CHICAGO, January 15 — On December 6, nine of the last 17 protestors, who tried to save the Whittier Elementary School field house — endearingly called La Casita — were found not guilty of trespassing charges instituted by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Applause rang out in the normally quiet West Side courtroom after the charges were dismissed.
These community fighters and Chicago Public School teachers were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass after they formed a human chain outside the field house last August 17 trying to stop its demolition. The protestors made sure the moms were not arrested that day.
Cook County Associate Judge Clarence Burch agreed that the prosecutor didn’t prove that the field house — a separate building next to the school — was operated and funded by the government. Interestingly, neither the witnesses for CPS called to testify nor the prosecutor had seen a copy of the so-called “demolition” work order handed to them by the defense lawyers. It turned out to be a “construction” work order. The judge asked, where was the “construction” in all this when the building was being demolished?
One defendant, a former Whittier School teacher and teachers union organizer, felt that the verdict was “a real victory for people who want to stand up for the rights of children.” Another protestor, however, felt it didn’t bring back the field house which served as a community center and library. “I know how much La Casita meant to the community. They need a new place.”
A playground, a turf field for soccer and two basketball courts replaced the razed field house. According to the school director, these new courts will be lent out to other schools, with revenues going to Whittier School. The question still remains as to who will benefit from this new renovation, the Whittier school kids, the existing community, a new charter school or Cristo Rey High School.
A CPS work order to demolish La Casita was found online, and it turned out that Ward Alderman Danny Solis had approved TIF money (a city fund created with property taxes for “blighted” areas) to be given to Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, (a school having only one Jesuit priest) across from Whittier. Discovering that public monies were to be used for a private high school while Whittier had no library fueled the 2010 sit-in to save the La Casita field house, already being used as a community center BUT also to included a library the kids desperately needed.
Whittier Elementary School was not one of the Chicago public schools targeted for closing this past school year. But the massive anti-racist fightback of the Whittier parents and supporters made such an impact on every school and community in the city and beyond that the CPS, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Solis were temporarily held back.
But the fact remains that this land grab in a predominantly Latino neighborhood was a racist attack on all of us. The Chicago banks and real estate developers have grander schemes as the lower east side of the Pilsen neighborhood as well as other areas continue to be gentrified. Orders to demolish La Casita came from CPS, with ward alderman Solis (who had ordered the gas shut-off to La Casita some years back) giving the go-ahead. Neither CPS nor the cops felt they needed a “valid” demolition permit.
Neither CPS, the cops nor the judge (continuously smiling throughout the hearing) exist to serve the working class. Not under capitalism. So why were they found not guilty? Viewing the court proceedings, one would have thought the prosecutor bungled the job. But did CPS lose? In the long run, they accomplished what they were after. The parents and supporters using La Casita for meetings and workshops up to the day of the demolition nor the protestors were no longer seen as a threat.
This victory was short-term. There still exists a small group of parents and supporters wanting to fight CPS and the city for a new community center and library. They fear that Whittier School, sooner or later, will be turned into a charter school or an appendage of Cristo Rey High School. Without a community center to reach out to its residents and push for unity, the community is left to fend for itself.
Property taxes are rising and working-class families are losing their homes. The Pilsen area is becoming more “blighted” but no TIF monies are being used to save it. Instead, three large corporations have taken millions from the Pilsen TIF. Between 2001 and 2005, Chicago International Produce Market ($9.5 million), the Steiner Corporation ($3.5 million) and Target ($5.3 million and not part of east Pilsen) benefited from the east Pilsen residents’ tax dollars.
By 2004, no TIF funds had been used to support school improvements at any of the three schools in the Pilsen area. In 2008, Developers were reimbursed $14.4 million (25% of the total TIF) and given $22.1 million in forgivable loans. Between developers and project costs, the City gave more than half (65%) of the Pilsen TIF money to private developers!
So, under capitalism who wins? The previous Local School Committee (LSC) group of 2010 and the supporters that led the sit-in three years ago no longer exist. Because of financial troubles and low morale, many involved parents dropped out of the struggle before the demolition occurred. Others have become cynical over the loss of La Casita.
Three Whittier moms, steadfastly involved in the 49-day sit-in, are now part of the present-day Whittier School LSC. Two of the moms, and most of the other members, publicly approve of CPS’s demolition of La Casita and of the newly constructed soccer field, two basketball courts and the new playground. One mom, who had joined the Party during the sit-in, is now LSC president and a true parliamentarian. She chairs the meetings and makes sure that parent speakers don’t go over the allotted time, especially if the topic is one which criticizes the LSC or CPS. The other mom who was very active doesn’t attend the LSC meetings anymore or the La Casita parent group. She may be taken off for lack of attendance. The remaining LSC members include the school director (a very close friend of the ward alderman) and the assistant to Ward Alderman Solis. Therefore, none of the three moms have defended the existing La Casita parents’ group when they’ve brought up the fight for a new community center and library at the LSC meetings.
As much as a community center and library are drastically needed, the fightback needs much more. This writer, also a member of the small La Casita parent group, will struggle to win her friends to join a PLP study group and the Party.
One Whittier/LaCasita mom and friend of the Party has written opinion letters and submitted them for CHALLENGE. She is a staunch, outspoken fighter for her class here in Chicago and in Mexico. She has fought cynicism and subjectivity involving some Whittier moms. She is disliked for her critical comments regarding CPS. She works hard cleaning homes and streets, makes jewelry and knitting apparel to help her family and send money to her needy family and friends in Mexico.
Our group will continue to fight for a new “La Casita,” raise money and send clothes that are very much needed in Mexico and beyond. But if we really want to win, we must fight for keeps. That means building a mass PLP and becoming communists. That means struggling with each other to continue the fight, helping each other despite obstacles the capitalists throw at us. Onward in the fight for a communist world!