Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Why is the San Diego Union Tribune smearing East County?

“My son is Mexican and his godmother is African American"

U-T Opinion tweet
U-T Opinion tweet

On April 22 San Diego Union Tribune columnist Charles T. Clark wrote East San Diego County has an “appetite for racism.” The U-T published the warnings he said a barber gave him when he arrived in San Diego four years ago about “Klantee,” and that he should “probably try to avoid East County.”

The column was written in response to a stabbing incident in Lakeside on April 16. On April 21 a Lakeside local was charged with attempted murder as a hate crime for allegedly stabbing his black neighbor at the 12000 block of Mapleview Street.

Sponsored
Sponsored

On April 19 the San Diego Union Tribune reported,

“East County, including Lakeside and neighboring Santee, has long had a reputation of being a hotspot for White supremacy in San Diego County.” The reporter pointed out three incidents of racism that made the news, going back to 1998, the two most recent of which consisted of racist apparel worn by a person in public.

On April 20 the U-T editorial board wrote,

“According to the [San Diego Sheriff’s] Department, a 16-year-old White boy was arrested Monday on suspicion of stabbing a 16-year-old Black girl twice in the back.” The sheriff’s press releases about the incident don’t mention the suspect’s race and they didn’t respond to confirm whether or not they have called the suspect a “White boy.”

On April 21 @SDUTopinion tweeted, “The recent stabbing of a Black girl by a White boy in Lakeside is horrible reminder of the region’s long history of racism.”

Neighbors of the stabbing victim and suspect tell me the suspect is actually Hispanic and that while there is no excuse for the stabbing, there is more to the long-running conflict among the residents of their complex than the media has reported.

The suspect’s mother says, “My son is not racist. He is Mexican and his godmother is African American. My daughter had been bullied by the two sisters [the stab victim and her sister] for several months.”

She says on the night of April 16, “They cornered my daughter when she was walking home. The 16- and 17-year-old sisters attacked my 11-year-old daughter. My son and his girlfriend jumped the balcony and ran to his sister, who they could hear screaming for help. When they arrived in the parking lot my daughter was on the ground in the fetal position covered with her own urine.”

One neighbor says kids of every race at their complex have been heard making racist slurs, but most black and white neighbors get along just fine with each other. Many residents of East County have told me the stereotypes about them are unfair.

According to the annual California Attorney General report, “Hate Crime in California,” the hate crime rate in the City of San Diego from 2015 to 2019 has been close to that of the rest of San Diego County, some years a little higher in San Diego, others a little higher in the rest of the county. Comparisons among North County, East County and South County cities are close as well.

In 2018 there were 40 hate crime events reported in the city of San Diego and 37 in the rest of San Diego County, one of which was in the city of Santee. Data for unincorporated cities like Lakeside was lumped together. When factoring in population, the hate crime rate in the city of San Diego was nearly twice as high as the city of Santee. That held true from 2015-2018, with one hate crime reported in Santee each year.

That proportion changed in 2020, when reported hate crime events in Santee rose to three and reported hate crime events in San Diego dropped to 26. Hate crime events in the entire state rose from 1,015 in 2019 to 1,330 in 2020. Most of that increase came from an increase in reported anti-black hate crime events, the largest category, which rose from 243 to 456.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
U-T Opinion tweet
U-T Opinion tweet

On April 22 San Diego Union Tribune columnist Charles T. Clark wrote East San Diego County has an “appetite for racism.” The U-T published the warnings he said a barber gave him when he arrived in San Diego four years ago about “Klantee,” and that he should “probably try to avoid East County.”

The column was written in response to a stabbing incident in Lakeside on April 16. On April 21 a Lakeside local was charged with attempted murder as a hate crime for allegedly stabbing his black neighbor at the 12000 block of Mapleview Street.

Sponsored
Sponsored

On April 19 the San Diego Union Tribune reported,

“East County, including Lakeside and neighboring Santee, has long had a reputation of being a hotspot for White supremacy in San Diego County.” The reporter pointed out three incidents of racism that made the news, going back to 1998, the two most recent of which consisted of racist apparel worn by a person in public.

On April 20 the U-T editorial board wrote,

“According to the [San Diego Sheriff’s] Department, a 16-year-old White boy was arrested Monday on suspicion of stabbing a 16-year-old Black girl twice in the back.” The sheriff’s press releases about the incident don’t mention the suspect’s race and they didn’t respond to confirm whether or not they have called the suspect a “White boy.”

On April 21 @SDUTopinion tweeted, “The recent stabbing of a Black girl by a White boy in Lakeside is horrible reminder of the region’s long history of racism.”

Neighbors of the stabbing victim and suspect tell me the suspect is actually Hispanic and that while there is no excuse for the stabbing, there is more to the long-running conflict among the residents of their complex than the media has reported.

The suspect’s mother says, “My son is not racist. He is Mexican and his godmother is African American. My daughter had been bullied by the two sisters [the stab victim and her sister] for several months.”

She says on the night of April 16, “They cornered my daughter when she was walking home. The 16- and 17-year-old sisters attacked my 11-year-old daughter. My son and his girlfriend jumped the balcony and ran to his sister, who they could hear screaming for help. When they arrived in the parking lot my daughter was on the ground in the fetal position covered with her own urine.”

One neighbor says kids of every race at their complex have been heard making racist slurs, but most black and white neighbors get along just fine with each other. Many residents of East County have told me the stereotypes about them are unfair.

According to the annual California Attorney General report, “Hate Crime in California,” the hate crime rate in the City of San Diego from 2015 to 2019 has been close to that of the rest of San Diego County, some years a little higher in San Diego, others a little higher in the rest of the county. Comparisons among North County, East County and South County cities are close as well.

In 2018 there were 40 hate crime events reported in the city of San Diego and 37 in the rest of San Diego County, one of which was in the city of Santee. Data for unincorporated cities like Lakeside was lumped together. When factoring in population, the hate crime rate in the city of San Diego was nearly twice as high as the city of Santee. That held true from 2015-2018, with one hate crime reported in Santee each year.

That proportion changed in 2020, when reported hate crime events in Santee rose to three and reported hate crime events in San Diego dropped to 26. Hate crime events in the entire state rose from 1,015 in 2019 to 1,330 in 2020. Most of that increase came from an increase in reported anti-black hate crime events, the largest category, which rose from 243 to 456.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Next Article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader