Muni’s shameful racism: T-Train stops short of BVHP

by Gloria L. Dean

I would like to know the reasons why the Muni constantly stops trains on the T-Line at 23rd Street as if the rest of Third Street doesn’t exist. I pay for a monthly pass and I feel that I deserve to be treated with the same services as the Mission Bay area.

Gloria-L.-Dean, Muni’s shameful racism: T-Train stops short of BVHP, Local News & Views I’m a student at City College of San Francisco and Mills College in Oakland, and yesterday (Feb.12) I had to attend classes at both schools. My first class started at 8 a.m. CCSF on Phelan Avenue yesterday and my last ended at Mills College, Oakland, at 6:30 p.m.

The AC Transit in Oakland ran perfectly on schedule as well as the BART. However, when I reached Embarcadero in San Francisco after waiting, the first T-Train that arrived was put out of commission. Twenty minutes later the second T-Train came but cut services off at 23rd Street; 27 minutes after that the third T-Train came, also to only eliminate all services after 23rd Street. I left Oakland at 6:45 p.m. and did not reach Third and LaSalle until 9:08, and that was only because I had started walking.

I have a sick husband at home with renal failure, and it is important for me to get home. In order for me to get home to my husband, I had to walk from 23rd Street to LaSalle. I’m an American citizen, I pay taxes and my husband is a veteran.

It’s despicable how the Muni service treats the citizens in Bayview, as if we’re not even worthy to exist. To see elderly women, men and children waiting over an hour for a train to get home is some of the worse treatment of citizens I’ve ever seen from a transportation system. I’ve traveled extensively all over the country as well as the world and I’ve only lived in this area for one year. However, this is obviously a classic combination of classism and racism being displayed, and it is truly a SHAME!

I’ve decided to take my car out of the parking garage and drive. I refuse to be treated as a second class citizen. I deserve more and so do all the residents of Bayview. Last check, San Francisco doesn’t end at 23rd Street.

Gloria L. Dean can be reached at gdean@mail.ccsf.edu.