Chase Field

401 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Chase Field is a sports venue to the Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Team. Located on Jefferson Street and 7^th Street, Chase Field is the ideal example of the Phoenix sports experience. Architect Ellerbe Becket wanted to build a venue for Phoenix that can people can come and enjoy the game with family and friends. The then-named Bank One Ballpark is over 407 feet from home plate to center field.  It can sit a capacity of 49,033 people with a variety of dining options to choose from.  The main feature of this ballpark is the retractable roof.  The reason for the roof was to keep out the desert heat during summer baseball. On March 31, 1998, the Arizona Diamondbacks made their debut before a packed house of over 3.6 million fans.

Before Chase Field existed, it was home to the second Chinatown was there from 1890-1960. The “first” Chinatown was established in Jerome, AZ, in the 1870s. Chinese immigrants came to Arizona, working as railroad workers.  They established the first Chinatown in downtown Phoenix where US Airways Arena stands today. All buildings have been torn down except for the Sun Mercantile Building. Also known as “Sun Merc”, the Sun Mercantile Building is a warehouse designed by E.W. Bacon and constructed by Wells & Son in 1929. In 1985, Sun Merc was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and became a historic landmark in 1987. In the mid 2000's, there were plans to build a new $200 million dollar luxury hotel and condominiums.  The hotel would sit on top of the Sun Mercantile Building, tearing off the roof and preserving only the base. The Asian American community and historical preservationists rallied together to display their disapproval of the plans. Despite their efforts, the city council did not give in and the project was given approval for construction. As a result, a lawsuit was filed against the city of Phoenix.  In fall of 2007 a judge ruled "the Phoenix City Council had improper talks with Sarver (the Developer) before it decided the fate of the warehouse on the hotel site." Plans to build the luxury hotel and condominiums were stopped. Today there is a Chinatown-themed shopping center called the Chinese Cultural Center. The architecture reflects traditional Chinese architecture. This center was opened in 1997 near the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

- Daniel Munoz and Amanda Nishikubo

References

Sun Mercantile Building. Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Mercantile_Building>

Chase Field: History, photos, and more the Arizona Diamondbacks ballpark, <http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/nl/ChaseField.htm>

Chase Field Information-Chase Field History. <http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/ari/ballpark/information/index.jsp?content=chase_history>

Bracero Camp

E. Baseline Rd. and S. 32nd Street St., Phoenix

The Bracero program was a number of different laws and contracts between the United States and Mexico that helped the United States meet its high labor shortages as a result of world war two. The program allowed the United States to create approximately 4.6 million contracts and employee roughly four million workers from Mexico in order to perform manual labor. These individuals were taking undesirable jobs in undesirable locations and all for a fraction of what American citizens were being paid. This immigrant labor force was not only significantly cheaper but it was also very skilled when it came to agriculture, the majorities of these individuals were either farmers or had some type of experience in the field. The program initially started in the southwestern states such as California and Arizona but eventually spread throughout the United States. The program as expected increased the agricultural output and assisted farm owners by supplying a cheap and affective labor force that was utilized in all but a few states. As the war began to come to an end so did the bracero program. As soon as this labor force was no longer needed they were either deported or aggressively persuaded to move back to Mexico. “Ok, Boys, it’s time to go back” (Herrera-Sobek 48-49) this quote is what was told to a bracero who was forced to go back to Mexico after he had already established a new life in California. “Over the program’s 22-year life, more than four million Mexican nationals were legally contracted for work in the United States, some individuals returned several times on different contracts”(America). The end of the program was in 1965 after many extensions it was decided that the program was no longer going to run and plans for deportation and removal began. Arizona was one of the many states that took advantage of the increase in agricultural labor. There were bracero camps located throughout Arizona including the area that is today known as 32^nd street and Baseline. This specific camp is located approximately twenty minutes southwest of Arizona States Tempe campus. All of the Arizona camps where very similar in that the braceros stationed at these locations were responsible for repairing “irrigation, picking cotton, cucumbers, lemons, oranges and tomatoes” (Ignacio). During the programs time span the corner of baseline and 32^nd street was mostly comprised of braceros and migrant workers. Today there are three different gated communities in the area: Hunter Ridge, The Village at South Mountain and a new upper scale community known as the Dessert Rose. These communities have the luxury of having the canal flow right in front of their neighborhood with dual path walkways and it even has a Starbucks across street. When the area was considered undesirable the inhabitants were migrant workers and braceros, however, now that the location is being remolded it is experiencing larger influxes of homeowners with white collar jobs who desire upper scale housing which the area now provides.

