csmonitor--2020-08-05--Playwrights envision a post-pandemic future guided by hope

“ We all live in hope for one thing or another , ” says Ms. Snodgrass , artistic director of Boston Playwrights ’ Theatre .
“ I don ’ t want the virus to stop me from moving forward with hope – hope for the future , hope for the better.
” Like each of the writers , Kate Snodgrass is more buoyed by optimism after participating in the series .
Many songwriters , artists , and authors are creating art influenced by the pandemic but much of that work in progress has yet to be released .
By contrast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offers an immediate reaction to the current moment .
Its tone is more reflective than reflexive .
The playwrights stand back to imagine a longer-term view of how the pandemic and the social justice protests might shape individual and collective relationships in the new normal .
Her work is one of several new audio performances being offered by Boston ’ s Huntington Theatre Company .
Besides being set at local landmarks , these disparate stories also share something else : a sense of hope .
Brenda Withers was jolted out of the helplessness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when she was commissioned to write a play .
What might post-pandemic life look like ?
When the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston posed that question to four local playwrights , they responded by writing inventive audio plays set a few years from now .
Many songwriters , artists , and authors are creating art influenced by the pandemic but much of that work in progress has yet to be released .
By contrast , the “ Dream Boston ” series offers an immediate reaction to the current moment .
Its tone is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stand back to imagine a longer-term view of how the pandemic and the social justice protests might shape individual and collective relationships in the new normal .
Besides being set at local landmarks , their disparate stories also share something else : a sense of hope .
“ Theater offers a chance to be transported somewhere , ” says Melinda Lopez , the Huntington ’ s playwright-in-residence , who conceived the series with the director of new work , Charles Haugland .
“ We were very clear that we wanted to offer our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when ] our present struggles would not be so overwhelming.
” The first four audio plays in the “ Dream Boston ” series , each less than 10 minutes , are available on major podcast platforms and at the theater ’ s website .
Each production features voice actors , sound effects , and music .
The Huntington is so enthused by the initial stories that it has commissioned seven other writers to produce more plays by Labor Day .
The dramatists get to interpret the idea of hope in their own way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jolted her out of the helplessness she ’ d been feeling during quarantine .
In her play “ McKim , ” a woman visits the Boston Public Library in January 2023 to pick up a book she ’ d requested 34 months previously .
Ms. Withers says she created a character who , much like the country , is hesitant to embrace the future because of what has transpired in recent times .
That accounts for why the character arrives so late to the library ’ s McKim building to pick up the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prior to the pandemic .
Ms. Withers says change is easier when you ’ re able to feel like who you were and who you will become at the same time .
“ I think books are often like that , ” says the playwright , a founding member of Cape Cod ’ s Harbor Stage Company .
“ You start in one place with a physical object , and when you get to the other side of that object , you ’ re a different person if it was a good book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same object .
It looks the same and feels the same .
And you feel different.
” Kirsten Greenidge ’ s “ The 54th in ’ 22 ” eavesdrops on a charged blind date on Boston Common .
In the play , Greg and Nola ’ s first date gets off to a bad start .
It ’ s not just because their interpersonal skills have become rusty during quarantine – or the annoying sound of someone constantly pinging Greg ’ s phone with text messages .
When Nola sees the State House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she laments that it doesn ’ t belong to her because it ’ s a part of white America .
Moreover , she ’ s racked with guilt for not participating in the racial justice protests because her mother was at risk from the coronavirus .
It turns out that Greg was one of the protesters , but he reveals a contrasting perspective to Nola ’ s .
Ms. Greenidge says her older relatives seldom talked about the racism they ’ d endured .
She rooted her story ’ s hopeful outlook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her viewed the march of progress .
“ They had to live with the current of hope infusing their lives , to be able to believe they were creating a world that was better for those that were coming up after them , ” says Ms. Greenidge , a playwriting fellow at the Huntington whose new play “ Our Daughters , Like Pillars ” was delayed this spring .
“ We live in a time where I don ’ t think they could have imagined the amount of freedom and ‘ upward mobility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enjoy today.
” Ms. Lopez ’ s “ By the Rude Bridge ” follows a historical battle re-enactor at the Minute Man National Historical Park on Patriots ’ Day in 2025 .
Like Ms. Greenidge , Ms. Lopez says that George Floyd ’ s death made her realize that it ’ s impossible to talk about the future without talking about the present .
“ What will we tell our children we fought for ?
” asks the narrator , a re-enactor who tells listeners he dressed as a British soldier .
At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story , he amiably chats with participants who ’ d dressed as Minutemen for the mock battle .
“ He ’ s wearing red and they ’ re wearing blue , ” she says .
“ For me , that was looking forward to a time when our country wouldn ’ t be so divided .
And Republicans and Democrats could stand in the parking lot and drink a cup of coffee together .
And won ’ t that be amazing ?
That was my vision of the most hopeful thing I could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic directly , but they allude to it in different ways .
In Kate Snodgrass ’ “ Overture , ” a woman makes her way to the top of the Great Dome at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where her father , who died during the quarantine , had taught as a professor .
She ’ s accompanied by a custodian who knew him .
It ’ s July 4 , 2024 , and the night sky is more colorful than a botanical garden as fireworks bloom and wilt .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the characters listen to the Boston Pops Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky ’ s “ 1812 Overture ” on the banks of the Charles River .
“ She ’ s just acknowledging who her dad was , the joy of that , and how much he was giving to other people , ” says Ms. Snodgrass , artistic director of Boston Playwrights ’ Theatre .
“ He ’ s not dead .
He ’ s with her .
And that ’ s who she ’ s carrying with her.
” The playwright knows several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And , like the other writers in the series , she expresses uncertainty about when their art form will return .
But , like each of the writers , she ’ s more buoyed by optimism after participating in the series .
“ We all live in hope for one thing or another , ” says Ms. Snodgrass .
“ I don ’ t want the virus to stop me from moving forward with hope – hope for the future , hope for the better.
” Editor ’ s note : As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coverage is free .
No paywall .

“We all live in hope for one thing or another,” says Ms. Snodgrass, artistic director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. “I don’t want the virus to stop me from moving forward with hope – hope for the future, hope for the better.”
Like each of the writers, Kate Snodgrass is more buoyed by optimism after participating in the series.
Many songwriters, artists, and authors are creating art influenced by the pandemic but much of that work in progress has yet to be released. By contrast, the “Dream Boston” series offers an immediate reaction to the current moment. Its tone is more reflective than reflexive. The playwrights stand back to imagine a longer-term view of how the pandemic and the social justice protests might shape individual and collective relationships in the new normal.
Major events tend to be reflected on museum walls and stages in the years after they occur. But even in the middle of the current pandemic, several new audio plays are already offering perspectives on what’s to come.
Her work is one of several new audio performances being offered by Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company. Besides being set at local landmarks, these disparate stories also share something else: a sense of hope.
Brenda Withers was jolted out of the helplessness she’d been feeling during quarantine when she was commissioned to write a play.
