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September 6, 2011
Battle for Brooklyn and Eminent Domain Abuse
www.BruceLevine.net
Do we really accept that Big Money—through intimidation, bribery, or some other coercion—can shove us out of our homes and obliterate our communities?
Eminent domain is the government’s right to seize private property, usually with compensation, for the public good. We live in a nation, however, in which the elite—not ordinary Americans—have the power to define what is the public good. The recently released documentary Battle for Brooklyn transcends typical left-right politics, unites all who believe in self-respect and democracy, and invites Americans to join together in the fight against the elite’s abuse of eminent domain.
...The shameless Ratner used his money to attempt to make Atlantic Yards a racial issue. He funded a synthetic grassroots (“astroturf”) black community group and tried to inflame black residents against Goldstein, a white graphics designer. The truth is that all African-American officials who actually represented the neighborhood, including City Councilmember Letitia James, were adamantly opposed to Atlantic Yards, as they saw through Ratner’s empty promises of local jobs and affordable housing. While Goldstein is the citizen hero of this film, James—who went on to win her second term in a landslide—is the kind of public servant that every community wishes it had.
Posted by eric at September 6, 2011 10:03 AM