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OPINION
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OPINION Opinion
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Club West resident responds to CWC lawsuit criticism
This letter is in response to the letter that appeared in the Dec. 28h edition of AFN regarding, using a quote from Casablanca, the “usual suspects” (Club West Conservancy, The Edge, etc.). In that letter, there were several inaccuracies and, in my opinion, misguided opinions. Specifically: 1. First, from what I read in the AFN, court rulings are not going against the CWC. In fact, the court just ruled that CWC does have standing to pursue their lawsuit against The Edge. 2.It was stated that “many of the owners on the golf course … do not endorse your (CWC’s) continued actions”. I know of no formal survey that has been taken recently regarding CWC’s actions, as neither myself nor my golf course bordering neighbors have received any type of survey or inquiry on this subject. 3.The letter states that “The Edge was and is willing to work with us.” I beg to disagree.
When the EDGE initially introduced their ill-fated housing plan with Taylor Morrison, this community was not consulted beforehand. Its plan was rammed down the throats of this community at an HOA meeting where only the Board members were given a headsup and, in my opinion, had tacitly approved. (And that’s why those existing board members who ran for re-election were summarily defeated.)
As a result of the tremendous negative reaction from the community, TM withdrew from the project, as now Shea has done as well.
In fact, The Edge has not held, or even proposed to hold, a community meeting to discuss the future of the property since its original plan was withdrawn. So how it The Edge “willing to work with” the community?
And if The Edge has and continues to work positively with this community, why are they suing Mr. and Mrs. Tyler? Sounds vindictive to me. 4. The letter also implies that at least some of the property would be a golf course in the future. As The Edge has not published a revised plan to date, it cannot be known if this is a true statement – unless, of course, the author has some information that the rest of us do not have.
If The Edge does have a revised plan, they should publish it; nothing is preventing The Edge from doing so. 5. The underlying thesis in last week’s letter is misguided in that the author’s premise is that majority can overrule and abrogate the rights of the minority, in this case, the owners who border the golf course. Such a theory goes against our legal system.
Finally, the letter concludes by stating that “we could have had a beautiful community with golf by now.” What was not included was “as long as you don’t have any housing directly in back of you.”
Therefore, although I am not a member of CWC, I support their actions to enforce the promises made to golf course bordering homeowners, including subsequent purchasers, as well as to save this community from increased noise, pollution, traffic, and general over-development.
- Thomas Bell
2 ASU students reflect on Martin Luther King
Editor’s note: Ahwatukee resident Dr. Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English at Arizona State University and founding director of the nonprofit Project Humanities, often writes an Opinion piece as the nation marks Martin Luther King Day. This year he offered the reflections of two of his students.
Compassion, activism comprise a way of life Martin Luther King remains prescient and radical
BY EMMELINE WUEST
AFN Guest Writer
When talking about what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. identifies as “the urgency of now,” it can be difficult for some to not slide into a narrative of catastrophizing. Deal or no deal, total collapse of society or why some people keep insisting on rocking the boat.
The 21st century has been off to a rough start with the increase in global temperatures and fluctuations in weather patterns, the creeping influence of extremism, and the persistence of institutional racism.
Being overwhelmed with the range of issues can make me want to take a couple of Ibuprofen and hide under a blanket for a few hours. Hiding under a blanket can seem the best course of action for not increasing my carbon footprint or unknowingly committing a microaggression against a minoritized
BY WILLIAM MARGULIS
AFN Guest Writer
Today, we live in the wake of one of the largest social movements in U.S. history being largely unsuccessful in creating institutional change. We live approaching a climate catastrophe that has already decimated entire nations and threatens to expand exponentially.
We live in “the richest country in the world,” where over 60% of working people live paycheck to paycheck, including half of those earning six figures.
For those who know Martin Luther King Jr. as the MLK depicted in the American zeitgeist, a nonviolent activist that championed racial equality, celebrating MLK day may bring mixed emotions given the litany of issues in our world that interconnect with and go beyond race.
Thankfully, this MLK never existed.
MLK consistently advocated for social,
WUEST from page 34 group, but if I remain under that blanket, what am I contributing to my community, and what privileges am I taking advantage of?
Inaction affirms and perpetuates oppressive systems that deny another’s humanity. Yes, there are problems in the world today. It would be a discredit to the activists who have come before us to write off the fight for equity as impossible and failing to recognize that the systematic patterns of oppression in the USA trace back to white supremacy.
Dr. King spoke candidly of two Americas – one “overflowing with the miracle of prosperity and the honey of opportunity” and the other where “people are poor by the millions… perishing on a lonely island of poverty, in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” (King 1967).
