Letter: Leave downtown alone
Enough is enough! Stop picking at our downtown. The colors of the different stores are theirs, those people’s culture is what it is.
The reason for their bright colors is for owner individuality. Again, I say, leave it alone. The indigent folks also like bright colors. So it is what it is — it’s almost historic. It’s history in the making.
Now, to those people who complain about town colors: If they really care about our town there are more worthwhile issues to focus on without hesitation. I won’t mention but one of the dozens of matters. Meth labs are the No. 1 issue. Go after the meth labs, it’s killing our children across the map.
Joe L. Ureña,
Madera
In a recent issue of The Madera Tribune, I was alarmed to see pictures of the newer developments, specifically surrounding Ace-Hi… there has been so much uproar around the downtown buildings and their color choices, and I was surprised most of all to see that Ace-Hi itself shares a color with a downtown building. SHOCK! HORROR! OUTRAGE!
Or not.
The fact that there are buildings the same colors as the downtown, some even more garish on the Howard Road side of the tracks than on the Yosemite side, doesn’t surprise me one bit. That there’s no outrage at those buildings doesn’t surprise me either.
It only confirms what I’ve thought all along. This talk of colors and building conditions is a proxy argument for the more sensitive cultural issues boiling within Madera. There are still a lot of people in Madera who hold on to their old biases, who believe things about people based on appearances or other old, outmoded means. This is not news to anyone, I’d wager.
What has surprised me, however, is the readiness that this town has jumped into the fray with both arms swinging. At every mention, we have 3 letters to the Red Line crying out for change in downtown and for someone to change the building colors and make the signs in English, and make people speak English to customers… and it all becomes clear after that.
Those people are not concerned about building colors. Those people are the same people who would gladly frequent businesses on their side of town, even if the colors on the building were the same. The only major difference is the people inside the building.
We have people talking up America, but standing steadfast in their denials of the beauty of American ideals. We’re out here saying that we can pick and choose which American truths people can and can’t have.
“You can come here, but you better d-mn well speak English to me when I see you”
“Well, you can speak another language, but you better d-mn well have a sign that’s in English”
“Well… your building is a different color than I’m used to, change it!”
It’s just another way to fight the same battles. If we’re really concerned about being good Americans, then we need to realize that people are free to run their business the way they see fit, including colors of buildings and interiors, lighting, signage, and primary language.
Sure, this is America, but last I checked, America didn’t have a national language, and it’s only through custom that we deal in English.
In short, the colors of the buildings don’t matter, it’d be better to just plainly speak about your issues with people of other cultures. Stop denying it, don’t use other issues to obfuscate your biases, just speak plainly. That way, people who are really thinking about improving this town, and this country know to ignore you.