Chester, PA – Several concerned citizens of Chester are perturbed with local casino hegemon, Harrah’s, recent name change and will be organizing a protest. The protest will be held on Sunday, May 20th at 3:30pm at the intersection of Route 291 and Morton Avenue.
“It’s a smack in the face to all Chester residents!’ exclaimed M. Bernard, a Harrah’s employee who refused to give her full name out of fear of retaliation and job security. On May 12th, 2012, Harrah’s formally changed its name from Harrah’s Chester to Harrah’s Philadelphia. Many are calling this name change a precursor of things to come.
The name change of Harrah’s Chester to "Harrah’s Philadelphia," along with the "Philadelphia" Union soccer team operating in Chester and the Chester-Upland School District threatening to be shut down are all issues which are making Chester residents hot underneath the collar.
The implementation of a state of emergency/City-wide curfew back in June 2010, the gentrification of the Chester waterfront and rebranding as “Rivertown” and myriads of home foreclosure signs located on Route 291 all indicate that Chester residents may not be in the plans for the future revitalization of the city.
“What Chester Makes Makes Chester” is a widely used quote of the City of Chester. On May 20th, we plan to show Harrah’s and other future businesses that seek to open in Chester what we are made of. We want to impress upon businesses that we want our voices heard and recognition of the City of Chester and its residents is mandatory and not an option!
Protest for what? The city school district is a mess they protest, violence is abundant they protest. Please tell me if any of the protest that have happened have had any effect on the issues
ReplyDeletesounds like somebody needs to get real!!!
ReplyDeletethe name change wasn't against "chester"
it was a good business decision!!!
Yep. Chester is where? Oh... near Philadelphia? Chester suffers from the same problem that other suburban cities suffer. Harrah's Philadelphia made good decision to better put the track on the map. Most may have not heard of Chester but they definitely have heard of Philadelphia.
Delete@Anonymous: It is because of the consciousness of complacency that things do not change. It is pessimistic people like you who feel helpless to effect change who prevents change from occurring.
ReplyDelete@Dan: The name change of Harrah's reflects the larger issues going on in our community. First, it's Harrah's changing its name to Harrah's "Philadelphia", then its the "Philadelphia" Union soccer team and stadium coming to Chester, then there's the annual Mother's Day parade that gets rescheduled to accommodate a soccer game not attended by Chester residents, oh yeah then there's the lack of education of our children, followed by the lack of basic businesses in Chester such as grocery stores (and when two major ones come they don't even acknowledge their affiliation to Chester), and then there's the home foreclosure signs along the waterfront that are advertised to soccer stadium attendees again all of whom are not Chester residents. What's next? If not affiliating itself with Chester is a good business decision, then it should not have come to Chester in the first place.
Dan your correct, good business! Nothing else. No conspiracy theories just marketing. With all of Harrahs competition poping up in the area, they need to take whatever measures to ensure that customers keep coming to Harrahs.
ReplyDeleteFor Mr. Anonymous, to say that Harrahs and the Union should not have come in the first place is ridiculous! It sounds like the three year old not getting his way and taking his toys and going home. Truth be told both venues are good for the city and has put revenue in the city.
And furthermore, there are plenty of Chester Residents going to watch the Union and patronizing Harrahs.
A footnote: The Philadephia sports teams cannot survive on just residents in attendance, people come from many states to watch the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers. Do think the Phillies could have attained 200+ consecutive sellouts without support from the neighboring communities? SMH look at the big picture!
@Paul: Not looking at the big picture and being complacent has continuously allowed the stealing of money and disfunction of the Chester-Upland School District, violence in our community, presence of toxic and hazardous waste treatment facilities (including the nation's largest infectious medical waste treatment facility and the nation's fourth largest trash-to-steam incinerator which all have negative medical effects on Chester residents), and a business like Harrah's not wanting to be affiliated with our city and give us the name recognition we deserve.
ReplyDeleteAre you a resident of Chester?...probably not. Are your children or grandchildren (if applicable) students in Chester schools?....probably not. When toxic waste facilities come to your city and your child is born with a low birth weight and complications, or you yourself get cancer or asthma, your children are putting together and coloring ABC booklets in the 11th grade, and big businesses come to your city and slap you in the face by dropping the name of your city from it's title, then you will understand our concern.
If you yourself take heed to your own advice and look at the bigger picture, our fight is not directed toward Harrah's alone, we are protesting all of the ngeative issues in the aggregate which, taken together, will have and continue to have devastating effects on our community. We are protesting our city council to stand up and make changes, we are protesting parents who should be more involved in their children's lives and education, we are protesting the school board for lack of resources and education, we are protesting against violent offenders and drug dealers who plague our community. This issue transcends a name change, SMH.