Typically, those who are not socially and economically privileged white people, i.e. people who are devalued through white supremacy, are shunted off to the “Other” America. Prolonged exposure to the other America can transform “the buoyancy of hope into the fatigue of despair” (King 1967), which swamped plenty of people in early 2020 as they experienced economic hurt and witnessed the murder of George Floyd. Issues of systemic racism manifest in police brutality, microaggressions, de facto segregation, and a lack of diversity in STEM fields, to name a very few.
Yet, none of this is new, and methods of resistance and guidance can be found in our past. Dr. King called for a universal income in 1967 and was warning that for every two steps of progress America makes for racial equality, she takes another step back.
After people protested against the murder of Black Americans and police brutality, the anti-critical race theory (CRT) rhetoric was born, claiming that schools were trying to indoctrinate children into anti-white ideology via Maoist struggle sessions. These were and are untrue claims, but plenty of states have now passed legislation affirming this falsehood and even creating penalties for educators and school districts all over this country.
African American philosopher and activist W.E.B. Du Bois commented that his college education did not alter how he was treated by people because of his race, having to ride in a segregated train car in the Jim Crow South.
Unfortunately, we are separated from this wisdom by a generational gap, distancing ourselves from members in our communities who have experienced the same hurt. Audre Lorde points out that the generation gap is a tool of oppression, resulting in “historical amnesia” (Lorde 1980).
Having these historical blinders on keeps us from seeing that time is neutral. This is a key point in Dr. King’s “The Other America” speech. Inaction in the present does not promise racial equity tomorrow. Such a thought process is just playing by a set of rules that oppressive institutions have set, which is what W.E. B. Du Bois concluded in 1903.
There is an urgency to act now, just as there was an urgency to act seventy years ago. Rewriting history to soften the tone of Dr. King is a power-grabbing move.
That MLK Day is a federal holiday for most workers does not mean that we should stop scrutinizing the powerwielding institutions that demonized Dr. King and violated his right to privacy during his life, cracking open a cold one to celebrate the fictitious idea that America is in a post-racial society.
Nor should we let him be remembered through the same institutions he was trying to dismantle and redesign. Dr. King was the person who had a dream and believed in nonviolence, but he was also the same person who recognized that “a riot is the language of the unheard” (King 1967).
MLK Day is often seen as a day of service, to engage in a meaningful way with the people and communities around us in efforts to reach through some of the racial, social, and economical dividers in our society and to forge community. Don’t just see the Other America and feel helpless. Do something to bring those two Americas closer together.
Compassion and activism isn’t a oneand-done sort of activity; it is continual work and a way of life.
Emmeline Wuest is an ASU junior majoring in both English with a concentration in creative writing and anthropology, hoping to be an English professor and a writer but also inter-
ested in nonprofit work. economic, and political ideas relevant to contemporary struggles. His opinions on these issues were often what we call “radical.” A few examples:
“I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic… Today capitalism has outlived its usefulness.” – Letter to Coretta Scott (1952).
“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” – Speech to the SCLC Board (1967).
“The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed matter: the guaranteed income… The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.” – Where do We Go from Here? (1967).
He also understood how issues considered separate from economics and antiBlack racism were connected. He told Cesar Chavez that he saw their struggles as one, and said the same to Vietnam War protestors. His intersectional social analysis was fueled by a vision of the world as intertwined itself.
“We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” – Speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church (1967).
It is a disgraceful reality that this MLK has been exiled from the popular narrative. Regardless, he is now as he was then: prescient and radical.
Then there is the issue of MLK’s nonviolence. Popular video of MLK’s marches presented without the proper context communicates a disturbing idea: social change happens when the oppressed take violence without resistance. Once again, this discouraging idea is disconnected with reality.
MLK’s use of nonviolence was deliberate. He made sure that the brutality levied against his protests was always presented to an audience and he used the collective sympathy of that audience to facilitate change. Arguing for nonviolence as a blanket response to systemic violence in the name of MLK only serves to pacify those who want to resist.
The blacklisting of MLK’s radical politics shows that we must complicate ourselves despite every force that tells us to simplify in fear that we will break from the status quo. The way MLK strategized resistance instructs us to aim our frustration and anger deliberately. We must use these tools to rise above apoliticism and inaction.
We should have done this yesterday, and we are surely telling ourselves that we will do it tomorrow. These thoughts are both inadequate. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is but an idea.
Our urgency must be today. Today is MLK day, so today we act.
William Margulis is a senior at ASU studying psychology and hoping to be-
come a therapist.
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