- Daniel Munoz and Amanda Nishikubo

 

References

   Alvarez, Ignacio I. "Ignacio I. Alvarez." Interview. Bracero History Archive. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://braceroarchive.org>.

   "America on the Move | Opportunity or Exploitation: The Bracero Program." National Museum of American History. Web. 05 Apr.

   "Bracero History Archive | Teaching." Bracero History Archive | Home. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. <http://braceroarchive.org/teaching>.

   "Braceros: The Story of a Union Organizer." David Bacon Photographs & Stories. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://dbacon.igc.org/TWC/b03_Organizer.htm>.

   "Chicanos and Mexican Americans." Latin American Studies. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/braceros.htm>.

   Herrera-Sobek, Maria. The Bracero Experience: Elitelore versus Folklore. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, 1979. Print.

 

PIlgrim Rest Baptist Church

Church in present day, 2000-2010 (Source: soulofamerica.com)

May 5th, 2010 SB1070 Protest March at Pilgrim Rest (Source: phoenixnewtimes.com)

1401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ 85034

Pilgrim Rest is in its 89^th year, yet it looks nothing today like it did when it was founded. In 1922, three reverends - J. Howard, R. Thomas, and M. Boyd - sited the original church in Somerton, AZ outside of Yuma, but by 1930, it had relocated to 1417 East Madison Street in central Phoenix. Tumultuous leadership defined the following few decades, but under better direction, the church was again relocated in 1968, this time to its current address. The church fared better in the decades that followed Reverend Stevenson’s appointment, and included acting as host for the 101^st National Baptist Convention of America in 1981. One of the historic moments for Pilgrim Rest, though, and the moment marking its modern era, was on November 16. 1984, when Reverend Alexis Thomas became senior pastor of  the church at age sixteen. The church grew rapidly under Reverend Thomas’ tenure, from “250 to over 3,0000” members, which called for a larger campus under his ‘Vision 2000’ program, and turned the church into the state-of-the-art, 2,500 seat auditorium that it is today (alexisthomasministries.org). Into the present, the church has expanded from solely a place of worship to include the Word Center for religious education services, and the Wellness center, which includes a spa, and also Café Eden, providing healthy dining options.

Pilgrim Rest is one of the largest black churches in Phoenix, rivaling First Institutional Baptist Church just down the road. This status alone makes it representative of race and space, with the segregated practice of religion forming a particular practice of Christianity which is understood through a racial lens - there is no corresponding ‘white church’. In addressing community concerns, Pastor Thomas sponsored the U.S. Marshals Safe Surrender program in November of 2006, and among his many ministries is a prison ministry. Both of these show examples of an understanding of the systemic racism which plagues the black community in how criminality is assessed, and it also shows a willingness to extend a helping hand to ease the burden of dealing with the state.

In recent news, though, Pilgrim Rest was host to the Reverend Al Sharpton on May 5^th of 2010, when he led a several-thousand peopled march from the church to the capitol building in protest of SB1070. As noted in publications like The Grio, and indeed, by Sharpton himself in a speech from the pulpit that night, the African American and Latino communities are often at odds with one another. Thus the decision to stage a march with a significantly racially-mixed crowd of supporters, on an issue of Latino rights, from a decidedly black church and black leader was an historic move on the part of Pilgrim Rest, and the supporting African-American community in Phoenix.