And I'm sorry for sounding like a three year old who wants HER way. I'm just a politically educated and concerned citizen who has the breadth of vision to see how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together to make an asthetically displeasing picture.
Well your assumption is incorrect, I am the third generation of my family living in Chester and my son is the fourth generation. Sorry no grand children yet, but I am hopeful. My son went through Chester schools, Columbus and Smedley!
DeleteDan has raised his family in Chester as well.
I have an interesting question for you, why no mention of Widener University? who advertises the beautiful campus setting in Surburban Philadelphia. They are ashamed to attach Chester to any of the advertisements. Also what are they doing for the city? They hide behind University status for tax exemptions.
Question 2, who should we talk to about the Shop Rite who was slated for the city and ended up in Eddystone and why?
And why did you draw the conclusion I was not a resident? Ism proud to say I'm from Chester!
Well your assumption is incorrect, I am the third generation of my family living in Chester and my son is the fourth generation. Sorry no grand children yet, but I am hopeful. My son went through Chester schools, Columbus and Smedley!
DeleteDan has raised his family in Chester as well.
I have an interesting question for you, why no mention of Widener University? who advertises the beautiful campus setting in Surburban Philadelphia. They are ashamed to attach Chester to any of the advertisements. Also what are they doing for the city? They hide behind University status for tax exemptions.
Question 2, who should we talk to about the Shop Rite who was slated for the city and ended up in Eddystone and why?
And why did you draw the conclusion I was not a resident? Ism proud to say I'm from Chester!
No one would know anything about Green Bay If their NFL team had been named the Wisconsin Packers. Chester is where William Penn landed when he arrived to America so Chester Is where Penns Landing should be. Philadelphia Is the bigger city but Is not the origin of all It wants to claim. The casino and soccer team Is located In Chester and they should both say Chester on their official letterheads and uniforms. Chester Is where the very first Hoagie was made and Is the oldest city In the state of Pennsylvania. Stop selling us short. Next they'll be switching SCI-Chester to SCI-Philly. Just moved all of these businesses up to Philadelphia If thats the city they want to claim. Don't just use our space!
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Just move all of these businesses up to Philadelphia If thats the city you want to claim.
Delete...Paul is a resident.
ReplyDeleteDon't move businesses to Philly!!! We need them here!! They both should [[[pay]]] Chester, who cares their title.
If the protest aims to increases community engagement in Chester, I'm for it. and we all should be apart of that democratic process. I encourage everyone to come out and let their thoughts be heard.
-Chris R.
I echo sentiments of Anonymous II & 8Ball Homie. If you are not from Chester, then it may be hard for you to empathize the solidarity, enamor and affinity we have for our city. Harrah's "divorce" of the Chester name is small potatoes to what we all are trying to convey.
ReplyDeleteThe larger picture is that all of these revitalization efforts are bringing revenue to the city. But are we really being effectively advocated for? Where do our state representitives, senators and other legislators weigh in on this?
Food for thought: Are they re-negotiating why a large portion of Chester residents still not being employed by Harrah's due to strict scrutiny? Do they have at the forefront of their minds that we still have lack of access to high-level grocery stores and fresh produce? Are they taking into fact that possibly the Chester Housing Authority could be privitized at any moment & turned into "prime real estate" because of close proximity to Rivertown? And let's not talk the School District!
All these issues are things I think about on the daily- and Harrah's name change may be the predeccesor of more things to come down the pike.
I vote EVERY year and I beleive that whom ever we put in office should be advocating for the residents of Chester and doing their job accordingly; if not...then in the words of Jay-Z- ON TO THE NEXT ONE!
New York Fried Chicken?
ReplyDeleteNice!
Deletenew york giants/new york jets both teams play in new jersey. phila quartz company(foot of lamokin street)
DeleteWidener isn't excluded from this either. Thank you for pointing that out. They tell their students not to cross "that bridge" but those students do cross that bridge and help keep drug dealers in business! It's time for everyone to step up, throw away their personal agendas and help restore our city. Marches and Protest help but when they die the problems still exist. Let's stop talking about it and be about it! We need action now! These problems didn't just come to surface, they've been here for decades! We sit on prime real estate and a lot of business owners know that. We as residents need to educate ourselves, obtain degrees of higher education, and help keep our community, OUR COMMUNITY! We need more home owners in Chester too! Until people change their mindsets we will watch outsiders come in and build around us.
