Letter: Racism alive and thriving

Editor: The recent protest in Geyserville against Burbank
Housing¹s efforts to provide affordable housing to itinerate farm
workers is proof that racism is alive and thriving in Sonoma
County. This area has always been a hotbed of racial bigotry.
Growing up on a farm in Windsor in the the Œ30s, I recall all too
well the discrimination against Italian immigrants at that time.
They were held in contempt for not speaking fluent English. It was
a searing embarrassment for their children.
This is the third time that Burbank Housing¹s efforts have been
thwarted, first in Sonoma, then in Cloverdale and now in
Geyserville. The implication by these mean-spirited citizens that a
group of 60 single men is a threat to the community is so
outrageous. It implies that single Latino men are criminals. This
obvious effrontery should be challenged by equal rights advocates.
In essence these bigots are forcing these honest, hard working men
to sleep beneath bridges as is now the case in Santa Rosa.
My thanks goes out to Burbank Housing for their concern for the
well being of these poor abused single men.
Sheridan Peterson, Windsor