Our story in last Friday's paper about stealing from community gardens has generated plenty of reaction.
Clearly people have strong feelings about the issue, and as a community paper, we're pleased to provide a forum for a healthy, respectful conversation - healthy and respectful being the operative words.
It is always a delicate balance when we run stories that involve issues of race, culture and immigration.
With a huge number of residents in this city being immigrants, it doesn't take much to light the powder keg of "us" and "them" attitudes. Yes, we need a place to speak honestly without being labeled a racist. To do otherwise, to paper over cultural discord, only keeps it in the shadows, where it festers.
At the same time, we need to be cognizant of how easy it is to head down a slippery slope, making generalizations about "the others."
In last weeks story, there was comment about new immigrants perhaps having a different attitude towards community gardens. But it was also no coincidence that every one of the community gardeners we spoke to, who were indignant about the thefts, were immigrant Chinese or Asian.
In other words, yes, there may be cultural differences, but stereotyping would be a mistake.
Moreover, we need to think forward, and that means building bridges, keeping channels of communication open and viewing this issue of community gardens as an opportunity to grow relationships and respect.
Richmond can sometimes feel like a community of two solitudes, but what will challenge that is the attitude of people like Ian Lai, who invited the couple that tried to steal his garlic back to his garden to talk about his project and share his enthusiasm.
