By Scott Schroeder, Placerville, California.
If you have been through Placerville, CA you may have noticed things like American flags, big pick up truck with dogs in the back & Trump bumper stickers. Placerville has been long known as a highly conservative area in the Sierra Nevada foothills. You also may notice the occasional confederate flag flying from the back of pickups. But lately things have been changing!
After the election of Trump the closet lefties that lived in this area had enough of the senseless hate & Bigotry that existed in this town. The time for remaining silent and letting their voices be stifled was over. They begin organizing! Out of that organizing the El Dorado Progressives (EDP) was born.
In the past 2 1/2 years since the Trump election the streets of Placerville are starting to resemble the city of Berkeley rather than the conservative place it once use to be.
El Dorado Progressives protesting racist column in the local newspaper.
“Sporadic street actions”
In the past few years you now will see sporadic street actions popping up in town. There was the 6 month protest on the towns local news paper the Mountain Democrat for publishing a racist opinion piece that was written by a staff writer.
There has been multiple Driscoll Boycott marches, freeway actions and protest inside grocery stores demanding that Driscoll berries be removed from the shelves.
Three actions that changed the face of Placerville
Just this year there have been 3 major street actions that have changed the face of Placerville and have put a new narrative on who we are now!
Protesting against attacks on women’s right to have an abortion.
Abortion rights
First there was a street action in May where people outraged over the Trump administration trying to reverse the Roe vs Wade decision and crush the Planned Parenthood assembled at the steps of the county court house in the pouring rain. That day the protesters even endured verbal death threats from one old angry white man screaming out his car window while driving by. That was no deterrent those in the EDP still persist.
“No kids in cages”
The past few weeks have been extremely busy for those involved with the El Dorado Progressives. EDP teamed with other groups 
No kids in cages
like LCLAA (Labor Council for Latin American Advancement) Sacramento, NorCalResist & Ratt Pack protesters to organize a five city “No Kids in Cages protest. Street protest, candle light vigils, Press conferences and detention center shut downs were all planned and carried out!
Gay Pride
Finally this past Sunday members of EDP and other LGBTQ+ groups organized the First Annual Placerville Pride day and march! Of all the actions this has been the biggest. There was an estimated 200 plus people who assembled in front of the county court house for the rally and march! Also a estimated 300 people showed up to the Shakespeare club where food, education and entertainment
Placerville Gay pride
was provided. For Placerville this kind of attendance with people in the streets was historical! Both my wife and myself attended the Occupy Oakland General Strike and marched in the streets of Oakland with thousands of people but somehow marching in the streets of Placerville with hundreds of people on a first ever for this town Pride event had even a more powerful feeling!
It’s a fact Placerville is changing! Our long stifled voice is no more! It’s our community too and we no longer will remain silent. Stay tuned more to come.
Also see “Placerville: When does the revolution start?” by Scott Shcroeder
Categories: rebellion, United States
I’m very surprised at the language of this article. It sounds and reads very one sided with no support for the locals who have lived in the area for generations. We have been a logging community , mining town and now pretty much lean towards making the visitors feel welcome in our shops and restaurants – that is before we were mandated to close our doors – Why would this paper choose to display Placerville as an up & coming Berkeley. If you want Berkeley , live there – don’t move up here and change our way of life and the surrounding areas. Have respect for the history of our town , the residents and out lying areas which include Apple Hill , many winery / tasting rooms and Tahoe. If we have a difference of opinions on politics , discuss them with both “sides” open minded. We do not need more hate spewing from anyone.
Normally, we don’t allow comments from those who justify racism, but it’s worth reading this comment to see how people do so. Since the time that this comment was sent, we got and posted the video of the entire event. It shows the racism and bigotry of the counter demonstrators. What Gaylene is saying is nothing new. It’s just the same as the Southern bigots complained about during the Civil Rights movement – that outsiders are disrupting our traditional Southern way of life. Just like the Southern bigots in their time, Gaylene has not a word of criticism for the counter demonstrators use of racist epithets, not a word of criticism of their attempts to provoke fights. In fact, the real meaning of what she’s saying is that “outsiders” should leave us alone and allow us to harass black people and other “undesirables” to our heart’s content. Of course, she wants the outsiders’ money, but other than that, leave us alone.