Join CLUE SB in urging the City Council to grant Historic Landmark Status to Santa Barbara’s Casa de la Raza. Now, more than ever, our society is acutely aware of the harmful effects of racial injustice. We call on Santa Barbara to take steps, both symbolic and substantive, to repair systemic racism.
Click to add your support to a prepared message to the City Council.
Dear Council Members,
I am writing on behalf of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of Santa Barbara to encourage you to follow the recommendations of the Historic Landmarks Commission and grant Historic Landmark Status to Santa Barbara’s Casa de la Raza.
In addition to all of the architectural and historic rationales that have been convincingly laid out in the report of the Historic Landmark Commission, we at CLUE SB are urging you to support this initiative in recognition of the historic cultural and social significance of la Casa de la Raza.
As an interfaith collective of faith and community leaders, we believe the time is right for the City of Santa Barbara to recognize the important role the Casa de la Raza has played over the past fifty years in our community. Since the 1970s La Casa has offered education, childcare, job training, emergency services, cultural programs, and a vital community gathering place, administered by people of color, and open to all. There are few spaces in Santa Barbara County like La Casa de la Raza that offer a “world where many worlds fit”.
Now, more than ever, our society is acutely aware of the harmful effects of racial injustice. We call on Santa Barbara to take steps, both symbolic and substantive, to repair systemic racism. CLUE SB urges the City Council of Santa Barbara to grant Historic Landmark status to La Casa de la Raza. In so doing, Santa Barbara will recognize this institution for its ongoing work toward a more just world where no one in our city is mistreated, oppressed, or exploited.
Sincerely,
R.Lane Clark, Board President, CLUE SB