Since its founding, the Latino Economic Development Center has connected families with services and helped Washington, D.C.’s Latinos grow their small businesses.
Since its founding, the Latino Economic Development Center has connected families with services to help Washington, D.C.’s Latinos grow their small businesses. (Courtesy of Jaime Segui-Asad) Since its founding, the Center for Latino Economic Development has connected families and services to connect Washington, D.C.’s Latino population and help grow small businesses. (Courtesy of Jaime Segui-Assad)
On May 5, 1991, a Salvadoran man was shot and killed by a Washington, D.C., police officer, sparking days of rioting in the city. The response to the shooting was also the culmination of years of tension between police and the Latino community over language and cultural barriers.
Emi Reyes, chief executive officer of the Center for Latino Economic Development, said civil war broke out in El Salvador in the 1980s and many Salvadorans fled to the United States, many choosing the area as their destination. Many have settled in the Mount Pleasant area, where there is a large Latino footprint, she said.
“Suddenly, this region became the region with the second-largest Salvadoran population in the country,” Reyes said.
Reyes said that created a disconnect between the city and the Latino community because there weren’t many resources for people who didn’t speak English at the time.
Things reached a climax in 1991 when rumors spread that a shooting had occurred. The man who was shot was injured, but rumors led some to believe he had died.
According to a 1991 Washington Post report, a man was shot and wounded after police said he was threatened with a knife by an African-American police officer.
“So it led to a lot of misunderstandings and obviously ended up severing a very fragile thread between what is supporting this immigrant population and what is not. “I think that was the biggest factor in having to respond to demands and requests to reduce the population and bring attention to what the city was so neglecting,” Reyes said.
The riots soon began, damaging businesses and buses, and leading to a curfew that lasted three days.
As a result of the riots, the city created a Latino Civil Rights Task Force, and one of its recommendations was the creation of an organization to better connect the Latino community with city resources.
“The recommendation is to create institutions that understand the immigrant experience, have the cultural competency to really deliver services where and how they need to be, and that actually provide the financial tools and education that people need. ” Reyes said.
LEDC received a check from Wells Fargo for $100,000. (Courtesy of Jaime Segui-Assad)
Since its founding, LEDC has connected families with city services, connecting Latinos in the city and helping them grow small businesses.
“We offer microloans from as little as $1,000 to as much as $250,000 to help entrepreneurs launch or grow their businesses across the city,” Reyes said.
In the immediate aftermath of the riots, the organization also helped local governments build better relationships with Latino communities, with the aim of preventing new situations like those seen in 1991.
“We are truly committed to supporting the creation of a Spanish-speaking police force that can operate in Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, and other parts of the city that have high concentrations of first-language immigrants. He was like a Spaniard,” Reyes said.
Reyes said not everyone can see eye to eye on issues, but it’s still important for the community to work together on solutions.
“It’s really important for the community to come together and include the voices of long-time immigrants who have lived here for over 30 years, as well as immigrants who just arrived a few months ago,” Reyes said.
He also said the city needs to continue investing in minority-owned businesses so they can grow in Washington, D.C. even as costs rise.
“I think the commercial real estate sector has a lot to learn from the residential real estate sector in terms of existing programs such as rent stabilization, rent assistance programs, down payment assistance programs, etc.,” Reyes said.
Overall, Reyes believes there have been positive changes over the past few decades.
“I think our institutions and infrastructure are much more welcoming and supportive than they used to be,” she said.
Compared to what the neighborhood once was, Reyes said the landscape of today’s Mount Pleasant has changed, but the neighborhood strives to maintain its cultural identity.
“Mount Pleasant has such a long history that I think it’s important to be proactive about preserving it,” she said.
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