What might post-pandemic life look like?
When the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston posed that question to four local playwrights, they responded by writing inventive audio plays set a few years from now.
Many songwriters, artists, and authors are creating art influenced by the pandemic but much of that work in progress has yet to be released. By contrast, the “Dream Boston” series offers an immediate reaction to the current moment. Its tone is more reflective than reflexive. The playwrights stand back to imagine a longer-term view of how the pandemic and the social justice protests might shape individual and collective relationships in the new normal. Besides being set at local landmarks, their disparate stories also share something else: a sense of hope.
Why We Wrote This Major events tend to be reflected on museum walls and stages in the years after they occur. But even in the middle of the current pandemic, several new audio plays arealready offering perspectives on what’s to come.
“Theater offers a chance to be transported somewhere,” says Melinda Lopez, the Huntington’s playwright-in-residence, who conceived the series with the director of new work, Charles Haugland. “We were very clear that we wanted to offer our listeners a moment in the future [when] our present struggles would not be so overwhelming.”
The first four audio plays in the “Dream Boston” series, each less than 10 minutes, are available on major podcast platforms and at the theater’s website. Each production features voice actors, sound effects, and music. The Huntington is so enthused by the initial stories that it has commissioned seven other writers to produce more plays by Labor Day. The dramatists get to interpret the idea of hope in their own way.
Courtesy of Huntington Theater View caption Hide caption Kirsten Greenidge (left) wrote “The 54th in ’22” for the Huntington Theatre's new audio series. Her new stage play “Our Daughters, Like Pillars” was delayed at the Huntington this spring. Brenda Withers (right) wrote “McKim” for the series, in which a woman visits the Boston Public Library in January 2023 to pick up a book she had placed on hold prior to the pandemic.
For Brenda Withers, that guideline jolted her out of the helplessness she’d been feeling during quarantine. In her play “McKim,” a woman visits the Boston Public Library in January 2023 to pick up a book she’d requested 34 months previously. Ms. Withers says she created a character who, much like the country, is hesitant to embrace the future because of what has transpired in recent times. That accounts for why the character arrives so late to the library’s McKim building to pick up the book she’d placed on hold prior to the pandemic. Ms. Withers says change is easier when you’re able to feel like who you were and who you will become at the same time.
“I think books are often like that,” says the playwright, a founding member of Cape Cod’s Harbor Stage Company. “You start in one place with a physical object, and when you get to the other side of that object, you’re a different person if it was a good book. You’re still holding that same object. It looks the same and feels the same. And you feel different.”
Kirsten Greenidge’s “The 54th in ’22” eavesdrops on a charged blind date on Boston Common. In the play, Greg and Nola’s first date gets off to a bad start. It’s not just because their interpersonal skills have become rusty during quarantine – or the annoying sound of someone constantly pinging Greg’s phone with text messages. When Nola sees the State House on the edge of the Boston Common, she laments that it doesn’t belong to her because it’s a part of white America. Moreover, she’s racked with guilt for not participating in the racial justice protests because her mother was at risk from the coronavirus. It turns out that Greg was one of the protesters, but he reveals a contrasting perspective to Nola’s.
Courtesy of Huntington Theater View caption Hide caption Kate Snodgrass, artistic director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, is one of the contributors to the Huntington Theatre's audio series "Dream Boston." Her play "Overture," set at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, features Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”
Ms. Greenidge says her older relatives seldom talked about the racism they’d endured. She rooted her story’s hopeful outlook in how family members who came before her viewed the march of progress.
“They had to live with the current of hope infusing their lives, to be able to believe they were creating a world that was better for those that were coming up after them,” says Ms. Greenidge, a playwriting fellow at the Huntington whose new play “Our Daughters, Like Pillars” was delayed this spring. “We live in a time where I don’t think they could have imagined the amount of freedom and ‘upward mobility’ that my sisters, my children enjoy today.”
Ms. Lopez’s “By the Rude Bridge” follows a historical battle re-enactor at the Minute Man National Historical Park on Patriots’ Day in 2025. Like Ms. Greenidge, Ms. Lopez says that George Floyd’s death made her realize that it’s impossible to talk about the future without talking about the present. “What will we tell our children we fought for?” asks the narrator, a re-enactor who tells listeners he dressed as a British soldier. At the end of Ms. Lopez’s story, he amiably chats with participants who’d dressed as Minutemen for the mock battle.
“He’s wearing red and they’re wearing blue,” she says. “For me, that was looking forward to a time when our country wouldn’t be so divided. And Republicans and Democrats could stand in the parking lot and drink a cup of coffee together. And won’t that be amazing? That was my vision of the most hopeful thing I could conceive.”
None of the plays mention the pandemic directly, but they allude to it in different ways. In Kate Snodgrass’ “Overture,” a woman makes her way to the top of the Great Dome at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where her father, who died during the quarantine, had taught as a professor. She’s accompanied by a custodian who knew him. It’s July 4, 2024, and the night sky is more colorful than a botanical garden as fireworks bloom and wilt. The tale of grief transforms into something joyous as the characters listen to the Boston Pops Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” on the banks of the Charles River.
“She’s just acknowledging who her dad was, the joy of that, and how much he was giving to other people,” says Ms. Snodgrass, artistic director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. “He’s not dead. He’s with her. And that’s who she’s carrying with her.”
The playwright knows several people who have died during the pandemic. And, like the other writers in the series, she expresses uncertainty about when their art form will return. But, like each of the writers, she’s more buoyed by optimism after participating in the series.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
“We all live in hope for one thing or another,” says Ms. Snodgrass. “I don’t want the virus to stop me from moving forward with hope – hope for the future, hope for the better.”
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.


csmonitor--2020-08-05--A pandemic’s knock-it-off effect on war

A pandemic’s knock-it-off effect on war

The fury of the pandemic , said António Guterres last March , “ illustrates the folly of war.
” Five months on , the words of the United Nations secretary-general have proved only partly right .
World peace has yet to break out .
But peace is peaking through the curtain in a few countries still in violent conflict .
Note these recent news items : In late July , Yemen ’ s leading separatist group , the Southern Transitional Council , said it will abandon its goal of self-rule .
The move raises further hope for an end to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 112,000 people and created the world ’ s worst humanitarian disaster .
In Europe , a cease-fire in Ukraine ’ s conflict with Russia began July 27 as both countries are forced to focus on the pandemic .
Violent attacks in eastern Ukraine have fallen sharply , opening a door to a negotiated settlement .
Last month , Turkey and Greece almost came to blows over a set of islands .
A violent conflict was avoided after German leader Angela Merkel intervened .
And in Afghanistan , the Taliban and the Afghan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday starting July 31 .
The truce added hope for a start to intra-Afghan peace talks .
These conflicts have their own dynamics , but no doubt all are being reshaped to a degree by the fallout from COVID-19 in both lives and livelihood .
