Charlie Delgado
(Opinion)—I was born and raised in New Haven. My family was one of the first black families to come to New Haven and they settled in Newhallville. For generations, my family has survived through the ups and downs of our city. I’m caravanning on Wednesday to demand that Yale respect me and respect New Haven by paying its fair share to the city.
Growing up in New Haven, I’ve seen the people in my neighborhood punished, looked down upon, and shut out of opportunities for the color of their skin. Recently, I have seen a wave of violence overtake this city, one of the most tragic consequences of the poverty and hopelessness we experience. These challenges are not experienced equally, however.
Decades of segregated development have left Black and Brown communities experiencing the brunt of hardship in the city. Some in my family have managed to build small businesses and own homes. Yet, like many in Newhallville, many in my family lost much of their wealth in the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, during times of economic crisis, Yale has bought more land in New Haven and shrunk our tax base. In order to end the cycle of racial inequality in New Haven, Yale needs to contribute its fair share, so that we can invest in changing the maps in New Haven.
If you take the redlining map from 1937 and compare them to maps created decades later, you will see that the same neighborhoods that were denied opportunities in 1937 are today’s low-income neighborhoods, struggling with shorter life expectancy, higher unemployment rates, and higher asthma rates. Now, Covid-19 is hitting those same neighborhoods. The Covid-19 map shows that people in redlined neighborhoods are more likely to get sick from the virus. We’re more likely to be essential workers or lose work because of the pandemic. The pandemic is bad for everyone, but people in my neighborhood are watching our futures disappear before our eyes — because good jobs are going and our schools are so underfunded they cannot even provide soap, because people are being forced out of gentrifying neighborhoods, because we experience police violence, because we’re getting sick and dying, and because these conditions escalate violence. In the last crisis, my family members lost their houses and businesses. In this crisis, we are losing our lives.
Sometimes when I look at how working Black people are treated in this city, I get filled with despair and anger. But I know in my bones it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a $30 billion university right on our doorstep that provides world-class training to the elite. This institution has the resources to change these maps. For generations, taxpayers in New Haven have been subsidizing Yale, to the detriment of our schools and our city services. Yale can lead the way and turn this crisis of survival into a future for us by making a fair deal with the unions, honoring the hiring commitments it made to New Haven, and paying its fair share of taxes to the city. When I think about what New Haven would look like if Yale paid its fair share, it sends chills through my body. It would mean a city where people of color have access to work opportunities and the chance to start a business. It would mean fewer acts of violence in the city and more sustainability. It would mean that I, an award-winning graduate from Co-Op and Southern Connecticut University, would have a path to economic stability.
Our fights are one. That’s where our power comes from. The idea of thousands of people across our city — workers, community members, students — looking each other in the eye and saying, “You know what, your fight is my fight, I’m not good until you’re good. We actually have a reason to stand together and not be divided,” inspires me. That’s what we’re doing this Wednesday.
We are showing Yale that Covid-19 cannot keep us separated and silent. Workers, students, neighbors, community members — we know that our strength comes from each other. We know Yale can step up in this moment, and we will not be divided until we get the respect we deserve.
Charlie Delgado is an organizer with New Haven Rising, a sponsor of Wednesday’s action.