avenue loses more and more of its historical significance. What a shame!
In the 1930s the city of Austin forced thousands, including my parents and grandparents, out of their Downtown Mexican neighborhood to the Eastside of town. Today folks there are being pushed out because of higher property taxes due to gentrification. In the name of progress, the privileged elite continue to expand into the territories of others. This seems to be their plan, their manifest destiny. Atrocities were committed by money-hungry land-grabbers in the past,
and now highly unethical practices are being used by greedy developers. The plan of people of good conscience should be to insist that developers adhere to higher ethical standards.
This is a response to the letter titled Austin's Corporate Welfare at Its Worst [“Postmarks,” June 15] that referred to the help of the city to Las Manitas as a leg up and handout. Until recent years, the government showed partiality and favoritism toward whites. Now that some help is being offered to Mexicans, we hear other businesses complain of not being offered the same deal!
I believe this deal is not only good policy but also a small step toward the compensation of injustices suffered by peoples here in their motherland. The city and state have a moral and political responsibility and obligation to repair such damages.
Some developers in Austin are obviously ignorant of Texas’ tragic history. They also seem to be lacking in virtues, having no qualms about demolishing historical buildings for yet another hotel, IHOP, or whatever their hearts' desires. With the destruction of each old building, Congress Avenue loses more and more of its historical significance. What a shame!
In the 1930s the city of Austin forced thousands, including my parents and grandparents, out of their Downtown Mexican neighborhood to the Eastside of town. Today folks there are being pushed out because of higher property taxes due to gentrification. In the name of progress, the privileged elite continue to expand into the territories of others. This seems to be their plan, their manifest destiny. Atrocities were committed by money-hungry land-grabbers in the past,
and now highly unethical practices are being used by greedy developers. The plan of people of good conscience should be to insist that developers adhere to higher ethical standards.
Anita Quintanilla