“ The 2020 pandemic has highlighted how interconnected , fragile and complex the global socio-economic system is , ” stated a June report from the Institute for Economics & Peace .
Globally , according to a research group called Armed Conflict Location & Event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence has dropped about 10 % since the pandemic declaration .
Much of that decline is attributed to a reduction in fighting in Syria and Afghanistan , where peace efforts began before this year .
Also in countries that saw violent protests before COVID-19 , demonstrations have fallen about 30 % .
The pandemic has “ abruptly shifted the political contexts that shape violence patterns in many countries – the long-term effects of which remain to be seen , ” concludes the ACLED analysis .
Armed groups may be finding out that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ending the pandemic .
A universal desire for health – or a life free of disease or other harm – is itself a force to be reckoned with .
A new foe must be vanquished .
Old feuds must step aside .
Healing may be replacing hostility .

The fury of the pandemic, said António Guterres last March, “illustrates the folly of war.” Five months on, the words of the United Nations secretary-general have proved only partly right. World peace has yet to break out. But peace is peeking through the curtain in a few countries still in violent conflict. Note these recent news items:
In late July, Yemen’s leading separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, said it will abandon its goal of self-rule. The move raises further hope for an end to a five-year war that has killed more than 112,000 people and created the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
In Europe, a cease-fire in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia began July 27 as both countries are forced to focus on the pandemic. Violent attacks in eastern Ukraine have fallen sharply, opening a door to a negotiated settlement.
Last month, Turkey and Greece almost came to blows over a set of islands. A violent conflict was avoided after German leader Angela Merkel intervened.
And in Afghanistan, the Taliban and the Afghan government halted hostilities for three days during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday starting July 31. The truce added hope for a start to intra-Afghan peace talks.
These conflicts have their own dynamics, but no doubt all are being reshaped to a degree by the fallout from COVID-19 in both lives and livelihood. “The 2020 pandemic has highlighted how interconnected, fragile and complex the global socio-economic system is,” stated a June report from the Institute for Economics & Peace.
Globally, according to a research group called Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), political violence has dropped about 10% since the pandemic declaration. Much of that decline is attributed to a reduction in fighting in Syria and Afghanistan, where peace efforts began before this year. Also in countries that saw violent protests before COVID-19, demonstrations have fallen about 30%.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
The pandemic has “abruptly shifted the political contexts that shape violence patterns in many countries – the long-term effects of which remain to be seen,” concludes the ACLED analysis.
Armed groups may be finding out that the people they claim to represent now prioritize ending the pandemic. A universal desire for health – or a life free of disease or other harm – is itself a force to be reckoned with. A new foe must be vanquished. Old feuds must step aside. Healing may be replacing hostility.


csmonitor--2020-08-05--Reparations is a nonstarter in Congress. Not in this Southern city.

Anthropologist Paul Mullins says Asheville is acknowledging its role in perpetuating injustices and providing a path forward .
“ And that ’ s deep-down what reparations are about : How can we have a measure of response to injustice that leads to some sort of racial reconciliation ?
” Asheville ’ s ordinance doesn ’ t provide financial restitution for past discrimination and it ’ s unclear how much money will be committed .
But advocates say it represents a potentially new approach to reparations , one that puts the emphasis on local actions as a building block toward a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In July , the Asheville City Council passed a reparations ordinance , one of only a handful enacted in the U.S .
Among other measures , it pledges new investment in Black homeownership as a way to redress the racial wealth gap .
As in other segregated cities , Black children in Asheville are far more likely to grow up in poor neighborhoods .
Reparations to Black Americans for slavery is an old and fraught national topic .
It has been taken up recently by activists seeking racial justice and police reform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carolina , which styles itself as a progressive city but has a history of urban renewal that largely excluded Black people from sharing in the wealth created .
For all the funky exterior of a progressive mountain redoubt , this city has until now often looked the other way when it comes to racial inequity .
Two months after days of intense racial justice protests , however , a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that had stood for nearly a century is gone .
And an obelisk in the honor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrapped in black plastic , as the city considers its removal .
But those symbolic changes have been followed by something that could prove more concrete .
Last month , the majority-white Asheville City Council unanimously passed a reparations ordinance aimed at righting not just historic injustice against Black Americans , but more recent wrongs against Asheville ’ s Black population .
In the past 40 years , residents say , urban renewal and discriminatory banking practices dispossessed especially older Black residents from historic Asheville neighborhoods .
Today , 60 % of public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they only make up 12 % of Asheville ’ s population , reflecting the national trend in which Black children are far more likely than their white peers to grow up in poor neighborhoods .
“ Asheville is a microcosm of the nation right now , ” says John Hennon , a retired corporate executive turned pro-Black rights protester .
“ It ’ s done talking and it ’ s now acting.
” The city ordinance isn ’ t strictly reparations , which involve the direct redistribution of wealth .
Its real contribution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the optics for a national rethink of the concept : how laws and practices that were both explicitly and implicitly discriminatory have reinforced yawning gaps around wealth , health , even of hope .
Closing those racial gaps runs up against entrenched opposition .
Even white liberals have balked at reforms like building public housing in gentrified neighborhoods .
President Donald Trump has touted his save-the-suburbs campaign by undoing federal executive orders intended to add low-income housing in predominantly white middle-class districts .
“ These tensions aren ’ t going to go away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frankly we ’ re in a historical moment where the [ reparations ] conversation is ... more publicly palatable , ” says Indiana University anthropologist Paul Mullins , author of “ Race and Affluence : An Archaeology of African America and Consumer Culture.
” He frames the Asheville ordinance as a political statement that acknowledges racial injustices around land ownership and dispossession after World War II .
Moreover , it “ outlines a first step toward some sort of reconciliation .
And that ’ s deep-down what reparations are about : How can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ injustice that leads to some sort of racial reconciliation ?
” The idea of compensating formerly enslaved Black Americans has been around since before the Declaration of Independence .
Even some white Southerners urged the idea as an economic stimulus for the postwar South .
More recently , the U.S. has paid reparations to Japanese Americans interned during World War II .
Still , two-thirds of Americans regularly pan the proposal .
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina , the Senate ’ s only Black Republican , has likened reparations to trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama in 2016 called the idea impractical .
Polls show most Black Americans agree with the concept of reparations .
But even as support has grown in that community in recent months , overall white support has barely budged .
White people opposed to reparations say it would be unfair to force modern-day Americans to underwrite a wealth transfer for injustices they didn ’ t personally commit .
Scholars have estimated that the price tag could be as much as $ 10 trillion , or nearly half the nation ’ s annual economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those torn by the concept .
The white Asheville homeowner bought a house four years ago in what used to be the city ’ s Black neighborhood on South French Broad .
“ There is no escaping that we have been doing the Black community wrong , but every time I go over it in my head I don ’ t know what can actually be done to fix it , ” says Mr. Dejernette .
Nearly all Democratic presidential candidates , including Joe Biden , have come out in favor of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House study bill that would do just that has gone nowhere in Congress for 30 years .
