Mr. Walter Mallett has been a lifelong resident of Kashmere Gardens. While growing up in Kashmere gardens, he recalls having family members and community benefiting from working at Union Pacific and thriving during his youth. Although, he saw some folx thriving by working at Union Pacific, he has seen the deadly health effects of family and community members working and living in Kashmere Gardens and the Fifth Ward. He feels they are losing the community to gentrification and agencies coming into the community, telling community members how they need to live.
The following audio clips are from an interview with Walter Mallett conducted by Nia Buckley.
"...if you stop Union Pacific, you stop not only the money, but you stop the productivity of the heartbeat of Houston…`cause they bring in so many products on the backs of the train and the train track."
"We got all these outhouses that they're building. I call the brand new house, the big three story things, 'outhouses'. What they do, they kick the old black people out or they out-pace us where the taxes are concerned, and they build these big beautiful houses. Now the people that actually fought for them, but now they can't stay there cause of the taxes. So I call these outhouses.You done kicked these people off. There's such a divide in the way we are treated. The new people are coming in dictate to us - if you guys gonna remain here, this is how you're gonna play ball."