- Lucas Marks

 

Sources:

Alexis Thomas Ministries. 2010. 25 April 2011 <http://alexisthomasministries.org/bio.htm>

Hutchinson, Earl Ofari. “Black leaders out of step with followers on immigration.” The Grio. May 2010. 25 April 2011 <http://www.thegrio.com/politics/black-leaders-out-of-step- with-followers-on-immigration.php>

Pilgrim Rest. 25 April 2011 <http://www.pilgrimway.com/draft_aboutprbc.html>

United States Marshals Service. 25 April 2011 <http://www.usmarshals.gov/safesurrender/news/110806.htm>

Chinese Cultural Center

Chinese Cultural Center, garden and main building, 2011 (photo by Lucas Marks)

Architectural design drawing of the Chinese Cultural Center, 1996 (Source: phxchinatown.com)

668 N. 44^th St., Phoenix, AZ 85008 

The Chinese Cultural Center was the brainchild of the BNU Corporation, with initial development begun in October 1995. The approval of parent company, COFCO, came in early 1996, and a design by architectural firm Cornoyer Hedrick was accepted by the City of Phoenix shortly thereafter. Construction proper began in February of 1997, and the main structure was completed by December of that year, though the grand opening was not until a year later.

Nowadays, the center is marketed as “a uniquely up-scale cultural, culinary and shopping attraction” and is home to the Ranch 99 supermarket, three restaurants featuring different regional cuisines, and retail shops, the most noteworthy of which are the Chinese herbalist, Asian audio/video, and two ‘gift’ style stores selling home décor and furniture (phxchinatown.com). The center also features gardens which are modeled off of those in ancient Chinese cities. Madame Ye was responsible for their design, and construction was completed in 100 days, begun in August, 1997. Finally, the center hosts an annual Chinese New Year celebration, and has also been involved with both the mid-autumn and mid-summer (Moon and Dragon Boat) festivals.

COFCO is a state-owned enterprise of the People’s Republic of China. It is primarily a foodstuff importer/exporter, but is also involved in “real estate (there are COFCO centers in Beijing and Shanghai as well), hotel, business, and financial services” (cofco.com). COFCO handles domestic brands like Fortune food oils, Great Wall wine, and Le Conte chocolate, but is also the largest handler of Coca-Cola, and was responsible for re-introducing the beverage to the Chinese market back in 1979. In its other ventures, COFCO administrates expensive Gloria hotels within China, and is partnered with British company Aviva to deliver life insurance to Chinese nationals. It is truly a diversified company with such multifaceted branches.

The clash of race and space is most evident when one considers that the Chinese Cultural Center is a piece of American real-estate owned, in-effect, by the Chinese government. Thus its image is one chosen to be representative of China by the state of China. Anderson reminds us that ‘Chinatown’ is less about Chinese occupation, and more about European (or American) imagination; a socially constructed “boundary between ‘their’ territory and ‘our’ territory” for white people (Anderson 583). The website for the center is “phxchinatown.com,” and the presentation of this ‘exotic’ and ‘ethnic’ space amidst an otherwise devoid (or white) landscape perpetuates the permanent otherization of Chinese and other South Asian demographics. It is a marketing strategy on the part of COFCO which consciously or unconsciously profits from the American racialization of these groups. The choice to present ancient architectural stylings and holidays, authentic cuisine and produce, and traditional medicine are undoubtedly attempts to celebrate Chinese heritage and culture, but in the American landscape, these celebrations have a way of being diminished into caricature vis-à-vis the history of actual Chinatowns within the United States.

- Lucas Marks

Sources:

Chinese Cultural Center. 2010. 25 April 2011 <http://www.phxchinatown.com/index.html>.

COFCO Limited. 25 April 2011 <http://www.cofco.com/en/index.asp>.

Anderson, Kay J. “The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category.” Annals of the Association for American Geographers 77.4 (1987): 580-598.