Conservative Black commentator Vince Ellison says the Black community would be foolish to expect progressive Democrats to remunerate them for slavery .
He calls reparations “ a lie.
” “ Black people should look at white people who think they ’ re going to solve my problem and say , ‘ Who the hell do you think you are ?
’ ” says Mr. Ellison , a Virginia-based pastor and author .
“ Reparations just make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Reparations is about making them pay , but you ’ ll never get enough .
Forgiveness can not be earned , and it shouldn ’ t be expected.
” In 2014 , the journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates penned a case for reparations in a widely-read cover story for The Atlantic .
“ [ A ] s surely as the creation of the [ racial ] wealth gap required the cooperation of every aspect of the society , bridging it will require the same , ” he wrote .
Yet as the slow walk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even studying reparations is “ deeply unpopular , ” says David Bateman , co-author of “ Southern Nation : Congress and White Supremacy After Reconstruction.
” “ The question is , how do you actually amass a winning and enduring coalition that can sustain a particular vision ?
How do you define it and what would it look like ?
That might be easier done at the local level , though most localities don ’ t have the fiscal capacity or reach necessary to achieve a meaningful redistributive program.
” In June , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reparations task force , and in July , Providence , Rhode Island , embarked on a “ truth telling and reparations process.
” The effort in Rhode Island underscores the extent to which Northern cities also profited from slavery and segregation .
In November , Evanston , Illinois , by an 8-1 vote , became the first entity to establish a reparations fund through a future recreational marijuana tax .
How the money will be dispersed is still not clear .
Advocates for reparations say such efforts may ultimately nourish a broader national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reparations look and feel like to Americans living in segregated areas , whether in the North or South .
“ This is a situation where many different entities – states , cities , religious institutions , industries – are beginning to recognize and realize that each unjustly benefited from the stolen labor during the enslavement era and through continuing laws and practice like gerrymandering , redlining , the war on drugs , and mass incarceration , ” says Washington , D.C. , civil rights attorney Nkechi Taifa .
“ They are looking in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these abuses they themselves – not personally , but institutionally – were responsible for.
” Through the 1960s and 1970s , a familiar pattern played out here in Asheville , which has become known as a beer brewing mecca .
Urban renewal brought the promise of a fresh start , and in some ways it laid the groundwork for the tourist destination the city is today .
But renewal came at the expense of Black people .
The cheapest properties to buy were targeted , with the city clearing out parts of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives .
Today , even a small home there can fetch $ 700,000 .
But it wasn ’ t just white people who benefited from Asheville ’ s gentrification .
Retired paper mill worker Amanuel Lytle , who is Black , bought his newly vacant lot for $ 1 , with a promise that he would build a new house on it .
“ A lot of the homes were falling down , ” says Mr. Lytle .
“ The people who lived there didn ’ t have enough money for upkeep , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A white builder agreed to cosign Mr. Lytle ’ s mortgage so that the bank would pay for the house that now stands there .
Many others , says Mr. Lytle , didn ’ t have such benefactors .
Today , most Black people live in public housing .
Rates of Black homeownership in the city have declined as housing values – and white wealth – have soared .
These disparities , rooted in economic and social policy , are now part of the reparations conversation here .
Asheville ’ s reparations ordinance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create “ policy and programs that will establish the creation of generational wealth and address reparations due in the black community.
” It also asks the state legislature and federal government to do the same .
That process may involve replacing lost housing stock by using city-owned land and its bonding authority to create new housing that will boost Black wealth , Sheneika Smith , a Black city councilor , has said .
“ If a community says we ’ re going to redevelop the urban core and we ’ re going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and radically reshape a city that way through modest kinds of policies that don ’ t cost a ton of money , ” says Professor Mullins .

Anthropologist Paul Mullins says Asheville is acknowledging its role in perpetuating injustices and providing a path forward. “And that’s deep-down what reparations are about: How can we have a measure of response to injustice that leads to some sort of racial reconciliation?”
Asheville’s ordinance doesn’t provide financial restitution for past discrimination and it’s unclear how much money will be committed. But advocates say it represents a potentially new approach to reparations, one that puts the emphasis on local actions as a building block toward a national effort to tackle structural racial inequities.
Reparations to Black Americans for slavery and centuries of discrimination is a thorny topic in national politics. How cities approach the issue could prove instructive.
In July, the Asheville City Council passed a reparations ordinance, one of only a handful enacted in the U.S. Among other measures, it pledges new investment in Black homeownership as a way to redress the racial wealth gap. As in other segregated cities, Black children in Asheville are far more likely to grow up in poor neighborhoods.
Reparations to Black Americans for slavery is an old and fraught national topic. It has been taken up recently by activists seeking racial justice and police reform in cities, including Asheville, North Carolina, which styles itself as a progressive city but has a history of urban renewal that largely excluded Black people from sharing in the wealth created.
For all the funky exterior of a progressive mountain redoubt, this city has until now often looked the other way when it comes to racial inequity.
Two months after days of intense racial justice protests, however, a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that had stood for nearly a century is gone. And an obelisk in the honor of Confederate-era Gov. Zeb Vance is now wrapped in black plastic, as the city considers its removal.
But those symbolic changes have been followed by something that could prove more concrete. Last month, the majority-white Asheville City Council unanimously passed a reparations ordinance aimed at righting not just historic injustice against Black Americans, but more recent wrongs against Asheville’s Black population.
Why We Wrote This Reparations to Black Americans for slavery and centuries of discrimination is a thorny topic in national politics. How cities approach the issue could prove instructive.
In the past 40 years, residents say, urban renewal and discriminatory banking practices dispossessed especially older Black residents from historic Asheville neighborhoods. Today, 60% of public housing residents are Black, even though they only make up 12% of Asheville’s population, reflecting the national trend in which Black children are far more likely than their white peers to grow up in poor neighborhoods.
“Asheville is a microcosm of the nation right now,” says John Hennon, a retired corporate executive turned pro-Black rights protester. “It’s done talking and it’s now acting.”
The city ordinance isn’t strictly reparations, which involve the direct redistribution of wealth. Its real contribution, though, may be to sharpen the optics for a national rethink of the concept: how laws and practices that were both explicitly and implicitly discriminatory have reinforced yawning gaps around wealth, health, even of hope.
Closing those racial gaps runs up against entrenched opposition. Even white liberals have balked at reforms like building public housing in gentrified neighborhoods. President Donald Trump has touted his save-the-suburbs campaign by undoing federal executive orders intended to add low-income housing in predominantly white middle-class districts.
“These tensions aren’t going to go away magically if we ignore them, and frankly we’re in a historical moment where the [reparations] conversation is ... more publicly palatable,” says Indiana University anthropologist Paul Mullins, author of “Race and Affluence: An Archaeology of African America and Consumer Culture.”
