Home Depot Exploits Latinos!
Here at the No Home Depot Campaign, we have been receiving many e-mails from people that attended the June 7th hearing,
sharing their impressions of what they experienced, and their thoughts on Home Depot's bussed in
attendees. Many of the S-T residents present, spent some time trying to engage in
conversation with the group in the orange pro Home Depot T-Shirts and the white "Stop
Racism" T-Shirts.
The consensus seems to be that very few of the "Pro Home Depot" or "Stop Racism"
attendees knew why they were there. They had come from Montebello, Whittier, East LA, etc.,
with the promise of food, a t-shirt and compensation, however, getting back home was left to them.
Several of the attendees were overheard discussing which bus route to take to return to
their respective neighborhoods.
So what are we to make of this?
Home Depot recruited a large group of Hispanic people, based solely on their race,
had them wear 'Pro Home Depot" or "Stop Racism" T-Shirts and
propped them up as supposed "supporters",
simply in order to advance their own business goals.
This is exploitation in the first degree, and is true racism.
Here is an e-mail excerpt from one of our residents:
Why would Home Depot "stage" these innocent and kind people in such a manner as to use them
as pawns for their own purpose. This seemed to me to be an inhumane "use" of people...and it
infuriated me. How can you use human beings like this???...
I realized, and my son came to the same conclusion, that this is the ultimate form of racism...
Home Depot people should be ashamed of themselves!! The people they brought were kind, even
giving up seats for the elderly "no 2 home depot" crowd...
This is all so dirty to me, it makes me sick...
Again, I ask, how low can you go???
The Home Depot Appeal Hearing was postponed until July 19th by the Planning Commission due to the large turnout.
A suitable location to accommodate the crowd has yet to be determined.
Will Home Depot resort to these same despicable tactics again?
Let's hope they do not!
Labels: big box, sunland-tujunga
Posted by Unknown @ 6/10/2007 12:27:00 AM
41 Comments:
Disgusting!
The Home Depot people did themselves no favors with this idiotic stunt, but to call racism and say that these people were used is a major stretch.
Were they forced to participate? No.
Were they compensated for their participation? Apparently so.
Willing employers and willing employees.
Perhaps. But the message was phony,
the people had no idea why they were there, except to get paid.
It reminds me of how communist countries used to make people show up for parades and cheer! This is just the capitalist version of that.
It just stinks, in my opinion, I think we agree on that.
There are only two places where the aforementioned still takes place. North Korea and Democrat presidential stump speeches.
Home Depot pulled this same stunt when there was a meeting of a planning commission in Glassell Park regarding the proposed new Home Depot at Fletcher Square at San Fernando and Fletcher in Glassell Park. Also a former K-Mart site. That same PR group showed up and they brought lots of young hispanics who were really not involved in the matter other than they were offered a T-Shirt or a meal or some soccer equipment etc. Many of them were heard muttering "this is bullshit" as they left the meeting early. Home Depot runs a DUMP OF A STORE in Cypress Park, the community has continually asked Home Depot to clean the parking lot, remove graffiti and generally stock the store and keep it cleaner. The response has poor, the store is still a dump. Home Depot may provide jobs but they are not good neighbors.
Is your real concern that Home Depot
"exploits Latinos?" Or is your real concern that it's dishonest to hire people to pose as concerned citizens and/or concerned illegal aliens?
Let's have honesty on both sides.
People act in their self-interest. The stores in the area that oppose Home Depot contribute to legal fees and opposition groups. Home Depot hires people to show up in "no racism" t-shirts. Those people show up and wear the shirts because it's easy money.
The issue isn't "exploitation," in my opinion, but rather how special interests try create the illusion that what benefits them is really in the public interest.
Who is the "PR" group hired for this stunt? I remember being a paid canvasser for DSO, Diverse Strategies for Organizing. I think the owner was Victor Griego, the mayor's friend. I was paid to go around and entice Latinos to attend those MTA openings in Highland Park. We used to call it herding sheep. Sheep will do whatever that lead sheep does, and DSO had plenty of lead sheeps on their payroll.
That's Art Camarillo in the blue shirt with his arms crossed, the "Office Manager" for the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council. If you look or can find it, there was an agenda item in the February(?) General meetting. Who knows what happened since there are no minutes posted???
This is a classic Latham/Watkins tactic. They do the same thing every time there is a hearing on any of their issues.
They not only get the visual, but they overwhelm any public comment period. It is just a way to provide their paid-off politicians cover for deciding in their favor.
The guy from Dakota Communications was telling people to fill out speaker cards and when their name was called, to say the changed their mind.
I was standing on the side of the room... surrounded by "stop racism" shirts. So what
else, but to engage one of the recruitees in conversation? It went something like this:
"Do you speak English?
