Grow up! Racist language, taunts have no place in diverse Fresno | Opinion
Growing up in a refugee family, Misty Her remembers her father riding his bicycle through the neighborhood on his way home from cleaning school classrooms.
“I remember my father coming home, and he would get egged,” Her told The Fresno Bee. “Another time, he came home drenched because the neighbor had hosed him.”
Her, the first woman and first Hmong chosen to run the Fresno Unified School District, said her mother, also a school janitor, faced racist taunts.
“My mom didn’t have a car, so she would walk us to the grocery store. One time, this person came up and I was with my mom and my little brother, and they just came in and they took our groceries and just kicked them,” said Her.
Those incidents — similar to scores of immigrants who have settled in Fresno through the decades — were in the past, she figured.
Her was wrong. In the months leading up to her appointment, she was subjected to “harassment, threats and hate-filled messages.”
What’s wrong with racists who think something is wrong if people of color take positions of power, or just exist?
▪ Two weeks ago, Asian food vendors were told they were no longer welcome at the Riverpark farmers’ market in northeast Fresno. Thankfully, the shopping center owners backed down.
▪ In January, Edison High School students and staff discovered vandalism that depicted racial slurs against African Americans and a Nazi symbol in a campus parking lot.
▪ Two years ago, a Thai restaurant was forced to shut down after receiving death threats over false accusations that the eatery was serving dog meat.
Remember that Fresno County is majority Latino (54.9%). It is 26.4% white, 12.2% Asian, and 6% Black. This is a diverse community, with more than 70 languages spoken in Fresno Unified.
Sadly, racism remains alive today.
Superintendent speaks about threats
In what should have been a triumphant moment for Her and her family after the school board voted 6-1 to confirm her as the district’s 13th superintendent, the leader of the state’s third-largest school district instead took a few minutes to express her recent battle against the taunting.
“I want to pause to address a painful truth. Since declaring myself a candidate for the superintendency over the past several months, my family and I have faced harassment, threats and hate-filled messages simply because I wanted to compete, fairly simply because I was daring to lead.
“This is not politics. This is not harmless, and this is not acceptable,” Her said shortly after her appointment. “We cannot pretend that racism, discrimination and hate are relics of the distant past. They are alive. They are real. And their impact, whether intended or not, is deeply damaging.”
Her said that allowing such hateful language to spread unchecked, it feeds a culture “where threats become normalized, or leadership by women or people of color is questioned, not in merit but on prejudice.”
We agree with Her. Words should never be used to dehumanize others, especially in today’s environment when DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs are seen as bad and people of color who are in leadership positions are falsely labeled as “quota” or affirmative action hires.
Racism belongs in Fresno’s past
Fresno has too many great things going for it to allow racism to taint. The days of restricting where Armenians and other minorities can live are in the past. So are the days when Mexican American veterans returning from World War II were barred from Veterans of Foreign Wars facilities.
Through the decades, Fresno has welcomed and assimilated waves of immigrants from throughout the world. Some were fleeing war, others were looking for a better future. The city is being proactive on addressing hate language.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer established the Office of Community Affairs during his first term to foster unity and equity for residents. Liaisons work with the LGBTQ+, Latino, Southeast Asian, Black and Punjabi communities.
Only cowards resort to racist taunts and language. Fresno has no need for them.