I'm a member of a Section 14 family: Families like mine were robbed of our homes

As a member of a Section 14 family, Friday’s news update regarding settlement talks stalling (“After signs of hope, settlement talks stall over Palm Springs' Section 14”) highlighted the harsh reality of a painful past marked by forced displacements and lost property that families like mine have endured for 60 years.

The homes set aflame and bulldozed to the ground by the City of Palm Springs were not just random abandoned properties. Families like mine were robbed of our homes. We were stripped of the opportunity to create the kind of generational wealth that can begin with home ownership – all for the new community to become a place of leisure and luxury that grew from our trauma.

As we reflect on the actions of those who preceded us, it is time to reach a resolution after decades of grief. While this is now a legal matter – there is also a moral imperative to right the wrongs of the past and to pave the way for a future where such injustices aren't repeated. It's time for the City of Palm Springs to come back to the table, and finally make amends for this scourge on our history.

Pearl Devers, Palmdale

Palm Springs' archives of Section 14 clears up questions for me

Enough already! The thought that the Palm Springs City Council would even consider wasting more time and taxpayers’ money on hiring someone to research the history of Section 14 is just plain ludicrous.

Anyone who spends the time to read through the voluminous recently discovered documents about the city’s work clearing Section 14 will learn that the city worked on behalf of the landowner and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It seems the destruction by the City of structures on Section 14 was done at the written request of the Indian land owner with documentation that notice of eviction had been given and that the structures were abandoned and considered nuisances. Go to the “government” tab on the city website, look at the “Office of the City clerk” for the Section 14 archived documents and do your own research.

And while we are on it, the historical evidence shows that Mayor Bogert not only got a six-month moratorium on evictions from Section 14 but also gave assistance to some of the folks being evicted. It's time to bring the Mayor's statute back to City Hall. At the very least it should be put to the voters or a new City Council.

Jerry Marshak, Palm Springs

Parallels between Japanese Internment and Section 14

On Nov. 14, The Desert Sun included two similar, but different articles. One was about Section 14 and the other was about survivors of a Japanese Internment camp. Many contrasts and comparisons can be made.

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 granted each surviving internee $20,000 in compensation, equivalent to $51,438 in 2023. This did not compensate the internees for the loss of freedom and property or the decades of harm caused by their internment.

Claire Shaeffer, Palm Springs

Coachella Valley students need support from local nonprofits

A recent Desert Sun article highlighted the importance of high school seniors applying for federal and state funding for college. This year, California saw a 74% completion rate for financial aid applications. In the Coachella Valley, school districts, colleges, nonprofits and community partners have teamed up to support local students to get the aid they need for college.

Leading these efforts, which have provided students the opportunity to access over $110 million in financial aid, is the local nonprofit OneFuture Coachella Valley. OneFuture's mission is to assure students succeed in college, career and life, and to cultivate Coachella Valley's next generation workforce. In addition to helping with financial aid applications, OneFuture offers many other valuable services to students, and provides scholarships to educationally and economically disadvantaged students. OneFuture is making a difference in the lives of many Coachella Valley students and will continue to do so with the ongoing support of local educators, business leaders, parents and donors.

George Batavick, La Quinta

Students need more robust college courses, not more requirements

Dan Walters’ Nov. 15 column, “A downside to adding [to] the school curricula,” makes a serious point: perhaps the high school curriculum is being overburdened with trivial requirements. But I disagree that the ability to discriminate between fake and legitimate news, or to appreciate the consequences of structural racism in social relationships, is comparable to the importance of financial literacy.

Walters missed the baby boom by a couple of years. But the error of education for Baby Boomers, such as myself, was a lack of relevance. Today’s issues have to do with inclusion and developing a sense of agency (i.e., personal efficacy). Courses are bound to be different.

The solution is a richer curriculum, with greater variety − not more requirements. At the same time, high schools need more choices not fewer. A variety of courses with an array of paths to the same standards will increase the chance that any one student will find at least one good reason to graduate successfully.

Ronald C. Chapman, Lucerne Valley

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: I'm a member of a Section 14 family: Families like mine were robbed of our homes