Earlier this afternoon, I decided to act unilaterally and e-mailed the following message to City Hall, New Albany Common Council, Floyd County Commissioners, Floyd County Council, the Floyd County Republican Party, One Southern Indiana, Develop New Albany and the Urban Enterprise Association.
I asked each to take the opportunity afforded by the weekend's civic unpleasantness to make public statements against racism in the community.
In an effort to observe some semblance of protocol, the message was addressed to the president or chief executive officer of each entity. If there is no response, the next round of forwards will be addressed to members, i.e., individual council persons, board embers and the like. Readers, feel free to make your own contacts or to reinforce these.
As you already know, Floyd County Democratic Party chairwoman Marcey Wisman took the lead in denouncing racism in our community; read her statement here. In addition, I’m pleased to note that Mayor Doug England and One Southern Indiana CEO Michael Dalby have already indicated to me that statements will be forthcoming.
Debbie Farmer, president of Develop New Albany, submitted a personal note that will be appended to the comments section of this posting, and she gave me permission to forward my original plea to DNA’s board. Finally, there is an Urban Enterprise Association meeting this morning, and the chance to discuss the issue with my fellow board members.
Why am I trying so hard to keep this issue on the front burner? Simple. As a city, New Albany has a long and unfortunate history of refusing to look itself in the mirror. It's why we have the reputation we do, and the reputation we have isn't always all that favorable -- an impression reinforced by the Main Street antique dealer whose comments will be Googled forever by people the world over. As usual, my co-editor Bluegill wrote it best:
As regrettable as it is, the overarching problem isn't that a particular person in New Albany is racist. It's that a Main Street business owner, someone you'd think, even if racist, would be able to muster some kind of diplomacy out of concern for his business if nothing else, felt comfortable enough in his environment - our environment - to proclaim his racism to a national audience with little fear of negative consequence. That comfort level, whether representative of a majority or minority, deserves attention.
To knowingly mix metaphors, when the snowball is pushed downhill, wouldn't you rather it be gathering critical mass on the right, not the wrong, side of history? I would. Here's the text, edited only to omit the previously published statement by Marcey Wisman.
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Good afternoon. You’re receiving this e-mail owing to your holding a local leadership position or being a media representative.
Let’s not mince words.
Can there be anything more injurious to our collective efforts to attract residents and businesses to New Albany and Floyd County – to make this a better place to live, for all the right reasons – than the lingering taint of racism?
As many of you should already know, on Saturday, in an article about the unexpected relevance of the presidential election in Indiana, the Chicago Tribune revealed that a small business owner in New Albany confided to the newspaper’s visiting reporter a firm intention to vote Republican in the upcoming presidential election. Why would this self-described registered Democrat vote for McCain rather than his own party's nominee, Barack Obama?The exact quote: “Mainly because he's not black.”
In troubled economic times, comments like this disseminated throughout the United States are precisely the last thing New Albany and Floyd County needs.
We’re small, and we couldn’t possibly be expected to have the answers to a global economic crisis, but when it comes to refuting racism, the answer is clear. An unambiguous, united front against racism isn’t a choice at this juncture. It is an obligation. Partisanship is irrelevant. Racism isn’t a Democratic or a Republican problem, it’s an American problem.
City Clerk and Democratic Party Chairwoman Marcey Wisman has already risen eloquently and forcefully to this challenge.
Can we expect statements from City Hall, New Albany Common Council, Floyd County Commissioners, Floyd County Council and the Republican Party?
Isn’t it just as reasonable to expect that economic development entities like One Southern Indiana, Develop New Albany and the Urban Enterprise Association would want to join in making their positions on the abhorrent nature of racism equally as clear?
Food for thought, don’t you think? Rest assured … the community eagerly awaits these expressions of principle.
Roger A. Baylor
NA Confidential blog
New Albanian Brewing Company
(in the original mailing, Marcey’s statement was reprinted here)
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5 comments:
Note from the senior editor: Debbie wanted to write earlier today and was having trouble getting registered on blogger.com and wanted to publish this message, so I asked here if it would be okay for me to do it for her.
I'll try to keep my promise to troubleshoot the entry procedure when there's time, but in the meantime, here's Debbie's note.
