I’m The Bee’s new assistant opinion editor. Here’s why I believe in Sacramento

On a casual walk in mid-November, about a month after I had moved into an apartment at the edge of the Richmond Grove neighborhood in midtown Sacramento, I noticed a sign planted near an intersection on W Street.

“Go back to SF,” it read.

The painted white letters were crisp and legible, which was surprising given the copious amounts of salt that must have been coursing through this resident’s bitter veins as they expressed their indignation on the poster board.

I didn’t move here from San Francisco, but I did relocate from Sonoma County, where I launched my career as a journalist nearly six years ago. I guess that makes me a target for the anonymous ire of this person — and presumably countless others who are understandably protective of Sacramento and feeling the angst of a great pandemic migration that’s worsening the region’s unaffordability.

The thing is, I didn’t move to Sacramento for better financial margins. It took most of my 30 conscious years to realize it, but this is where I always wanted to be — a vibrant, multicultural West Coast city that doesn’t demand total assimilation to feel like a valued part of the community.

This month, I joined The Sacramento Bee as assistant opinion editor. At such a significant moment in this city’s trajectory, it feels like a cosmic tip of the hat. And I intend to give everything I have as a community-minded journalist, solely focused on serving the people who inhabit this proud city and region.

I first landed in Sacramento in 2014, leaving most of my family and friends in the Atlanta area after I graduated from the University of Georgia. For a year, before my journey as a California journalist began, I slept on a couch in my dad’s one-bedroom apartment in Natomas after he got a job working on the California High-Speed Rail project (he’s since moved back to Georgia).

My reasons for fleeing the South were predictable: a desire for ethnic diversity; life with ostensibly less bias and racism; greater access to nature; the prospects of a more fulfilling life. It was basically my own Gold Rush, and I expected to strike it rich.

What I didn’t anticipate was the tectonic shift California and its cities were undergoing and which, if left unaddressed, will disproportionately impact my generation’s chances of having any worthwhile future in the Golden State.

For today’s youth, the stakes are even higher. As a member of The Bee’s Editorial Board, that will play a key role in my perspective. An unrivaled wealth gap, racial inequity, devastating climate disasters and unequal education are among the most pressing issues threatening California’s future. For years, I have reported on their impacts. My top priority is to speak up for the people and families most affected.

At times, the problems feel intractable. In some places, they are. But in Sacramento, California’s existential crises still feel approachable, and there is enough willpower and diversity of ideas here to take them on. In a time of tremendous change and hardship, that gives me hope.

I can’t deny the influence my identity plays in my opinions. I’m the eldest son of Pakistani immigrants. As a kid, I struggled to fall in line, unlike most first-generation children. I had to prove I belonged in a post-9/11 America after people who looked like me, with names similar to mine, attacked the only country I’d ever known.

Eventually, I learned that people fear what they don’t know and can be influenced to hate what they’ve never loved. Journalism became my tool to level the playing field, and to tell stories that broaden our understanding of the American experience — good or bad.

Often, that means questioning the very systems that built this country by exposing corruption, speaking truth to power and fighting for the voiceless.

I don’t identify with a political party, or detest people who have different viewpoints. I keep an open mind, welcome honest debate and encourage self-reflection.

We need more spaces where it’s OK to stress-test our beliefs.

Newspapers should accurately portray their community, so I hope everyone sees themselves in the pages of The Bee. If they don’t, I want to hear about it. The Editorial Board’s mandate is to advocate for the community’s best interests, and if we’re falling short, tell us how.

If I could talk to that bitter neighborhood sign-maker, I would try to understand what’s fueling the anti-Bay Area sentiment. Certainly, this person is in the minority, but the threat of rising rents, displacement and a changing culture are concerning. If you have been reflecting on what this could mean for Sacramento, let’s talk.

Many of us among the tens of thousands coming here intend to do more than inflate the housing market and shorten our drive to Tahoe. Most longtime residents and true Sacramento natives know that, and they recognize the need to establish consensus and broader community.

Personally, I’m invested in Sacramento, and in ensuring that rising generations have a stake in its future. I wonder if that will fit on a yard sign.

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.