You wouldn’t be reading this 40 years ago; not an article from a first generation American – one who was born to two immigrant parents from Mexico and married to a wife with genealogy represented by more foreign flags than the Olympics. But you are. You are because the people that live in Land Park are changing.
For people like my wife and I, living in Land Park is a dream fulfilled. The tree-lined streets, historic architecture, and access to neighborly businesses are unparalleled in Sacramento. For many, purchasing a home in this community is the epitome of success. In my case, it’s a testament to a standard of generational sacrifices to help me rise above myself and beyond social and political stigmas and tropes about what it means to be Mexican American in California today.
But these feelings might have just as easily been a dream deferred. When my wife and I first opened escrow to buy our home in Land Park over a year ago, we were shocked to learn that our home on 17th Street was once a part of a restrictive covenant; one that precluded people like my wife and I from ever owning a home in 95818. Of course, I knew they were no longer valid. I remembered reading about them in law school and draconian covenants of this sort were ruled unconstitutional decades ago. Still, in the words of Langston Hughes, it made our dreams of living here “sag like a heavy load.”
Now, after living here for over a year, we’ve been so pleasantly surprised to see there are no teeth to the legacy of those old restrictive covenants. The Land Park I know is friendly, authentic, hard-working, and invested in its community. It’s the same reason our neighbor babysits my son two times a week without expecting anything in return. The reason I get hand delivered mail when it’s left at the wrong address, or another neighbor’s wheel barrel is still sitting in my backyard because I haven’t finished using it; bottom line – we invest in each other.
The longer I live here, the more I appreciate the old and new families that make up our neighborhood and how our community has evolved over the years. Back in 1912, when William Land bequeathed $250,000 to establish the 238-acre park at the center of the neighborhood, he did so because he wanted to create a regional space people from across the city could use and enjoy together with their families. At the crux of his philanthropy was a commitment to public access and diverse inclusion.
These days you are just as likely to find yourself greeting a neighbor with surnames like Ortiz, Chen, Singh, or Johnson. Today, about 47% of Land Park is considered “white.” That’s less than half the neighborhood population. In addition, some areas of the greater Land Park community are represented by less than 14% white residents. This stands in strong contrast to the numbers from 1940 when 94% of the population was white. These figures should be celebrated. They signal a communal maturation emblematic of what our entire city should aspire for.
With this kind of melting pot of experience cemented within our streets, it’s no surprise we also have so much diversity of thought. And I find that different points of view are invited to the conversation. Where I once thought, I would have to negotiate my place among my neighbors, today I find myself advocating on their behalf. It goes without saying that we all want to see this neighborhood continue to thrive, not just for our own enjoyment, but because we care about the community we will leave behind to our children.
These days, I’m often among your friends at a local community meeting, thinking critically about our city’s policies as a board member of the Land Park Community Association. I hope you’ll join me, get involved, and be the change you want to see around you.
Written by Ignacio Barragan who is an LPCA Board member and Land Park neighbor.
To review population data go to: http://www.justicemap.org/
To review a Land Park History Brochure: https://landpark.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/William_Land_Park_History_Brochure.pdf