Lindstrom Family Auto Wash

photo by Maxine Miller and Brianna Jones

3003 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix

Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the sheriff’s office raided the family car wash, in June of 2007. They arrested 14 people, 12 of who had false ID’. The car wash was one of many businesses to be raided by Arpaio and the Sheriff’s office. Arpaio’s office is under investigation for allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department. 248 people were arrested in Arpaio raids, only 152 were arrested for having fake papers. In late march and early April of 2008 150 people were arrested by the sheriff, only 73 of them were illegal immigrants, meaning that over half of the people he arrested were completely innocent (MSNBC, 2008). His only defense against that accusation to racial profiling was, “"It isn't racial profiling. We don't arrest just anybody on a street corner" (MSNBC, 2008) However, an American born landscaper saw an Hispanic man pulled over twice, the driver was obviously Hispanic. The landscaper said that it made him really angry because if they pulled him over once and they found he was not illegal and then they pulled him over again. (MSNBC, 2008). Arpaio is clearly using forms of racial profiling and targeting, not only people, but places that seem as if they might employ people in the country illegally. The Sheriffs raids seem to be ineffective at best, “But other tactics appear to be much more effective in identifying illegal immigrants for deportation, and the raids have little, if any effect on actual human smuggling operations or on rates of crime,” (Bolick, 2008). They mayor of Guadalupe, is angered at the Sheriff’s raids in her community. She says that she did not ask for any raids to be done in her community, clamming that the raids were only used to raise Arpaio’s profile for his reelection. Not to mention the danger it puts on the law enforcement officers and citizens of that community, “by failing to coordinate its raids with local police authorities, MCSO places law-enforcement officers and citizens at great risk” (Bolick, 2008). While he may not be braking any laws his is pushing the boundaries of peoples tolerance. One of these people is the mayor of Phoenix, who thinks the Sheriff should be using his time more wisely and focusing on more pressing matters, such as people with arrest warrants out. May court cases have been filed against the sheriff in reaction to his raids, “although Sheriff Arpaio says that he wins the vast majority of court claims that are field against him, he has lost a substantial number of high-profile cases, at great taxpayer expense,” (Bolick, 2008). They mayor has also asked for an investigation to be done concerning the racial profiling accusations against the Sheriff. There is a hint of hypocrisy of the Sheriffs actions ring true in this one quote form Latino protesters “we didn’t cross the border, it crossed us” (Moctezuma, & Davis).

- Maxine Miller and Brianna Jones

 

Resources

Bolick, C. (2008). Mission unaccomplished: h e misplaced priorities of the maricopa county sheriff’s office. Policy report, 229. Retrieved from http://elementmortgage.org/Common/Img/Mission%20Unaccomplished.pdf

Moctezuma, A, & Davis, M. (n.d.). Policing the third border in the suburbs of los angeles, whites are erecting a new border. 11. Retrieved from https://myasucourses.asu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fcontent%2FcontentWrapper.jsp%3Fattachment%3Dtrue%26navItem%3Dcontent%26content_id%3D_4971317_1%26course_id%3D_195027_1%26displayName%3DMoctezuma_Davis_Policing%2Bthe%2BThird%2BBorder.pdf%26href%3D%2F%2540%2540%2FE828E5EA4B75E1B3512506134F79816A%2Fcourses%2F1%2F2011Spring-T-Flett%2Fcontent%2F_4971317_1%2FMoctezuma_Davis_Policing%252520the%252520Third%252520Border.pdf

MSNBC. (2008, April 25). Sheriff raising furor with immigration raids. Associated Press, Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24314764/ns/us_news-life/

