Santee does not deserve its ‘Klantee’ reputation

By Roni Breite

SANTEE, California — Okay, I know there are no synagogues in Santee, and I know it’s surely not a Jewish neighborhood.

But I’ll speak up for Santee, even though it is not my community, because I recently heard it spoken of in unpleasant and, I thought, undeserved terms.

During a recent Zoom meeting with a Jewish group I’m involved in, I mentioned doing something in Santee — I can’t remember the specifics. Someone in the group visibly recoiled, called it “Klantee,” and wondered if I hadn’t realized that. I’d heard that name before, but it had been many years.

I tried to tell the person that for the 28 years my husband and I have lived nearby, I have regularly dropped over the hill to Santee for many innumerable hikes, biking, playgroups for my kids in Big Rock Park and Mast Park (recently redone, with a new dog park, disc golf and walking paths, and boy, is it beautiful!), the county library (much better than our San Carlos one), Thai food, Vietnamese food, Mexican food, Phil’s BBQ, Kohls, Costco, Home Depot, GTM, Lowes, a really great Goodwill, and weekly Zumba at the Y (with a Jewish instructor who would play a Chanuka song along with the Christmas stuff in December). In fact, the YMC(C!)A would put a menorah up at the front desk at Chanuka time. One of our family doctors at Scripps is there too. I forgot to tell them, there even used to be delicious Cohen’s Knishes on Cuyamaca Street.

The person in my meeting insisted he would never, never, never go to Santee. His wife agreed. Didn’t I know that a guy showed up at a supermarket recently with a face masked emblazoned with a swastika? Yes, I did, but that was not the typical experience in Santee, nor was it limited to Santee.

I was surprised that this couple was so concerned that they felt it was not a welcoming or perhaps even safe place for Jews even now. So I was motivated to do some myth busting, from personal experience.

My husband and I, and our two kids, have never experienced anything negative directly, nor seen any display of prejudice there, toward Jews, and the more easily identified Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims (including in hijab) we have seen there. I know the history, I know the reputation. I know there are prejudiced people there, as there are everywhere. But I know my experience of three decades too. Plus, I have had two Jewish friends who lived in Santee and had no complaints.

Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to live in Santee — way too hot, too commercial-strip, and not aesthetically pleasing to my taste (aside from Mission Trails Park and the beautiful mountain vistas).

The funny thing is, by coincidence, a few days after that Zoom gathering I bumped into some visual indicators that contradict the old reputation.

I went for a walk with a friend at Walker Preserve Trail along the San Diego River in Santee.

What I saw there (see photo at top of this article) cracked me up, and prompted me to write this piece.

And this one, at left, was a block from the entrance, just off Magnolia Avenue (note City of Santee insignias on the signs for verification that it’s not in Del Cerro!)

So, Santee might not be your glazeleh teh (Yiddish: cup of tea) but … go check out the new Mast Park! Or the painted rock “snake” at Walker Preserve (people paint rocks and leave them in a line). Or Sab-E-Lee Thai food, or Pho Ca Dao. Or pickleball at Big Rock Park. And, if the Y is open in December, the Zumba to Chanuka music by Matisyahu.

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Roni Breite is a freelance writer residing in San Diego.