U-City Man Speaks Against Small Business Relief, Blames Heavy-Handed Police, Gentrification For Violent Protests

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — U-City resident Bart Stewart blames rising rents and segregated communities for racial tension that led to violent protests in the Delmar Loop. His statement was read into the record by Mayor Shelley Welsch at a city council meeting last month.

“U-City is in many ways a microcosm of St. Louis as a whole,” his statement said. “And the lack of truly integrated communities has led to rising tension, coupled with the very real gentrification that has taken place in the Loop over the past twenty years; it is surprising that things took this long to boil over.”

Stewart urged against the passage of a small business relief plan for business that suffered damage in the violence without first addressing what he see as the underlying causes, and blamed police for escalating the violence instead of protecting life and property as they were tasked.

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“If we jump in this time that these businesses sustained damage will we do this every time a vandal targets a business? If not, then why are we doing it this time? Isn't that part of business and insurance; deciding on the best way to mitigate the risks? If we are choosing to do this now, what is the standard for vandalism that requires us to intervene? How will we decide which incidents are morally just enough for us to step in?”

The city council began exploring public assistance for businesses damaged in the protests in a special session at the end of September, directing the city manager, Charles Adams, to assess the needs of business owners and to limit the assistance to $50,000.

Photo by Jeff Roberson/Associated Press