All tagged Chester Matters
According to the preliminary results of the 2020 U.S. Census, which came out recently, since 2010, Chester City’s population has decreased by 1,367 people (4.02% of its population). Is this data accurate? It seems that many Black folks here prefer not to be counted in the Census. In fact, it was even hard to persuade Black folks in Chester to work as census counters for the Census Bureau, even though they were eager to hire people, and were paying close to $20 an hour.
Opinion writer Stefan Roots explores what has changed, and what hasn’t, since George Floyd’s murder a year ago.
Opinion writer Stefan Roots describes new research showing that people who live in polluted areas — like Chester — are at increased risk from Covid-19.
On Election Day, New Jersey voters legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. The next day, Delaware County Council unanimously approved making the possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana a public health violation that could result in a $50 fine. The day after that, a group of guys in Chester were arrested, having been caught with a few pounds of weed (and some guns).
I imagine there are extreme situations where breaking down a door with no warning to gain entry to a home is justified. But as long as no-knock warrants are executed, mistakes will be made and people will get hurt. Occasionally, a bad guy will get caught. But the police could probably have caught them by just waiting for them to come out the house. Say Her Name!
The price Black folks pay for living in an all-Black community is underfunded education, poor housing stock, a lot of Dollar Stores, pollution, and receivership. Yet folks would rather put up with all that than to live beside neighbors who don’t want them there. That type of neighbor gathered up their motorcycles, pickup trucks, confederate flags, and surely their guns, to harass a Black Lives Matter march going through Ridley Township earlier this month.
The topic of education has come up a lot in the past few weeks as decisions are being made about how schools will respond to the coronavirus this fall. Some colleges are going all online, and some are limiting their campuses to just freshman and sophomores. Local school districts are trying to decide whether to go fully open or to mix in-school and home-school learning. I know it’s not on the table, but maybe one day someone would consider allowing students from one Delco public school to use vouchers to attend school elsewhere in the county. Right now, Chester-Upland funding follows the student to a charter school. What if it also followed them to Strath Haven, Garnet Valley, Haverford, or Radnor? Opinion Piece
