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May 25, 2013
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 Portraits of Misery in CoachellaPosted on Oct 29, 2011
For those who live there, life at the wrong end of Avenue 54 in Southern California’s eastern Coachella Valley is a hot, rotting hell. As you head east, the “Bermuda shorts, putting greens and picture-window champagne dinners” found in abundance near the Arnold Palmer Golf Course give way to “arsenic-tainted water, frequent blackouts and raw sewage that backs up into the shower.” With this unflinching look at the lives of those who barely survive in the Coachella region, California Watch reporter Patricia Leigh Brown does honor to the withered tradition of no-frills investigation into the condition of the American dispossessed—people who appear to have been forgotten by much of the nation during the course of the latest great neoliberal race to the top. —Alexander Reed Kelly
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By bill desmond, October 30, 2011 at 5:35 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
It’s coming- for many more of you.
Report thisUs.
Remember Kent State.
They will open fire on you and your children.
By traynorjf, October 30, 2011 at 12:37 pm Link to this comment
We will care when they come for us.
Report thisBy ramses, October 30, 2011 at 6:02 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
What a great article. To bad people are so self centered to care. Cary Nova, your
Report thiscomment hit me, that is exactly how I feel. “This is America, this is how we treat
other human beings.?” It’s very appalling & sad. Our country has changed & NOT
for the better. But, that is just my opinion.
By Cary Nova, October 29, 2011 at 8:21 pm Link to this comment
I grew up in Bakersfield where I used to work in the grape
Report thissheds in the summer. And I remember being shocked by the
appalling working conditions of the people there;
especially those who worked 12 hour shifts out in the
fields, in 115 degree heat, and covered with pesticides. I
remember thinking “this is where our grapes come from?
This is America?”
The difficult labor of farm workers needs to be treated
with respect and dignified with living wages and decent
living conditions.
By John Clark, October 29, 2011 at 8:19 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
these places should be shut down. With all the abandon and derelict houses in this country that cities are tearing down, calling them blited people in this shape should be placed in this housing.
Report thisBy Cary Nova, October 29, 2011 at 8:04 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I grew up in Bakersfield where I used to work in the grape
Report thissheds in the summer. And I remember being shocked by the
appalling working conditions of the people there;
especially those who worked 12 hour shifts out in the
fields, in 115 degree heat, and covered with pesticides.
That’s where are grapes come from?
That very difficult labor of farm workers needs to be
treated with respect and dignified with living wages and
decent living conditions.
By gerard, October 29, 2011 at 3:47 pm Link to this comment
We can do better, but we have to know the resources available, perhaps already working on such outrageous situations, and proceed carefully or the net result could be simply eviction under the guise
of “health issues” etc. etc. That’s the usual government reaction when attention is called.
I suggest contacting American Friends Service Committee, So. Cal. branch office, or Catholic charities agency in the area. Unitarian Church in the area is another. Methodist and Congregationalist, possibly.
Under the present hostile attitude toward immigrants, these people need protection and help extended carefully through people who are already concerned and preferably have some realistic knowledge of how to proceed.
Report thisBy ardee, October 29, 2011 at 3:30 pm Link to this comment
A national disgrace, and there are many more just like it throughout these United States. We seemingly just don’t give a damn. We can squander a trillion here and another there but we can also ignore what we allow to exist.
Report thisBy EmileZ, October 29, 2011 at 1:39 pm Link to this comment
This is one of the most important articles I have seen posted here, and Patricia Leigh Brown didn’t even have to be “embedded” amidst a phalanx of cops or military personel.
Report this