A City of Kindness & Cruelty
It's the unofficial slogan of San Leandro. Successive generations of local leaders have repeated it over and over in coffee shops, libraries, and city hall. We print it on banners and campaign mailers. It adorns our meeting rooms and street lights. It's seen as self-evident, a truth we hold without ever asking why, "a city where kindness matters." But does it? Whether we're looking at those sundown town times of the suburban wall, where crosses were burnt on Black family lawns and the police arrested gay men through entrapment, or the murder of Steven Taylor and citywide upheaval that followed during the pandemic years, San Leandro has continued to show that kindness is often the last thing on our minds. There are over 400 homeless people who live here. They're our neighbors, friends, and even family members. Yet, our Chamber of Commerce would have us send them to Oakland and Hayward or, better yet, book them a permanent stay at John George up the hill, if it ...