Marcey's statement was powerful and heartfelt. I commend her brave stand because as an elected official she is putting it on the line and she does risk losing something that is important to her because she is speaking out. That is what courage is - it is easy to be courageous when you don't have anything to lose. It is unfortunate that in 2008 that this battle is still being fought.
Like, Marcey, my family and friends are aware of my commitment over 20 years ago to not tolerate without commenting if a joke or comment made in my presence denigrates anyone and particularly if it is racist although homophobic and misogynistic rate high on my list as well. They often tell me to relax. Just not in me I so hope that more and more of our community will keep me company.
Equally appalling to me are the vicious and ignorant emails I receive on a daily basis regarding Senator Obama's friends, family, religion, associations ... whatever. Got them about John Kerry's war record, overt misogynistic emails about Senator Clinton as well and then there were the ones about John McCain in the 2000 election. Lies and distortions which seemed merely silly in previous election cycles seem more damaging this time around. I have most recently disagreed with a family member because he has one particular friend that sends out the most outrageous emails that can, without much effort, be disproved but this guy really believes it or at least continues to send them. In my mind I don't think my relative is racist and I know he is not ignorant.
I believe he thinks it’s interesting to "keep it going" and gives the excuse about all emails he forwards that "I don't write them - I just forward what is sent to me". He also says,” I don’t seem to get any of this type of email about Senator McCain.” I will not even attempt to figure out why that is other than to say it is a powerful observation. Our continuing discussion is whether or not he has a responsibility to read and understand what simply forwarding this vitriolic mass of hatred and distortions is doing to our society.
All of us have a responsibility to call out when we see or hear it happening. I don't think we have the luxury of looking the other way any more. I agree with Marcy - this stuff really hurts and bothers me and this is my own shout out that I do not tolerate bigotry of any kind and fair warning about keeping it to yourself if you are around me.
I cannot say the following any better than Marcey so I will just say I totally 100% agree with her and by copying her words I hope she realizes how powerful her message is.
I know that I may not be able to change the hearts and minds of racists, but I can hope that by openly expressing my condemnation of racism I will send out a ripple that will give others the courage to stand up and they too will say “I will not stand for this anymore”. I will continue to fight to see that the Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is fully realized because I, too, want to “live in a world where a man is not judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character”.
Debbie Farmer
Thank you RAB for taking a huge stand on a sub-surface subject below the scab that is entrenched in this community. Only 2% (don't hold me to that) make up the African American families in Floyd County.
Please answer this from someone who did not grow up here; why all the hate from the white population? I even hear that same hate and ignorance directed towards the Hispanic community.
I don't get it...
Racism is an ugly scar across the face of our community. Unfortunately it is interweaved into the very fibers of this town.
More unfortunately it is not only racism exhibited by white towards "non-whites". There is also a unhealthy population of racism exhibited against whites. It has left my daughter cying at times after school when she is subjegated to "racial slurs" for being white, which is never taken seriously by any faculty or staff of NAHS.
While I personally find this type of publibly displayed acrimony and bigotry both loathsome and repugnant, in this instance I do not believe that the rest of U.S. would consider this one mans words as a reflection on our community as a whole.
In my humble opinion, I feel the Chicago newspaper that published such damning and deplorable statements are just as much to blame as the man that uttered the words.
Judgement can obviously not be listed as the mans best quality, however we must remember that the right for him to say such detestable utterances, despite how vehemently the vast majority of us are to such Jim Crowism, his right to say that is paramount in the freedoms we cherish, as well as the newpapers right to print the garbage.
I can say however that I will never seek or purchase anymore antique cameras from his business.
EDIT EDIT EDIT!!!
Line should have read:
"despite how vehemently opposed the vast majority of us are to such Jim Crowism,..."
I think that taking a stand against racism in this day & age, while the right thing to do, is not necessarily "courageous." Forty years ago, perhaps, but not so much today.
A more courageous move would be to call for the dismissal from the party any who exhibit such racism. Now, not being a member of any political party, I'm not sure if this is plausible (What makes one a party member? Paying a fee? Registering as such? A simple declaration?), but a public statement disavowing racism is like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound.
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