Chicano Park is not welcoming

Hostile and divisive

Re: “Five white men walk into Chicano Park,” Neighborhood News.

I am a mixed-race single mother who was going to bring my 11-year-old daughter to Roger’s picnic/walking tour of the murals. I’ve taught my daughter that murals are a reflection of the community, and we had driven past Chicano Park but never actually stopped to look at it.

When I saw the Anti-American sentiment online, indicating that this might be a dangerous picnic to go to, my daughter and I attended the Padres game instead. It was Military Appreciation Day, and I knew we could be Americans there and be safe at the same time. After seeing footage of the terrorist-looking aggressors with Mexican flags that showed-up for the picnic, I was glad we had gone to the Padres game instead.

The week following Roger’s picnic my daughter and I ventured into Chicano park on our own, where we found the playground area to be updated and it seemed like a nice place to pay. I encountered one homeless man who appeared to be strung-out on drugs and saw several others lying on the grass.

The restrooms were fenced-off for some reason, and when my daughter and I went walking around the murals I noticed a pile of human feces, which I made sure my daughter did not see or get near.

The murals themselves were informative. One that bothered me was repeated several times, in different areas, that depicted a large portion of the United States as Aztlan. Aztlan seems to be an area that was purchased from Mexico when it was still undeveloped and now that it has been developed and is prosperous the Mexicans consider it the nice part of Mexico that they want to re-colonize and take back.

The murals strike me as hostile and divisive. Why can’t we all just be Americans and not try to divide-up our beautiful country? Aztlan is a mythical homeland that was repeatedly conquered by different groups over the years before it was sold, settled, and developed. This is not a mural that depicts Chicano pride; it depicts a Chicano plan for conquest.

Chicano Park itself is not welcoming and does not seem like the safest place for a single woman with a child to visit. We have no plans of returning.

• [name withheld]

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Logan or the Heights

Hello, I’m calling about the story “E-lynched in Barrio Logan” [City Lights].

I’m so disgusted with it. I’m 75, born and raised in National City, and I knew Logan when it was “Logan” or “The Heights.” It was a nice place until I-5 came in and they wanted to put a bridge in and all these lowlifes decided that they don’t want a Police Station in their neighborhood because they might get caught doing a bunch of illegal stuff. So they now have the park…whatever it’s called. You go down there after dark…you don’t want to go down there after dark, if you’re white. Or Anglo, or whatever.

But my comments are: the stupid person named Betty Bangs. She’s so stupid for her comments…that someone wants to come in and improve that area. Maybe the person went about it wrong, I don’t know. I didn’t see her video on Facebook.

Next you have that ignorant person named Jessica Mercado who made that comment that could be veiled as a threat! And as a threat this person doesn’t know that she can go to jail very easily for making a threat.

• El Viejo
• National City