Van Buren Street (Arizona Center for Women)

photo by Brianna Jones and Maxine Miller

32^nd Street and Van Buren

Located at 32^nd street and Van Buren is a prison called the Arizona Center for Women. The prison opened in 1979 and it can hold up to 250 women. Van Buren Street is known for a lot of prostitution. The location of the Arizona Center for Women couldn’t be better planned. With a prison located in an area that is known for prostitution, a higher amount of prisoners is more plausible. The state is taking advantage of the women in the area because the women are more likely to prostitute because of their poverty. Prisons constitute people that have a suspension of their rights due to certain illegal actions but it can be argued they target certain groups of race and class. Giorgi (2008) found that prisonization is the states way of creating a war against unwanted classes and that the casualties of imprisonment is racially and economically identifiable. The creation of prisons are due to the state, because the state creates the social norms and practices and furthermore what is produced and abolished.  Prisons ascribe an economic functionality and political sovereignty towards the state, and the use of them wouldn’t be possible without the dehumanization of the “criminals”.  The Arizona Center For Women benefits the state because the location of it invites more opportunity for more prisoners due to its poverty and prostitution. Another benefit is in employment, before the prison was built and opened the unemployment rate in Arizona sat around the 4.0 range, in 1982 after the prison was opened the unemployment rate had gone to only 2.0 (Regional economic forecast:, 2008). Prostitution, and Arizona’s Center for Woman are not the only two thing Van Buren street is know for, it is also known to be a dividing line of racial segregation. Just like the Levittown problem after WWII the government started giving national lending programs to veterans. Racial restrictions continued and Van Buren became the dividing line of Phoenix. (Dimas)

- Brianna Jones and Maxine Miller

References

Dimas, P.R (Performer). American legion post 41 [Television series episode]. In (Executive producer), Arizona Stories. Phoenix: Public Broadcast Service.

Giorgi, D. Alessandro. (2008). Ruth Gilmore, Golden Gulag. Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California. University of California Press, Berkeley. pp. 157-163 doi 10.1007/s10612-008-9051-y x

Regional economic forecast: 'it's going to get uglier before it gets better'. (2008). Informally published manuscript, W.P. Carey School of Business , Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.

Mill Avenue - Project S.I.T.

photo by Maxine Miller and Brianna Jones

Mill Avenue, Tempe

The City Council banned any sitting or lying down on the sidewalks, especially on Mill Avenue. The law took effect on January 17, 1999, and breaking the law resulted in a misdemeanor and a fine of $500 and or up to 30 days in a jail. Project S.I.T. included a group of students, as well as Randall Amster, that wanted to protest to eventually get rid of the law. Stephen McNamee, A U.S. District judge, gave Project S.I.T. a preliminary ruling that stopped the law being enforced until the court could choose whether the law infringes the right of assembly. For a while citizens could rest on Tempe’s sidewalks but Project S.I.T. anticipated a final decision. Randall Amster, an ASU graduate and justice studies instructor, filled a lawsuit to sue the city in order to have them get rid of the law. After a few sit-in protests, as well as several court appeals, McNamee finally got rid of the law due to the law being unconstitutional

This issue is based on the “white spatial imaginary” that is “… based on exclusivity and augmented exchange value”(Lipsitz, 2007, pp. 13). Exchange value being the central focus to gain a profit from their private owned property.  Mill Avenue is essential an area where a lot of shops are located that can potentially make a profit. The people that wouldn’t be spending money on Mill Avenue would be the ones to rest on Tempe’s walkways.  Project S.I.T. is significant to pedestrian rights because it is an example of how the state wants to surpass a part of the constitution, the right to assemble, in order to weed out citizens that wouldn’t be potential customers. The district court wants to control special boundaries based on socioeconomics. It was ultimately clear to Amster that, “the city was singling out the homeless”. The decision to ban persons from sitting or lying is unconstitutional, and the people of Arizona are all free to occupy Mill Avenue as they please.

- Maxine Miller and Brianna Jones
 

References

Diaz, E. (2000). Federal judge strikes down tempe law against sitting on sidewalks. Arlington, VA, United States: Retrieved from http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/237922620?accountid=4485

Steckner, S. (2001). Sidewalk sitting ban in tempe will stand. Arlington, VA, United States: Retrieved from http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/238000266?accountid=4485

Lipsitz, George. (2007). The Racialization of Space and the Spatialization of Race: Theorizing the Hidden Architecture of Landscape. Landscape Journal. Vol. 26. No. 1 pp. 10-23