Before Color of Law dropped it woulda been comical to suggest to a Black elder that zoning was the reason Blk ppl were deprived of living in more “desirable” n’hoods. It wasn’t even the most prominent tool - several of which remain in full force & are far more powerful TODAY! 1/x https://twitter.com/kerbyside/status/1305015906536321024

harassing/arresting Black ppl after sundown aint got nothing to do w/SFH zoning.

Banks loans/predatory lending 2 qualified Blk fams aint got nothing to do w/SFH zoning.

Landlords unwilling to rent 2 BIPOC aint got nothing to do w/SFH zoning.

Hearda crosses on lawns? 2/x

What we have is a loud/well-funded faction of either misguided, intentionally deceptive ppl (almost all yt men) who have quite arrogantly asserted that they can carry a mantle for racial justice w/o any grounding or respect for BIPOC & their orgs. #YIMBY 3/x

BIPOC orgs that regularly say that: a) the real actors have far more powerful levers that they’re pulling that need to be addressed, and b) that zoning in their gentrifying communities may be one of the few tools they have to curb those forces. #ItsTheSpeculationStupid 4/x

Instead of respecting that, and limiting their focus & advocacy to places like Cupertino (where many of these BIPOC orgs were fighting 4 affordable housing b4 most of them were born)... 5/x

...YIMBY come for Crenshaw & Compton w/some “All Housing Matters” talking points & want us 2 ignore that their policy just so happens to be aligned w/the very banks, realtors, apartment owners, developers & politicians who have been screwing over BIPOC for 100 years!!! 6/x

“Pay no attn to that or the trillions in speculative global real estate (despite the fact they crashed the global economy & took grandma’s home just last decade) & instead let’s open the floodgates,” say YIMBY. It’s so nonsensical that it’s impossible to not Q motives.
/end