"Only a very little"
"Do you know why you are here today?"
"No not really. they told us to come so I am here"
"Who told you to come?"
"A man named Mario.... why do you speak such good Spanish?"
"I have many friends who are Mexican"
"Who is Mario, the boss?"
"Yes"
"Where do you live?"
"Downtown LA"
"Do you understand that we are here because Home Depot wants
to open a very large store in Sunland. We have many small stores
and they will go away. We prefer our small stores"
"Yes, it is terrible when that happens, it is not right. it has happened in Mexico
with WalMart."
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I agree with Walter Moore. Thank God for people like him that see the big picture. If you agree or not, lets at least be honest and say the whole story about what is going on. People can not be used unless they agree to be used. Besides were they used? They benefited from what they were paid to do. It was a job.
Susan Rocha
This IS classic "Latham Wakins".
Same stuff the mayor pulled during his AB 1381 "reform" attempt. (Who do you think put him up to it. The mayor isn't that smart.)
Fill up the meetings and council chamber with a bunch of people in blue "reformer" shirts.
Too bad the only thing transparant in LA City politics is the shadiness. (Actually, this move isn't shady...just in bad taste.)
But like the mayor's failed attempt -- people see right though it. (YES, failed attempt! Four candidates on the board (who may pull a Fleetwood Mac and "Go Their Own Way" are not going to be able ro "backseat drive" their way through the politicized LAUSD machine.)
So I'm not going to say, "Shame on Home Depot", and I do not feel this is shady (it's not at all the same thing that Citywide NCs are pulling) -- it's just sad and hilarious at the same time.
Man, I'm starting to realize, "desparate, insecure, fear-based greed and obsessive compulsion" is the secert formula to comedy!
And oh yeah, to those who had to throw all pride and integrity out the window to pull off this nauseating stunt...
Lo-ho-hoo-hoo-sers! Money, power and all. And once you have it, it must never be enough, and it must keep you awake at night, trying to cover your tracks, and figure out how to pull off your next "fix".
Springsteen must have tried to tell me a thousand times, since 1978..."Poor man wanna be rich. Rich man wanna be king. And the king ain't satisfied, till he rules every-thing. I'm gonna go out tonight. I'm gonna find out what I got."
And he also warned all those shirt wearing puppets:
"Lights out tonight. Trouble in the heartland. Got a head on collision. Smashing in my guts man. I'm caught in a crossfire, that I don't understand."
Anyway, don't say Bruce didn't try and warn you, suckers wearing those Home Depot shirts.
Meanwhile, gotta love Home Depot. They have everything you need under one roof, for cheaper. (Not just quality, but price, too!)
Me personally, I still like local "mom and pops" like "Frontier Supply".
Who the heck is admin? Why are you posting about arcade games? I don't see the relationship to the yucky tactics being talked about here.
Glad you chimed in, ZD...I like your style!
Anonymous said...
Who the heck is admin? Why are you posting about arcade games?
Anon, it was a cheap way to advertize, like people who flood cyber-guestbooks with ads. The blog's housekeeping crew need to delete it.
I have to laugh...admin's hijinks are kinda like the way Home Depot has been waging its PR campaign ...by way of the backdoor.
I just heard that the LW firm boys are negotiating with AV's consulting team to take over this project.
Its good night for Taylor and Company.
From The Foothills Forum:
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6079294
.........snip....
Home Depot and Dakota Communications said they have no affiliation with Stop Racism, though both acknowledge the organizers were previously paid employees working on behalf of the home improvement chain.
"This organization is not related to Home Depot in any way..... snip....
IMO.... Dakota has a lot of high profile clients judging from their website. It wouldn't look good if they lost a battle. The "race card" is the only card they have left in their deck and it wouldn't look good if they played it directly.
I had a friend who worked for a very high profile engineering company that was asked to do a very high risk project by a very important client. They risked losing the tempermental client if they declined the job. Their board decided that it would risk their reputation of they took it on and failed.
My friend was a young and very talented engineer that worked for them. The board encouraged him to create a separate company and take on the job with their blessings. He had all of the company resources available to him at nominal cost but the company itself kept "at arms length". He was was ultimately successful, dissolved his company, and returned to the Mother Ship" as a hero.
How do you say "Plausible Deniability"?
"Home Depot runs a DUMP OF A STORE in Cypress Park"
I can definitely attest to that, and I refuse to give them my money. Lowes is a short drive up the 5 thank you very much.
I also wonder if the group of paid supporter were compensated in cash,
or did they have to fill out a timecard and a W2? If Home Depot did pay them, did they have to show citizenship or a green card? If not,and assuming some of the group may be illegal immigrants, could Home Depot be accused of illegally hiring
workers? Just wondering....
