Quote:
Originally Posted by Echo Park
What an odd city to have a street named after a latino leader.
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I was a little surprised, too, when I first heard about this, but I think it’s good that the city wants to recognize a prominent labor leader/minority rights activist. Portland is a very progressive, tolerant city. The fact that it has a relatively small Latino community shouldn’t be a deterrent to re-naming a street for an important figure in US history, and a source of pride to a community that is growing in numbers and influence throughout the country. Phoenix, which obviously has a much larger Latino population, has no streets named after Chavez (though there is a high school) and he was from Arizona. (It’s also pathetic that there’s no MLK Blvd in Phoenix, just a “Martin Luther King, Jr. Circle” which is literally a 150’ long cul-de-sac with 6 houses).
Of course, I think the city of Portland could have handled the process a lot differently and spared some controversy.