Latinos Leave a Prince William Neighborhood
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Reading the April 21 Metro article "A New View of Vacant Houses," I understood the frustrations of Chris Pannell and Allison Kipp, and I applaud these women for taking the necessary steps to take back their neighborhood.
However, not all Latino neighborhoods are like the one described in the article. The development that I live in is overwhelmingly Latino, and I have not seen overcrowding or public urination, heard excessively loud music or otherwise felt uncomfortable in any way. Yes, there are neighborhoods where immigrants have a negative impact, but the same conditions do not occur across the board. I don't know the immigration status of my Hispanic neighbors, but as long as they don't cause problems, it doesn't matter to me either way.
Bad experiences such as those of the people in this article can spiral dangerously into negative perceptions of all Latino communities. We must be careful not to judge whether a Latino immigrant has a positive or negative impact on a community solely on the basis of his or her immigration status. If my neighbors were driven out because of such unfair perceptions, that would just be sad and wasteful.
COLIN DUFFY
Silver Spring
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