He frames the Asheville ordinance as a political statement that acknowledges racial injustices around land ownership and dispossession after World War II. Moreover, it “outlines a first step toward some sort of reconciliation. And that’s deep-down what reparations are about: How can we have a measure of response to injustice that leads to some sort of racial reconciliation?”
“Unscramble that egg”
The idea of compensating formerly enslaved Black Americans has been around since before the Declaration of Independence. Even some white Southerners urged the idea as an economic stimulus for the postwar South. More recently, the U.S. has paid reparations to Japanese Americans interned during World War II.
Still, two-thirds of Americans regularly pan the proposal. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate’s only Black Republican, has likened reparations to trying to “unscramble that egg.” President Barack Obama in 2016 called the idea impractical.
Polls show most Black Americans agree with the concept of reparations. But even as support has grown in that community in recent months, overall white support has barely budged.
White people opposed to reparations say it would be unfair to force modern-day Americans to underwrite a wealth transfer for injustices they didn’t personally commit. Scholars have estimated that the price tag could be as much as $10 trillion, or nearly half the nation’s annual economic output.
Ruben Dejernette is one of those torn by the concept. The white Asheville homeowner bought a house four years ago in what used to be the city’s Black neighborhood on South French Broad.
“There is no escaping that we have been doing the Black community wrong, but every time I go over it in my head I don’t know what can actually be done to fix it,” says Mr. Dejernette.
Nearly all Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, have come out in favor of a national commission to study reparations. A House study bill that would do just that has gone nowhere in Congress for 30 years.
Conservative Black commentator Vince Ellison says the Black community would be foolish to expect progressive Democrats to remunerate them for slavery. He calls reparations “a lie.”
“Black people should look at white people who think they’re going to solve my problem and say, ‘Who the hell do you think you are?’” says Mr. Ellison, a Virginia-based pastor and author.
“Reparations just make you a slave looking for a master. Reparations is about making them pay, but you’ll never get enough. Forgiveness cannot be earned, and it shouldn’t be expected.”
Building a coalition
In 2014, the journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates penned a case for reparations in a widely-read cover story for The Atlantic. “[A]s surely as the creation of the [racial] wealth gap required the cooperation of every aspect of the society, bridging it will require the same,” he wrote.
Yet as the slow walk for the House study bill shows, even studying reparations is “deeply unpopular,” says David Bateman, co-author of “Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy After Reconstruction.”
“The question is, how do you actually amass a winning and enduring coalition that can sustain a particular vision? How do you define it and what would it look like? That might be easier done at the local level, though most localities don’t have the fiscal capacity or reach necessary to achieve a meaningful redistributive program.”
In June, the California Assembly voted to create a reparations task force, and in July, Providence, Rhode Island, embarked on a “truth telling and reparations process.” The effort in Rhode Island underscores the extent to which Northern cities also profited from slavery and segregation.
In November, Evanston, Illinois, by an 8-1 vote, became the first entity to establish a reparations fund through a future recreational marijuana tax. How the money will be dispersed is still not clear.
Advocates for reparations say such efforts may ultimately nourish a broader national reparations bill by laying groundwork for what reparations look and feel like to Americans living in segregated areas, whether in the North or South.
“This is a situation where many different entities – states, cities, religious institutions, industries – are beginning to recognize and realize that each unjustly benefited from the stolen labor during the enslavement era and through continuing laws and practice like gerrymandering, redlining, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration,” says Washington, D.C., civil rights attorney Nkechi Taifa.
“They are looking in their own backyards to rectify some of these abuses they themselves – not personally, but institutionally – were responsible for.”
Patrik Jonsson/The Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption Black rights activist John Hennon holds a sign next to the Zeb Vance monument in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 29, 2020. In response to racial justice protests, the city wrapped the obelisk, a monument to a Confederate-era governor, in plastic.
Urban renewal in Asheville
Through the 1960s and 1970s, a familiar pattern played out here in Asheville, which has become known as a beer brewing mecca.
Urban renewal brought the promise of a fresh start, and in some ways it laid the groundwork for the tourist destination the city is today. But renewal came at the expense of Black people. The cheapest properties to buy were targeted, with the city clearing out parts of the South French Broad neighborhood where Mr. Dejernette lives. Today, even a small home there can fetch $700,000.
But it wasn’t just white people who benefited from Asheville’s gentrification. Retired paper mill worker Amanuel Lytle, who is Black, bought his newly vacant lot for $1, with a promise that he would build a new house on it.
“A lot of the homes were falling down,” says Mr. Lytle. “The people who lived there didn’t have enough money for upkeep, and the taxes kept going up.”
A white builder agreed to cosign Mr. Lytle’s mortgage so that the bank would pay for the house that now stands there.
Many others, says Mr. Lytle, didn’t have such benefactors. Today, most Black people live in public housing. Rates of Black homeownership in the city have declined as housing values – and white wealth – have soared.
These disparities, rooted in economic and social policy, are now part of the reparations conversation here.
Asheville’s reparations ordinance offers an official apology and vows to create “policy and programs that will establish the creation of generational wealth and address reparations due in the black community.” It also asks the state legislature and federal government to do the same.
That process may involve replacing lost housing stock by using city-owned land and its bonding authority to create new housing that will boost Black wealth, Sheneika Smith, a Black city councilor, has said.
“If a community says we’re going to redevelop the urban core and we’re going to favor descendant communities ... you could dramatically and radically reshape a city that way through modest kinds of policies that don’t cost a ton of money,” says Professor Mullins.


csmonitor--2020-08-05--Senate inches toward approving coronavirus relief

Frustrated Senate Republicans re-upped their complaints that Democratic negotiators are taking too hard a line in talks on a sweeping coronavirus relief bill , but an afternoon negotiating session brought at least modest concessions from both sides , even as an agreement appears far off .
Top Democrats emerged from a 90-minute meeting Tuesday with Trump administration officials to declare more progress .
The Trump team agreed with that assessment and highlighted its offer to extend a moratorium on evictions from federally subsidized housing through the end of the year .
`` We really went down , issue by issue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made some concessions which we appreciated .
We made some concessions that they appreciated , '' said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y. `` We 're still far away on a lot of the important issues but we 're continuing to go back . ''
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday 's session was `` probably the most productive meeting we 've had to date . ''
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two sides set a goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the week to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I would characterize concessions made by Secretary Mnuchin and the administration as being far more substantial than the concessions that had been made by the Democrat negotiators , '' Mr. Meadows said .
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. , issued a pointed reminder that she and Mr. Schumer are `` legislators with long experience '' and a track record of working complicated deals – a rejoinder to critics complaining that they are being too tough and that the talks are taking too long .
`` We agree that we want to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Let 's engineer back from there as to what we have to do to get that done . ''
Another glimmer of hope emerged as a key Senate Republican telegraphed that the party may yield to Democrats on an increase in the food stamp benefit as part of the huge rescue measure , which promises to far exceed a $ 1 trillion target set by the GOP .