ReplyDeleteGet real these company's made a great marketing decision. And they are paying alot to the city, alot more then the third and forth generation of criminals are paying. We need to cut the handouts out. That Chester saying is a joke. People/individuals make themselves. Work hard strive to be better....... Second most danerious city in us, every year the Marchs, and the protest? How much is the federal government, state, and city spending on the people of this city? Please sir could you provide that number?
ReplyDeleteWell if we are cutting handouts then let's cut the federal, state, and local governments off from profitting from the third and fourth generation criminals. The government is the one bringing and allowing the drugs into the U.S. i.e. the CIA, and make the most money. After they bring the drugs in they place them into communities like Chester, criminalize possession and distribution (but the federal govt is the biggest kingpin in the system), and shuffle young black males into the court system. These third and fourth generation criminals pay for the salaries of government workers...District Attorneys, judges, police officers, etc.
DeleteOh I'm sorry, thank you oppressor for giving us those little handouts. Meanwhile the same government capitalized off of free human labor (the ancestors of those third and fourth generation criminals) during slavery.
Get real slavery ended how many years ago. Not being racist but black folks are the large percentage of crime everywhere and costing good hard working Americans billions of dollars. If it is so bad for your culture why don't you all rally for a big island or your own state, I know you would get it and hard working folks can live in harmony. And remember all the men who died freeing slaves from those terrible folks down south. The city of Chester is a war zone and I would be embarrass if I was a black American.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct sir- slavery ended in 1863 (150 years next yr- 2013). You may not consider yourself racist, however you comment is very "classist." Black America has tried to rally for an individual state/country (ie: Liberia & "Garveynism") I highly doubt that America's capitolistic society could continue to thrive, especially in today's economy, without a oppressed lower working class. Chester is a war zone; survival is key and we will win the war. All we want is a level playing field.Your thoughts???
DeleteThe OLD slogan "What Chester Makes Makes Chester" is from a long time ago when Chester had major industries. You really need to focus on a new slogan. Harrah's name change & Widener's location is an area recognition issue. As a graduate of Chester High (the new one) even I know that. Please spend time on the education system and not Harrahs decision to change names to increase business in the city.
ReplyDeleteBlack America needs to unite with whites and except that people of color have suffered, but relize that there is a major problem, and it needs to be fixed. Until the leaders of the black culture understand and except that blaming whites for the majority of there problems is wrong and they need to stand up a tell people that what they are doing is wrong. White or black if you are lazy,criminal and just don't care about bettering yourself then black and white America should join together and put a stop to all this disfunction.
ReplyDeleteWow not every white americans are hard working . I really think you need to take look at the drug rehabs and look at the population that are house there . I point that out because Drugs is a supply and demand operation , as long as white americans demand it young black male s will supply it . Which is something I cant stand but its a disturbing fact of life . I think you may have forgotten or just blind racism that there are many hard work black people living in chester . I for one serve 10 yrs in the military , recieved my nursing license and start my own business that i was haress by the police , so i let it go . Thank you Paul . Now back to the real story . I understand why people are upset about the changes , but we should be complaining about a school district which has fail our kids since the late eighties . If we want business like Harrah to keep the Chester name have to police our community i.e TELL PAUL the neighborhood DRUG DEALER , get the killers the stick up kids and the teenage girls corruptors off the street by being more vocal to the cops . What Chester Makes Makes Chester then we really need to live up to the motto and stop just saying it .
ReplyDeletechester speaks out!! and has spoken true words...
DeleteSlavery still exists...
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how long it would take for the Daily Times commenters to spill into this place.
ReplyDeleteI would like to say welcome to you all! We try to keep it pretty nice around here so please take off your shoes before coming in and making a mess.
Chester speak out, you are a fool..... Yes whites and blacks have problems but when you compare the two there is a huge difference. Please tell us how you lost your business , would love to here how the police are at fault? Get a scanner and listen to this culture it is terrible, and if I was a black person I would be embarrass............ Your culture not all but most are destroying this great country......
ReplyDeleteDan your a fool to. You worked in the city and know how messed up it is, so please get a grip.............
ReplyDeletethis blog is getting out of hand, completely off the subject
Deleteit starting to tread in dangerous territory!!
Enough money is spent paying for all this lawlessness. Cut it of and if you don't like move out of the country......
