Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 March 2005 — Page 22

Page 22 • The Muncie Times • March 17, 2005

Muncie’s “DiverCity” Plans to Celebrate Diversity

By Nicole Johnson Diversity has been a hot issue in Muncie during recent months. It’s an issue that has made many people in the community want to stand up and do something to stop the frustrations and conflict. Now something is being done. The first annual celebration of diversity is coming to Muncie in April. Unity in DiverCity is a chance to honor our differences rather than letting it divide the community, Allison Kirk, co-chair of the event, said. From April 21 to the 23, members in the community will have a chance to come together and take action. Pierre Atchade, co-chair of DiverCity, said he has hopes to increase the awareness of

Pierre Atchade

diversity in the area and encourage others to do something about it. "I don’t want race to be an issue anymore," Atchade said. The event’s focus is titled, "Roots in Heritage Celebration." The first day of activities, named "Career Connections Day", will offer a chance for

Muncie Community Schools and local businesses to pair up and take a look at the international ties that Muncie has at the Horizon Center. "This is a time when students and others in the community can become more aware of our diversity," Kirk said. On April 22, a gala will be

held to thank those that are already working on improving diversity relations in the community at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts. The evening will include international food samples, dancing, a fashion show and recognition of those diversity leaders. Keynote speaker will be longtime diversity activist and Ball State University’s Provost Beverly Pitts. This event will be held by invitation only. The "International Street Fair" will be located at the comer of Walnut and Charles Streets. The all-inclusive eclectic community event will present a panel discussion on different views of diversity in Muncie and offer a chance for community members to express their concerns and solutions to surrounding problems.

"This is an opportunity to show other communities that Muncie’s citizens can get along and are willing to work on the things they’ve done wrong," Kirk said. International food, clothes, art and crafts will be available for showcase and/or purchase. Some of the other groups involved in this wrap-up event include MOMs and TEAMwork for Quality Living. This event has been a long time in the making. Kirk and Atchade were both involved in the race relations study circles in 2003. In Febmary 2004 they presented their brainchild to the circles’ conclusive action forum, and the event unfolded from there through the support of many others in the community, Atchade said.

News Briefs

Dean remarks provoke questions The recent remarks by Howard Dean, the new Democratic National Committee chairman have created a controversy. Maryland's Lt. Gov. Michael Steele has demanded an apology and has opened a debate about the Republican Party's commitment to Blacks. During a meeting of the Democratic Party Black Caucus, Dean credited the work of Black Democrats in getting out the vote for the party and said: "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff here." The crowd laughed. Steele lashed out at the remarks, saying that they were "racially insensitive and intolerable." He issued a joint state-

ment with former congressman J. C. Watts condemning the remarks and asking Dean to apologize. "I think it is rather presumptive to presume that the staff in the hotel is African American," Steele said. No member of the Congressional Black Caucus issued a statement criticizing Dean, but some said that's Dean's style. "I think Dean may not have used the right language, which he has had problems with before," Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said. "I think he meant to say that the Republican Party finds it very difficult to attract Blacks to become public officials." While Black participation in the Democratic Party has been high since the first administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Republican participation has been marginal.In the 2000 election, President Bush got,

officially, nine percent of the Black vote. In 2004, he inched up to 11 percent. In some states he improved his numbers with the Black vote with 16 percent in Ohio and 28 percent in Oklahoma. Black participation in Republican politics has been low since the Roosevelt years because of the party's image as a "rich man’s" party and, since the Nixon election of 1968, the party of the Southern conservative White man. Plus, various chairmen of the Republican National Committee have addressed Black concerns, but only briefly and without any depth.While Blacks have served on the RNC, it has been in small numbers. No Black has ever served as chairman, and currently only two Blacks serve on the RNC. Currently, there are two Black on the Republican National Committee. Throughout the United States, there are approxi-

mately 7,382 state legislators, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Of the 614 who are African American, only nine are Black Republicans. On the whole, only 9.5 percent of Blacks identify themselves as Republicans, according to a poll by the Joint Center for Political Studies. Those numbers are going to change, said Tara Wall, a minority outreach officer with the RNC. "Black people are interested in the ownership society," Wall said on America's Black Forum. "They do not want the government taking care of them. Blacks want to own homes, accumulate assets, start businesses, and invest in their own future. That is why the Republican message is selling too many Blacks." On social issues, Wall notes that many Blacks believe that abortion should be severely regulated, gay marriage should be banned, and that children should

have the right to have the government fund their right to go to a private school. The Republicans do have high profile Blacks in positions such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. Rice's predecessor, Colin Powell, was the first Black picked to the highest level in government. There is a web site promoting Rice as the 2008 Republican nominee as president. On the state level, there's Steele serving as the heutenant governor for Maryland and Ken Blackwell as secretary of state of Ohio, and a small number of state representatives and local officials who are Black Republicans. However, there is no Black GOP'ers in Congress and the only Black in the U.S. Senate is Barack Obama, a Democrat from Illinois.