I wanted to clarify some issues presented in the 7/10/2020 article “Reaching ‘a boiling point’” by Greta Jochem. While my comment about Main Street, Leeds looking like Mardi Gras may have been said with a laugh, believe me, it’s a laugh of frustration and exasperation, not joy. The rest of my comments about the “scene” were not included: public urination, domestic disputes and beer bottles all over the neighborhood. Without including these details, the context of my statement could be easily misconstrued. Furthermore, the framing of the issue from the standpoint of journalists and city officials who have visited once or twice as an issue between frightened white neighbors and visitors of color just looking for a place to swim is simply wrong. Not only are many residents of color (including myself) upset about the longstanding abuse of the river and neighborhood by others, but also take issue that the article construes that people of color are primarily using the river, and therefore causing all the problems.
I regularly see carloads of white people coming to use these swimming spots, carrying cases of beer down the street, leaving trash from their cars on the side of the road, openly smoking weed and drinking alcohol in the street, in their cars, and by the river. Some days it looks like there’s a Dave Matthews Band concert going on at Look Park with all the cargo shorts and blonde crew cuts walking down the street. Leeds residents would appreciate it if the Gazette would spend a little more time fact-finding on the ground, rather than “whitesplaining” the issue by insinuating that people of color are being unfairly targeted by neighbors while just trying to cool off at the Mill River in Leeds. That is not the issue here now, nor has it been the issue during the 20 years I’ve lived in this community. This is about respecting the neighborhood and environment. The river is suffering the abuse of overuse by people, and our governmental system has failed to protect it from damage by managing it, which should concern all of us.
Jason Lyon Johnson
Leeds