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts , R-Kan. , said Tuesday that `` you can make an argument that we need some kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that he 's raised the topic with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell .
He added that an agreement on that issue could lead to further overall progress on the legislation , which remains stalled despite days of Capitol negotiations .
`` They are taking a look at it and I think we can get a positive result , '' Mr. Roberts told The Associated Press .
`` If we can get a breakthrough on that , it could lead to some other stuff . ''
The food stamp issue – left out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priority for Ms. Pelosi , among other powerful Democrats , who have passed a 15 % increase in the food stamp benefit as part of their $ 3.5 trillion coronavirus relief bill .
The overall talks are grinding ahead slowly , though urgency is growing among Senate Republicans , several of whom face tough election races and are eager to deliver a bill before heading home to campaign this month .
Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas , said Monday that the chamber should not go on recess without passing the huge relief measure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , offered a jobless benefit proposal that 's more generous than a pending GOP alternative .
Both are facing closer-than-hoped reelection bids in states that should be easy holds for Republicans .
Multiple obstacles remain , including an impasse on extending the $ 600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit aid to the renters facing eviction .
The benefit has helped sustain consumer demand over recent months as the coronavirus has wrought havoc .
Ms. Pelosi wants to extend it through January at a $ 400 billion-plus cost , while Republicans are proposing an immediate cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefit with a cumbersome system that would attempt to provide 70 % of a worker 's `` replacement wage . ''
They are also pressing for funding for the Postal Service .
Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi summoned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to the Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the agency 's worsening performance and need for emergency funding .
`` We 've seen the delay of mail , and we 're very worried about that affect on the election , '' Mr. Schumer said .
On the Senate floor , Mr. McConnell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats are taking too tough a line .
But he signaled he 's far more flexible now than he was weeks ago .
`` The American people in the end need help , '' Mr. McConnell told reporters .
`` And wherever this thing settles between the president ... and the Democrats is something I am prepared to support even if I have some problems with certain parts of it . ''
Most members of the Democratic-controlled House have left Washington and wo n't return until there is an agreement to vote on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the capital .
Areas of agreement already include another round of $ 1,200 direct payments and changes to the Paycheck Protection Program to permit especially hard-hit businesses to obtain another loan under generous forgiveness terms .
The House passed a $ 3.5 trillion measure in May , but Republicans controlling the Senate have demanded a slower approach , saying it was necessary to take a `` pause '' before passing additional legislation .
Since they announced that strategy , however , coronavirus caseloads have spiked and the economy has absorbed an enormous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carries a $ 1.1 trillion price tag , according to an estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget .
Republicans have not released any estimates of their own .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Frustrated Senate Republicans re-upped their complaints that Democratic negotiators are taking too hard a line in talks on a sweeping coronavirus relief bill, but an afternoon negotiating session brought at least modest concessions from both sides, even as an agreement appears far off.
Top Democrats emerged from a 90-minute meeting Tuesday with Trump administration officials to declare more progress. The Trump team agreed with that assessment and highlighted its offer to extend a moratorium on evictions from federally subsidized housing through the end of the year.
"We really went down, issue by issue by issue slogging through this. They made some concessions which we appreciated. We made some concessions that they appreciated," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "We're still far away on a lot of the important issues but we're continuing to go back."
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday's session was "probably the most productive meeting we've had to date."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two sides set a goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the week to permit a vote next week.
"I would characterize concessions made by Secretary Mnuchin and the administration as being far more substantial than the concessions that had been made by the Democrat negotiators," Mr. Meadows said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a pointed reminder that she and Mr. Schumer are "legislators with long experience" and a track record of working complicated deals – a rejoinder to critics complaining that they are being too tough and that the talks are taking too long.
"We agree that we want to have an agreement," Ms. Pelosi said. "Let's engineer back from there as to what we have to do to get that done."
Another glimmer of hope emerged as a key Senate Republican telegraphed that the party may yield to Democrats on an increase in the food stamp benefit as part of the huge rescue measure, which promises to far exceed a $1 trillion target set by the GOP.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said Tuesday that "you can make an argument that we need some kind of an increase" in food stamps and that he's raised the topic with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He added that an agreement on that issue could lead to further overall progress on the legislation, which remains stalled despite days of Capitol negotiations.
"They are taking a look at it and I think we can get a positive result," Mr. Roberts told The Associated Press. "If we can get a breakthrough on that, it could lead to some other stuff."
The food stamp issue – left out of earlier relief bills – is a top priority for Ms. Pelosi, among other powerful Democrats, who have passed a 15% increase in the food stamp benefit as part of their $3.5 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
The overall talks are grinding ahead slowly, though urgency is growing among Senate Republicans, several of whom face tough election races and are eager to deliver a bill before heading home to campaign this month.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Monday that the chamber should not go on recess without passing the huge relief measure, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., offered a jobless benefit proposal that's more generous than a pending GOP alternative. Both are facing closer-than-hoped reelection bids in states that should be easy holds for Republicans.
Multiple obstacles remain, including an impasse on extending the $600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit aid to the renters facing eviction. The benefit has helped sustain consumer demand over recent months as the coronavirus has wrought havoc. Ms. Pelosi wants to extend it through January at a $400 billion-plus cost, while Republicans are proposing an immediate cut to $200 and then replacing the benefit with a cumbersome system that would attempt to provide 70% of a worker's "replacement wage."
They are also pressing for funding for the Postal Service. Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi summoned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to the Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the agency's worsening performance and need for emergency funding.
"We've seen the delay of mail, and we're very worried about that affect on the election," Mr. Schumer said.
On the Senate floor, Mr. McConnell, R-Ky., continued to protest that Democrats are taking too tough a line. But he signaled he's far more flexible now than he was weeks ago.
"The American people in the end need help," Mr. McConnell told reporters. "And wherever this thing settles between the president ... and the Democrats is something I am prepared to support even if I have some problems with certain parts of it."
Most members of the Democratic-controlled House have left Washington and won't return until there is an agreement to vote on, but the GOP-held Senate is trapped in the capital.
Areas of agreement already include another round of $1,200 direct payments and changes to the Paycheck Protection Program to permit especially hard-hit businesses to obtain another loan under generous forgiveness terms.
The House passed a $3.5 trillion measure in May, but Republicans controlling the Senate have demanded a slower approach, saying it was necessary to take a "pause" before passing additional legislation. Since they announced that strategy, however, coronavirus caseloads have spiked and the economy has absorbed an enormous blow.
The Senate GOP draft measure carries a $1.1 trillion price tag, according to an estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Republicans have not released any estimates of their own.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-08-05--COVID-19 empties tourist traps in Europe: Crisis or opportunity?

There is much talk of “ sustainable ” tourism .
But that means lower numbers and fewer profits .
When the pandemic has passed , tourism operators will be strongly tempted to rebuild their businesses quickly in traditional fashion .
But for those taking a longer view , says Patrick Torrent , the head of tourism in Catalonia , “ there will never be a better time to change models.