They could, be but we'll have to wait until 2008 to hire someone who actually gives a damn.
2:02
Not very likely.
Barkin and Skelton dont do corporate clients.
Ace and Tujillo are off in Hillaryland.
Hacopian and Latham and Watkins George Mihlstein hate each other from their Caruso days.
Walter,
I am concerned with both issues.
The difference here is that the residents and local businesses that
donate to the No Home Depot campaign
are sponsoring a local effort by concerned citizens in a goal of bettering our community. The other side picked people simply based on their race in order to present a distorted view of support. It's all perfectly legal, I guess, and apparently Latham & Watkins does this all the time, but it is a tactic that is both disturbing and distasteful. I hope the Commissioners saw through this charade.
I also wanted to share this link of local community member, Vic Castro, being interviewed on KNBC. Mr. Castro is the chairman of the Design Advisory Committee and football coach at Verdugo Hills High:
http://video.knbc.com/player/?id=116855
Incidentally, The reporter for KNBC that was covering the story, Robert Kovacik, was the same reporter that was trampled and hospitalized the very next day at Paris Hilton's home.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Oh joy, the impersonators are back.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mayor Sam are you going to continue to be Joe's bitch and delete things he doesn't like?
Joe B - No To Home Depot
A PAY-OFF?
Do-It Center
Local Hardware Stores
SEIU
LAANE
You can ask Yolanda Garcia-Ruiz
DO NOT delete this Mayor Sam
Mayor Sam is not deleting your posts, I am. Please do not impersonate me or
anyone else. Try to make a coherent statement instead of just making personal attacks that do not contribute to this thread.
Mayor Sam you give Joe B. access to delete comments? We may have to file a complaint against you with the Ethics Commission and have you register as a lobbyist because this is an in-kind donation to the No To Home Depot campaign. We will also be investigating their form 990 to make sure they are listing the value of this blog in their filings.
Mayor Sam you may wish to get with your attorney and for now remove access to Joe B.
"Joe B. - Mayor Sam is not deleting your posts, I am. Please do not impersonate me or"
Must be nice to delete everything that makes you look bad. That explains the little misunderstanding about the video on the foothill forum. Will thefoothillforum.com give you dictatorship control posts you don't like?
Joe B. does not have the power to delete comments. He is only a "guest" blogger.
The only bloggers with admin rights are me, Zuma, Walter and Joe.
So go soak your head and call your lawyer.
Better to fight Home Depot on the merits not silliness.
By the way I deleted some of the comments cause they were spam. One or two other comments must have been deleted by one of the other admins.
Evidently, he does.
The only people who exploit themsevles are those who have an opportunity in our society to educate themselves and all they do is bitch and complain without improving their self persona.
Quit the bullshit and educate yourselfs so you do not have to work for pennys on the dollar.
Sincerely,
A WEALTHY EDUCATED MEXICAN.
P.S.
I live the American dream by working smart not hard just smart.
859 - no he doesn't unless he's hacking.
915 - good post
Racial profiling was inarguably involved on the part of HD and/or its PR & Legal firms in the selection of its almost all-Latino group of paid HD "supporters" and "anti-racism activists" whom were bussed in for this hearing, and I personally do find it offensive and exploitive (not to mention unethical) as a business practice or tactic.
As for these same paid "shills" being instructed to fill out comment cards and then decline to speak (in order to waste time and in an effort to limit the ability of opposer's to be heard), I find that truly shameless and despicable, not to mention anti-democratic! Shame shame!
Genuine arguments, support, and merits should be involved in a public hearing, not games, deception and shenanigans like HD has employed. HD has behaved like a spoiled, rotten child that is used to getting its way from the very beginning, and has lost all respect as well as all credibility in my book. Needless to say, I no longer support them financially by shopping in their stores as I once did frequently and am not alone, here in Sunland-Tujunga vitually everyone I talk to doesn't want them!
I was at this hearing in the back of the room. There was a group of young men near me wearing the orange Home Depot shirts. One of the men was wearing a cap with a marijuana leaf and one of their handlers made him remove it. Guess it did not go with their "Building a Brighter Day" slogan on the T-shirt. When we commented on this one of the young men who appeared to be a gang member with gang tattoos on his neck and and arms turned threateningly to us and said "I LIKE MARIJUANA". Gee, I thought Home Depot did drug testing, this particular group at the back were great representatives for why we DON'T need Home Depot in our area. The rest of the group when questioned had NO clue why they were there and spent the remainder of the hearing sitting on the floor, giggling amongst themselves. Home Depot is definitely a despicable company resorting to the lowest of tactics, without regard to any community or race to get their way. This is why I and my family have boycotted all Home Depots for over 2 years and will continue to do so.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home