Editor,
As a San Mateo business owner, I support Amourence (Amo) Lee for City Council. I’ve gotten to know her over the past year and feel that she will do a great job. We’ve had informative conversations about housing, transit and business development. She has solid long-term ideas and is also right there when someone needs help.
When a disabled woman was being evicted from her apartment in the midst of this pandemic, Amo responded immediately. When I asked the city to raise the Rainbow Flag for Pride month, Amo led in making that happen. As she and I looked at 25th Avenue and the empty storefronts partially caused by the pandemic, she stood ready to work to revitalize our neighborhood.
While I’m thrilled she is among three candidates for two council seats, I am disheartened by the level of racism from people who oppose her. The language used in online comments included invectives that reminded me of language used against Jewish people during the Holocaust. When I pointed out that as a gay Jewish man that his words carried very racist implications he said he didn’t give a “red cent about what my people think.” Others have written that somehow Amo is an “outsider” despite her having lived here for 11 years. Others have tried to tie her to Antifa and decry her support for a Black Lives Matter rally.
I hope the people of San Mateo will look at each candidate’s history, public service, their positions, endorsements and vote for whomever best matches their aspirations for the city. I also hope that all the candidates and the people of San Mateo will stand up to bullies and racists and clearly say that there is no room for hate: “Not In Our Town.”
Craig Wiesner
San Mateo
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(8) comments
Craig, the fact that you are a homosexual man and the you are Jewish has nothing to do with the conversation about Amourence Lee and the election to the city council. If you fight everything that you do not like about ones speech with the fact that you are both gay and Jewish sounds like your playing the victim. I hope that voters look past your constant whining about who you are and instead focus on what is good for them and the city of San Mateo. A good rule of thumb Craig is if you can't handle he heat stay out of the kitchen. Stop using your victimhood complex you have and respect the free speech of others. Can't shame me Mr. Weiner, nice try though. Please do not vote for Amourence Lee, she is a BLM supporter, racial equity and social justice warrior and is bad for the cohesiveness of our city.
When I speak out on an issue I always feel it is important to share the lens through which I see it, the way things in my life have informed my opinion. Everyone is shaped by the circumstances in which they have lived. My background, my history, my experiences are key to who I am now and what I believe and do. I see myself as a champion for social justice, equity, peace, kindness, and a more healthy planet, not a victim. Finally, I believe fiercely in free speech, but that doesn't mean I won't take a stand against racist or hateful language.
Mr. Wiesner, sorry I wrote your name incorrectly earlier and it was a complete error on my part. I promise you that. I would never look to gain cheap points that way. With that said, the lens in which you decide to view this issue is irrelevant. What does being Jewish and being a gay man have anything to do with the fact that I don't want a BLM supporting, racial equity Marxist to infect my City Hall. I would never criticize you for your sexual preference or your Jewish faith, please don't criticize me for my desire to have Ms. Lee out of City Hall. I know you support her Mr. Wiesner, I do not.
Most people who know history realize that the words "parasite" and "infection" which you used in your previous comments, and once again "infect" and "marxist" in this one, and accusing a long-time resident of a community of being an "outsider," as you've done in many of your comments, can be and are seen as racist. When people don't stand up when they read or hear such language and say "NO" they are giving way to hate. The lens through which I respond to those words is completely relevant. I've been beaten up and persecuted by people who saw me as a "parasite" "infecting" their community, an "outsider" who didn't belong. I was hit in the back of my head with a brick by a bully yelling "Jew Boy!" I was fired from my first real job by a boss who noticed my Star of David necklace and started yelling to her friends that no one had told her they had hired a "f'ing Jew." My father stood in the human ashes of Dachau at the end of WWII, just one camp where tens of thousands of Jews and gays were murdered and cremated because they were considered "parasites," "infections," and yes, "Marxists." My father-in-law and his family were interned in a concentration camp during WWII because he was Japanese-American, a traumatic experience from which he never truly recovered. Today there are anti-Asian incidents happening all across our country, fueled by hateful language. Words have consequences. Someone smashed Councilwoman Lee's window with a rock, as her children were playing inside, one of several attacks on Asian-Americans in San Mateo. Words have impact, they turn into actions, they add fuel to the flames of hate. They lead to violence. We can disagree about ballot initiatives, candidates, all sorts of issues without resorting to hateful, racist language. Can't we?
Mr. Wiesner – racism has been used as a hammer in so many arguments that it’s become a word that people ignore, along with their reasoning. That being said, I agree we shouldn’t resort to hateful, racist language, and as soon as you can stop all the hateful language and personal attacks spewed by TDS-infected folks commenting in the DJ, others will return the favor. Good luck in trying to convince some people to start loving America more than they hate Trump.
“She is a BLM supporter, racial equity and social justice warrior.” That’s why I love her!
Thumbs Up!
Mr. Wiesner.
An excellent heartfelt letter and an excellent reply to the comments from the regular “anti” faction that comment about race, religion and nationality. I voted for Amo and hope others will also.
As for the commenters that preach that they are not bigots, racists or other persons of that ilk I would only say that they are staunch supporters of Donald Trump and he also claims to be pure as the driven snow without a racist, bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic bone in his body. I am sure you remember a year or two ago at a news conference with a Rabbi wearing a yarmulke he claimed to be the least anti-Semitic person in the room. Just a few days ago at the last debate he said he was the least racist person in the room with a person of color, Kristen Welker, being the moderator. Trump’s actions speak louder than his words. I feel the commenters comments speak louder than their denials.
I don’t know how long you have followed the letters and comments of the Daily Journal but a while back Christopher said he was leaving after the election and would not be writing any more. We will have to wait and see. Apparently many of the Trump supporters don’t have a mirror, or if they do they don’t know how to use it.
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