[Teresa Perez-Wiseley] One time, the old boy arrangement gone to hell,
we have one African American who is in danger of losing
that position because that area
is now 41 percent Hispanic,
there's not a area in Austin that doesn't have,
at a minimum, I think it's 19 percent.
If you'll pardon me, I
can tell you the actual percentages.
The City of Austin is now looking at
the real threat of
what a Hispanic community could mean to them.
But before that happens,
they want to pass all these ludicrous things
like Imagine Austin.
For me, it's Imagine Austin with no people of
color and no people over 55 or retired age.
Precinct 1, which is northeast,
is 43 percent Hispanic,
Precinct 2, which is southeast,
is 69 percent Hispanic,
District 3, which is in the middle of
one and two is 61 percent,
that's the oldest Austin,
it's losing its Hispanic population,
District 5, which is far south,
is 31 percent,
then you drop to 15 percent in six,
which is far North Austin,
but it's still 15 percent.
Seven, which is
like northeast but more north than east,
22 percent, District 8 is 18 percent,
and District 8, you now start
talking about south of where I live,
they are 18 percent.
I live in District 9,
and District 9 is 17 percent.
[Speaker 1] That's downtown, right?
[Teresa Perez-Wiseley] Downtown and me, right here
this area where I live is 17 percent.
District 10, which is in that direction,
which is between mid and northwest,
they are only nine percent.
But all of this is reflective of the income;
you can live where you can afford to live.
Thirty-five is the dividing line.
The ludicrous thing that they say that if
they lower the freeway,
it's going to break the barrier of racism.
In whose world?
All it's going to do is it makes it easier for
the gentrification that's going on in East Austin now.
This area here saw a massive gentrification,
this used to be a black neighborhood,
now there's maybe six households
that have black families,
less than 10 that have black families.
It's a historically zoned neighborhood because it
was the first freed slave community of the state of
Texas and yet it's
impossible for African Americans to even live here.
Well, African Americans of wealth, no,
they can live here, and they are probably part of that.
Well, I don't have the numbers on the African Americans,
but I know that several of
the newest African American family households,
which means they have at least
1-1.5 African American blood in the family are wealthy,
so socioeconomics again has ruled.
They were able to buy into this neighborhood
today because they have money.
[Speaker 1] Finally, to wrap up.
Looking back on your career with
ASCFME and your previous activism and
your involvement in the community which I
know you're still heavily involved in the community.
We already discussed where things are going in your view.
What do you think has been your contribution?
[Teresa Perez-Wiseley] My tenacity to continue to knock on
the doors and expose what's still hasn't been made right.
I've actually caused things to happen, I know that.
But until I can't get
up or until a little mobile chair to
get me somewhere, I'm not going to stop.
There's a friend of mine who I bow the hat to
on her dedication and
her share want to continue
even with more devotion.
For me, it's a matter of fact, it has to be done.
Somebody has to do it and I have to be one of them.
For her, it's so deeply ingrained in the way she thinks.
She went from being an upper,
I'd say at least middle-class,
if not more than that to a person of poverty,
and I think is because she couldn't see
herself as one of the people in
that socioeconomic group that was
comfortable enough to forget about
the fact that being brown is different than being white.
I never thought about being
brown because everybody was brown,
I didn't start thinking about
the distinction until I came here to Austin in 1972.
I mean, I've seen some things sure.
Actually, I saw one of those signs,
it says, let's see,
how was it worded exactly?
Nigga, don't let yourself
be here at night or something like that.
It's in Vidor, Texas.
If you know anything about Vidor, Texas,
it's the place where they dragged
that poor African American man
around by a string on a truck and killed him,
not too long ago,
I mean, within the last 20 years.
It's the admitted home of
a large community of the Klan in Texas.
But the Klan is everywhere.
It doesn't necessarily have the same purpose as
it did I think before, at least not here,
it might still in some of the deep south,
but even in the deep south,
I wasn't seeing it as much in
the last 30 years as probably before that.
Not the same purpose.
I stand up for the rights of anyone, quite frankly,
that's being mistreated or
are discriminated against or abused.
It's just I don't know if it's a learned thing,
I learned it from my parents,
I don't think it's an ingrained thing,
I don't think it was in my brain when I was being born,
but maybe it was because I heard my parents
because they say you hear your parents,
you should talk to the baby in the womb,
I must have been listening.
I've always been of socioeconomic income
except for a short period in my life,
very short while I was here a student to be comfortable.
I give where I can, I do what I can.
But my major priority was once I had children,
was to make sure that they had everything that they could
want or need except their mom,
their mom was always gone.
But they had a place to live and they
had their father until he passed away,
but it took a community
after that to bring my daughters up.