” That has led to a backlash from local residents concerned that the spirit of their hometowns is being destroyed .
So this year , officials and citizens ’ groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to soften its impact and make places less economically reliant on visitors .
Places like Venice , in Italy , and Barcelona , in Spain , have found themselves completely swamped by foreign tourists in recent years , as affordable mass tourism brought millions of people to their canals and streets .
That has meant a severe economic impact on countries such as Italy , Spain , and Greece , which rely heavily on international tourism .
But some European cities are using the unaccustomed peace and quiet to rethink their whole approach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel destinations are almost empty this year , as tourists stay at home rather than risk contracting COVID-19 .
In Venice , empty gondolas rock at their moorings on the Grand Canal ; in Barcelona , desolate shopping streets lie silent .
The coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on European tourist destinations .
But some of them , which once groaned uncomfortably under the weight of visitors , are taking the pandemic as a chance to reinvent themselves , to break their profitable but destructive habit of mass tourism .
“ Coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paola Mar , in charge of tourism planning and management at the Venice city council .
“ It is an opportunity for us , an accelerator of change.
” The Italian city of Venice normally hosts an average of 55,000 tourists ( more than the city ’ s population ) each day , many of them day-trippers from cruise ships .
The countrywide lockdown imposed on March 9 brought visitor numbers down to zero .
Tourists are now making a timid return , but officials say they do not want the crowds to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopes to attract fewer tourists who would stay longer , says Ms. Mar .
In the works is an “ access tax ” to discourage day-trippers , which would run to $ 12 in the high season .
At the same time , efforts are underway to encourage Venetians to stay in Venice , rather than flee to cheaper housing on the mainland .
That means jobs , says Carolyn Smith , a researcher with the nonprofit We Are Here Venice , who would like to see the city become a hub for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crafts such as boat-building .
“ People need to work , so we need viable economic alternatives ” to mass tourism , says Ms. Smith , who lives in Venice and co-wrote a recent report on the city ’ s post-COVID-19 future .
“ I have friends here who have degrees , but there are no jobs so they earn a living taking tourists to their Airbnb apartments.
” The city “ has become a by-word for the worst excesses of tourism , ” the report says , so there is “ intense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the global drop in tourism.
” It could start by regulating Airbnb , suggests Ms. Smith , following the example of Barcelona and Berlin , both of which have restricted the number of Airbnb apartments .
Maurizio Ugolini , who manages seven Airbnb apartments in the city , says such ideas are great in normal times but the focus now should be on recovery .
Many families count on rental property for income so it would be unfair to suddenly limit the number of nights they can rent or to strip them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Venice needs the type of tourism that sleeps in Venice … that buys groceries , that integrates with the locals , that lives the city like a Venetian even for just a few days , ” he says .
“ What we do not need are those huge crowds coming for the day and making even walking through the streets impossible.
” But the $ 3.5 billion that tourism injected into the Venetian economy last year was of huge benefit to a sinking city in continuous need of money for maintenance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Tourism Agency warns the sector will not recover before 2023 , so there is time to rethink the next phase .
“ We are not going to solve the problems overnight , but we can use this critical window of opportunity , ” says Ms. Smith .
“ People are talking about the problem and things are moving forward.
” Similar soul-searching is underway in Barcelona .
Shops along Passeig de Gràcia , which by some estimates account for almost a third of all tourist purchases in Spain , are shuttered or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beachfront has room , if anyone wanted to take it .
“ We never imagined that we ’ d reach this level of paralysis , ” says Patrick Torrent , executive director at the Catalan Tourist Board .
But “ this situation has made it possible to generate space for reflection on the tourism model that we want , ” he adds .
He expects that sustainable tourism , respectful not only of the environment but also of Barcelona ’ s society and culture , will gain ground in his city .
Sustainability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ central tenet of European recovery plans , from the European Commission ’ s pledge to “ strengthen the green transformation ” of EU tourism , to the Spanish government ’ s recovery package for the sector and the Catalan regional government ’ s own road maps for the future .
“ The sector is aware that there will never be a better time to change models , ” he says .
Others are less optimistic , worrying that rescue packages will simply finance a return to business as usual in a city where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domestic product and roughly 9 % of jobs – more in historic neighborhoods boasting the architectural legacy of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí or beachfront developments like the Vila Olímpica .
Claudio Milano , a social anthropologist at the Ostelea Tourism Management School , is skeptical .
Part of the problem , he says , is that cities like Barcelona emerged from the 2008 crisis by focusing their economy on tourism services linked to the rise of the gig economy , such as Airbnb and Uber , rather than on local residents ’ needs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the tourism industry are “ talking about reactivation along the same lines and the same paradigms that we had pre-COVID : increase arrivals and maximize profits .
These are the same indicators that led us to worry about over-tourism , ” he warns .
Social activists in Barcelona have long advocated “ degrowth.
” Mass tourism , they complain , has pushed up house prices and forced families out as investors buy to rent , replaced neighborhood stores with shabby souvenir shops , made restaurants unaffordable to locals , clogged public transport @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a good night ’ s sleep .
“ All these factors make daily life so complicated for people that even if they can afford the rent , they give up , ” says Daniel Pardo of the Assemblea de Barris pel Decreixement Turístic ( ABDT ) .
“ No one wants their life to be a war.
” The ABDT , the Neighborhood Assembly for Decreased Tourism , is a European network pushing for the creation of sustainable cities .
Now it is focusing its research on how to emerge from the COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economy while not overlooking long-running issues such as climate change .
Mr. Pardo takes no pleasure in the pendulum swing from overtourism to no tourism .
“ This is not degrowth , ” he stresses .
“ This is a massive socioeconomic crisis .
It ’ s a drama .
What we wanted was a planned process of social and economic transformation.
” The pandemic has highlighted the dangers of Barcelona ’ s economic dependency on foreign international tourism .
In the short term , experts believe , the city could make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domestic tourism , but what is required in the long term is economic diversification .
Ernest Cañada , who studies mass tourism in Catalonia , says it won ’ t be simple , but the region could start by fostering reindustrialization , encouraging agricultural activity and boosting the care sector and high-tech .
“ We are in a moment of conflict over what is going to happen , ” says Mr. Cañada .
“ There are forces pushing for a simple reactivation of the tourism sector and forces that bet on transformation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a lot of suffering.
” Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .

There is much talk of “sustainable” tourism. But that means lower numbers and fewer profits. When the pandemic has passed, tourism operators will be strongly tempted to rebuild their businesses quickly in traditional fashion. But for those taking a longer view, says Patrick Torrent, the head of tourism in Catalonia, “there will never be a better time to change models.”
That has led to a backlash from local residents concerned that the spirit of their hometowns is being destroyed. So this year, officials and citizens’ groups in Europe are re-imagining tourism so as to soften its impact and make places less economically reliant on visitors.
Places like Venice, in Italy, and Barcelona, in Spain, have found themselves completely swamped by foreign tourists in recent years, as affordable mass tourism brought millions of people to their canals and streets.
