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Fred: I have been involved in the HOPE SF initiative for many years, starting with my role as director of San Francisco’s Redevelopment Agency, when we launched the initiative in 2007. HOPE SF began with a commitment to partner with residents every step of the way. Residents have been powerful partners, as we strive for racial equity and economic inclusion, especially in a city where gentrification and displacement are dominant forces.
We often equate the displacement and gentrification in San Francisco with the technology sector, but through our work with HOPE SF, we have come to understand that historic policies, not just our current economic boom, are responsible for much of the harm.
Over the years, HOPE SF has evolved as a powerful reparations initiative. Theo, tell us how this vision came to be.
Theo: As director of HOPE SF, I have witnessed the scale and horror of systematic and intergenerational inequality, even within a city of such explosive growth. I struggled to find a framework for restitution that could meet the urgency and scope of the challenge.
There are 1,900 “legacy” families—original residents of HOPE SF communities, who had been living for decades in deteriorating public housing, marginalized by society because of policies that our government implemented, which kept them out of the wealth and prosperity of our great city.
The more I understood the historic harm, like redlining, to be the root of the suffering, the more I understood our role, as leaders in San Francisco, to be about keeping our promises—making sure our systems work for families, and all families share in our city’s prosperity.
As city leaders, we must own up to the city’s historical role in making this happen. By calling this a “reparations initiative” we commit to acknowledging, reconciling, and healing systemic harm and inequities experienced by people and communities historically and currently impacted by racism and oppression.
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