ReplyDeleteOk im a fool , let me ask you this have you ever work in a rehab ? I do so i speak with addicts everyday , so i can tell you from what i know and not from hear say . Let Me are you embarress because of the embezzlement , drug addicts , ceo robbing pension plans , serial killers and child molestation by old white males are you ? Why should i've be embarress when we have marcus garvey malcolm x dr king colin powell maya angela harry belafontaine inventors and my president is barrack obama . So im proud of the hard working black american thats working for change . Oh yeah man that I grew up with that treat as his lil brother all my life by was the police chief of chester i'm proud !!!!! Crime is not a part of culture so get it right , as i am sure the above crime mention is not a part of the white race but certain stupid people . I had the a store and everyday the police would come in my store ask for my papers even after i got my license . i couldnt even stand out front of my store . I had to g over to the police station to speak with a major to stop them from coming to the store but the damage was done . they thought i was a drug dealer because i open a clothing store . Everybody that knows will tell you that i nevre sold no drugs and do not have a criminal record . tell you whats funny they just open a new store on the block kids dealers and everybody else hang out front and i have not seen the cops harressed then yet ? Sorry stefan because this was way off topic . Why dont you stop looking for the bad in the black community and look at the good people that our living in chester and trying to make a change . I start a new business because i dont give up . I guess you didnt read where i wrote that we need to be more involve with the police that they cant do it by theirselves and i'm not mad at the police if they got to harressed the blocks then so be it as long as they are doing it for the good of chester and not abusing thier power . you have underline racism when you classified the whole black culture as crime ridden . You are a fool if you dont believe that you have a good day .
ReplyDeleteAny topic that solicits this type of engaging dialogue is on-topic
DeleteOh yeah what are you doing to help chester ??? I coach i speak with kidsin my old and new neighborhood and they know me .
ReplyDeleteToday at work I saw my first union t-shirt , I must say it has chester on it in big bold letters
ReplyDeleteChester speak it out you are a fool and blinded by the truth
ReplyDeleteWow that was a big statement i am a fool and blinded by the truth .Tell you what show me documents that we are causing the country to lose billions of dollars . You just admit to to yourself that you are a racists or at the most don't like black americans. you will start feel good about yourself . Let me help you Black people are the fall of american . I am hoping that the unknown man open my eyes to the light So I can see the truth . YEAH RIGHT !!!
ReplyDeleteThis how we have to think to make chester better with this statement . "GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH WHEN EXCELLENT IS REQUIRED"
ReplyDeleteChester Speak out you tell us how much is spent for section 8, food stamps, ssi, and the cost of prison. Then tell us how much every inner city is spending all across America to house, feed and pay a culture who in fact are the over majority the crimes in this country. Every year or ever big story is the same answer, lets march, lets blame white America, year after year, after year. Enough This culture needs to except there promblems......... The Goverment should put a time limit on all moneys and make it a one time handout. ie you have one year to fix yourself and after that dont ask the American people to pay for you. After that year its done go out work hard and strive for better. If you dont like it move out of the country. Alot of jobs are out there and the military is always hiring, beats being a drug dealer and gang banger, and they will pay for collage..... CHESTER SPEAK OUT dig deep and research this country and the billons of dollars that are giving out.... Stop being a FOOL...........
ReplyDeleteWell i do agree with you on one thing , we need to stop blaming white america . All my post I never once blame white america but if you think the scales our balance then you are the fool . 39.8 % black 38.8 white hisp 15.7 asian 2.4 . yes ration to population by race we lead the way . we do agree that white america is the majority population in america . By the count you are costing the country millions too . please dont scream ssi I work at a drug and alcohol clinic , white americas abused the ssi system .the money that we spend on drug rehabs paying addicts money to come to clinics . You really need to look at the whole picture . Your whole arguement is base on crime when we know if the federal government charge drug dealears equally ie crack and powder cocaine than the black to white ratio of people in jail will be closer not counting the heroin user . Please look at the ratio black soliders that serve in military i think you will be surprise by it . stop spitting what you don't know . All you do is say the same things you want it numbers i gave them . You still didnt ans. my question which race has the majority of child molester watch dateline . My main question was What do you do to try to make a change ? You never mention white crimes of america how many kids go on a shooting rampage in highschool college campus . Black americans is killing ourselves what im going to say is bad but most black getting kill is doing dirt against each other .We have to step and make a change thru our kids and teach them better. If you dont like policy of your government like you said " leave the country and start your on state " .
ReplyDeleteYour right dan this is off topic , i just hate when people scream the same arguement against black and say go live in another country . Its offensive to hard working black americans who's out there trying to make a change . So if I offend people im sorry but its the truth .
ReplyDeleteLol look at what is spent on black America...........
ReplyDeleteWow i'm done .
ReplyDeletewow i'm done on that note
ReplyDelete