How the media is getting Buttigieg's story wrong... [View all]

What’s puzzling, however, is the decision to frame the demolition and rehabilitation of vacant and abandoned homes as akin to displacing minority communities. (Judging from 2011 and 2019 population estimates, no displacement appears to have occurred. What’s more, it’s hard to displace people from homes where no one was living.)....

Both stories strike a decidedly oppositional tone. Buzzfeed seemed particularly intent on framing the story as a conflict between a robotic, white, impersonal politician and a black community. (The word “data,” and the mayor’s abiding interest in it, somehow became grounds for opprobrium.)

Ironically, both stories show Buttigieg to have been an exceptional leader. Odom struggled to get her property off the demo list, but then, as CNN reports, she had a chance encounter with Buttigieg. What happened next was governance par excellence:

Odom was surprised that Buttigieg listened for 10 minutes, even though he was on his way to a meeting. His staff was anxious to get Buttigieg to move on, but the mayor handed her his card and the two struck up an ongoing conversation. Buttigieg later held a series of meeting with Odom and others to talk about the plan. She credits the mayor with getting her home off the demolition list — and because of pressure from the community, 40% of other residents’ homes were taken off too. “When I saw that he was willing to help, that’s what turned me,” said Odom. “That’s what said to me, this is a man that has the potential to be president.”

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/04/21/how-the-media-is-getting-mayor-petes-south-bend-gentrification-story-wrong/


Okay! Issues like this matter a lot to me.