NBC 7’s Omari Fleming spoke to San DIegans who want to see the statue come down.
The ongoing push to remove the statute of a polarizing figure in Downtown San Diego's Horton Plaza is getting a new ally.
Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta has joined the chorus of people calling to have former San Diego Mayor and California Governor, Pete Wilson's statue taken down.
“I think unless people have lived that trauma, it's hard for them to understand that when you have these symbols that constantly remind you of the way you've been treated — that that trauma, it comes back," explained Huerta.
Huerta and Genta Unida, the human rights border coalition leading the fight, said the life-size statue is a triggering reminder of how Wilson championed Prop 187 in the early 90s, which was a voter-approved ballot measure that was aimed at keeping undocumented people from getting public benefits.
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Prop 187 was later ruled unconstitutional.
“Pete Wilson is kind of the symbol of racism and hatred against the Latino community, especially our undocumented community, because he did so much harm," said Huerta.
Sean Walsh said that’s patently false and wrong.
As Wilson's current business partner and his former deputy chief of staff, Walsh and the nonprofit that own the statue said Wilson's policies helped transform downtown.
“He organized planning and zoning and permitting and getting downtown slummy areas reformed and revitalized into economic vitality, " said Walsh.
Walsh even said Wilson helped Latinos build greater political power.
“He’s the one who did a fair reapportionment district that actually changed the Democratic policies. Where they let liberal Caucasian districts being drawn throughout the state of California and opened that up to be more representative," said Walsh.
Huerta retorted saying, "When it comes to redistricting, we know that a lot of that work, that we have to do it ourselves at the local level to make sure that we get the types of districts that we need to get our people elected, and that's still going on."
The nonprofit, Horton Walk, owns the statute that sits on private property.
Though it was temporarily removed in 2020 amid protests from the LGBTQ+ and Latinx community, the head of the organization said there are no plans to remove it permanently.
But that won’t stop 93-year-old Huerta from continuing her fight.
“We want to get rid of the symbols of hatred and discrimination," Huerta said.
Activists said they plan to pressure San Diego City Hall and current leaders to get the statue taken down.
Mayor Todd Gloria's office issued a statement on this issue saying:
"When the mayor first assumed office, his chief of staff looked into the City’s rights with respect to the statue. It’s on private land, maintained by a private nonprofit foundation, and the City has no authority to do anything about it."