Some tourist destinations are too popular for their own good, suffocated by crowds. They are using this summer’s coronavirus-induced calm to imagine a more sustainable tourist industry.
That has meant a severe economic impact on countries such as Italy, Spain, and Greece, which rely heavily on international tourism. But some European cities are using the unaccustomed peace and quiet to rethink their whole approach to tourists.
Europe’s top travel destinations are almost empty this year, as tourists stay at home rather than risk contracting COVID-19.
In Venice, empty gondolas rock at their moorings on the Grand Canal; in Barcelona, desolate shopping streets lie silent.
The coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on European tourist destinations. But some of them, which once groaned uncomfortably under the weight of visitors, are taking the pandemic as a chance to reinvent themselves, to break their profitable but destructive habit of mass tourism.
“Coronavirus has changed the world,” says Paola Mar, in charge of tourism planning and management at the Venice city council. “It is an opportunity for us, an accelerator of change.”
Why We Wrote This Some tourist destinations are too popular for their own good, suffocated by crowds. They are using this summer’s coronavirus-induced calm to imagine a more sustainable tourist industry.
The Italian city of Venice normally hosts an average of 55,000 tourists (more than the city’s population) each day, many of them day-trippers from cruise ships. The countrywide lockdown imposed on March 9 brought visitor numbers down to zero.
Tourists are now making a timid return, but officials say they do not want the crowds to swell to their previous size. Venice hopes to attract fewer tourists who would stay longer, says Ms. Mar. In the works is an “access tax” to discourage day-trippers, which would run to $12 in the high season.
At the same time, efforts are underway to encourage Venetians to stay in Venice, rather than flee to cheaper housing on the mainland. That means jobs, says Carolyn Smith, a researcher with the nonprofit We Are Here Venice, who would like to see the city become a hub for high-tech startups and a home for traditional crafts such as boat-building.
“People need to work, so we need viable economic alternatives” to mass tourism, says Ms. Smith, who lives in Venice and co-wrote a recent report on the city’s post-COVID-19 future. “I have friends here who have degrees, but there are no jobs so they earn a living taking tourists to their Airbnb apartments.”
The city “has become a by-word for the worst excesses of tourism,” the report says, so there is “intense scrutiny as to how Venice will respond to the global drop in tourism.”
Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters View caption Hide caption A restaurant employee wears a protective face mask while standing on St. Mark's Square amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Venice, Italy, July 9, 2020. The country's National Tourism Agency warns the sector will not recover before 2023.
It could start by regulating Airbnb, suggests Ms. Smith, following the example of Barcelona and Berlin, both of which have restricted the number of Airbnb apartments.
Maurizio Ugolini, who manages seven Airbnb apartments in the city, says such ideas are great in normal times but the focus now should be on recovery. Many families count on rental property for income so it would be unfair to suddenly limit the number of nights they can rent or to strip them of their permits, he argues. “Venice needs the type of tourism that sleeps in Venice … that buys groceries, that integrates with the locals, that lives the city like a Venetian even for just a few days,” he says. “What we do not need are those huge crowds coming for the day and making even walking through the streets impossible.”
But the $3.5 billion that tourism injected into the Venetian economy last year was of huge benefit to a sinking city in continuous need of money for maintenance, he points out.
Italy’s National Tourism Agency warns the sector will not recover before 2023, so there is time to rethink the next phase. “We are not going to solve the problems overnight, but we can use this critical window of opportunity,” says Ms. Smith. “People are talking about the problem and things are moving forward.”
“Space for reflection”
Similar soul-searching is underway in Barcelona. Shops along Passeig de Gràcia, which by some estimates account for almost a third of all tourist purchases in Spain, are shuttered or open only briefly. The usually overpacked beachfront has room, if anyone wanted to take it.
“We never imagined that we’d reach this level of paralysis,” says Patrick Torrent, executive director at the Catalan Tourist Board. But “this situation has made it possible to generate space for reflection on the tourism model that we want,” he adds.
He expects that sustainable tourism, respectful not only of the environment but also of Barcelona’s society and culture, will gain ground in his city. Sustainability, he points out, is a central tenet of European recovery plans, from the European Commission’s pledge to “strengthen the green transformation” of EU tourism, to the Spanish government’s recovery package for the sector and the Catalan regional government’s own road maps for the future.
Albert Gea/Reuters View caption Hide caption A woman looks at masks displayed at a souvenir shop amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Barcelona, Spain, July 27, 2020. The pandemic has highlighted the dangers of Barcelona’s economic dependency on foreign international tourism.
“The sector is aware that there will never be a better time to change models,” he says.
Others are less optimistic, worrying that rescue packages will simply finance a return to business as usual in a city where tourism accounts for 12% of gross domestic product and roughly 9% of jobs – more in historic neighborhoods boasting the architectural legacy of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí or beachfront developments like the Vila Olímpica.
Claudio Milano, a social anthropologist at the Ostelea Tourism Management School, is skeptical. Part of the problem, he says, is that cities like Barcelona emerged from the 2008 crisis by focusing their economy on tourism services linked to the rise of the gig economy, such as Airbnb and Uber, rather than on local residents’ needs.
Dr. Milano is worried that many in the tourism industry are “talking about reactivation along the same lines and the same paradigms that we had pre-COVID: increase arrivals and maximize profits. These are the same indicators that led us to worry about over-tourism,” he warns.
Social activists in Barcelona have long advocated “degrowth.” Mass tourism, they complain, has pushed up house prices and forced families out as investors buy to rent, replaced neighborhood stores with shabby souvenir shops, made restaurants unaffordable to locals, clogged public transport, and brought noise levels incompatible with a good night’s sleep.
“All these factors make daily life so complicated for people that even if they can afford the rent, they give up,” says Daniel Pardo of the Assemblea de Barris pel Decreixement Turístic (ABDT). “No one wants their life to be a war.”
The ABDT, the Neighborhood Assembly for Decreased Tourism, is part of a European network pushing for the creation of sustainable cities. Now it is focusing its research on how to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with policies that contribute to diversifying the economy while not overlooking long-running issues such as climate change.
Mr. Pardo takes no pleasure in the pendulum swing from overtourism to no tourism. “This is not degrowth,” he stresses. “This is a massive socioeconomic crisis. It’s a drama. What we wanted was a planned process of social and economic transformation.”
The pandemic has highlighted the dangers of Barcelona’s economic dependency on foreign international tourism. In the short term, experts believe, the city could make up some of its losses by boosting domestic tourism, but what is required in the long term is economic diversification.
Ernest Cañada, who studies mass tourism in Catalonia, says it won’t be simple, but the region could start by fostering reindustrialization, encouraging agricultural activity and boosting the care sector and high-tech.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
“We are in a moment of conflict over what is going to happen,” says Mr. Cañada. “There are forces pushing for a simple reactivation of the tourism sector and forces that bet on transformation. In the middle of all that there is a lot of suffering.”
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.