Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 December 2003 — Page 4

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2003

Black women are outpacing Black men in getting elected to public office

By HAZEL TRICE EDNEY NNPA Washington Correspondent \\ XSIIINCIOX \\T A i ilir i.ilcHI lll.irlx females beinj; leeled In (nilaliei ifl'iee in Amerie.i lias surpassed UlaeLmales In ;, r | n ei I he pasl a) \ ears, ueeordini; In a studs made fNiblie lids week In llie .Inuil (. i liler Im I’olilieal ,uid |■.ee!h>mie Studies, In suni. tlie trends have dra mat nails clianmil I ri >m the earls .IU71 »s ss hen ahnut SLt pereent id uessls elected lilaek elected nlli eial.s ssere men In the [Hist I*»»»** •perind. s', pereent n| lhej;r()S\th in the number iil ISlaek eleeted illieials ssas I'rnni I'laek women heins; eleeleil to olliee.' obsi rves I he repi a t, " lllaek I ’leeted ()!'|i , ials: A Statistical Summary '(•Ol: I he report explains that dm in" the first lise sears that the Joint (.'enter tracked the number ol black elected olliei.ils nation sside. there ssere t.."> black men elected to office lor esers black woman. l.bt> l to.;;7t) fhetrend iimtimied but slossed from IhTb■ to IPS.',, tsso bla. k men foreseis blarkssoman 1 /Jltosjp ;then i ven Insscr in the last halldf the sOs, ssith oiils 1,'J black men to each female. In the JupOs. the trend suddenls changed ssith new black eli'etedoflu ial hei oiiiim;disproportionatcls ssomeii. between I Mm) and IMM.'e tliere were l.M ness black women elected to of lice tor esers ness man ( >S7 to tbL’ .andbetween iMMb.md 2001.

Shirley Franklin, Atlanta

the ratio was b.M ness women for es ers ness man (bsb women to MM men). fhe news is exeitinj;; to C. I telores Tucker. fouiHleraiHl chair o| the National Congress of Black Women Inc. (N’CBW). a Silver Spring, Md.-based group that ciHourages women to engage in political activ ism. "We are the caretakers of the family, even the men. We raise presidents and we raise governors.' says I’ueker, who served seven years as I’ennsylvania s first black female secretary of state. "We work at it. Women work at things and the men. unfortunately. they have been so deprived In the eulture and by the system here that they have not been able to mov e as fast as women." According to 1 )as id Bositis, the Joint Center researcher who authored the study, most of the recent progress for Black women has taken place at the county levels. ss here Black women arc being eleeted to cits councils and school

Rhine McLinn, Dayton boards. At that level, there w as an increase ol 22 positions,a 225 pereent rise betw een 2()0()aivd 2001. “It's more a question of why Black women arc doing well as opposed to why the number of Black men arc declining," Bositis says. He speculates that women not only tend to vote in greater numbers, hut in the Democratic Party - which receives an overwhelming majority of the Black vote - women arc more politically active than men. As for the men, Bositis says, several social v ariables have apparently caused the rate of Black male elections to slow. "Black women are attending college at higher rates than Black men," Bositis says. And, you’ve got criminal justice issues." At the end of2000. more Black men were behind bars'(7Ml,d00) than were enrolled in colleges or unis ersitios(<)0.'3,o;52). according to the Justice Policy Institute, a think tank that advocates alternatives to prison.

Mamie Locke, Hampton, Va. Gwendolyn Faison, Camden, N.J.

There are demographic reasons for the gap as well. Tucker cites U.S. Census reports that show that women are more likely to vote than men. Further, the voting-age population of women exceeded men by nearly M million in 2000. “We have the vote. We do vote, we have the greater number and we can win every seat if we realize what Abigail Adams told her husband John, if you don’t remember the ladies while you’re drafting that Constitution of the United States, w e have the power to free ourselves.” Tucker was paraphrasing a note that Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, President John Adams, on May 7, 177b. that stated: ’I cannot say that I think you are very generous to the ladies; for, whilst you are proclaiming peace and goodw ill to men, emancipating all nations, you insist upon retainingan absolute power over wives. But you must remem-

ber tha't arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, ven liable to be broken; and, notwithstanding all your wise laws and maxims, we have it in our power, not only to free ourselves, hut to subdue our masters, and without violence, throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet.” Overall, Black elected officials have grown from l,4b9 in 1.970 to 9,101, a 519.') percent increase. That, too, is not as encouraging as it might first appear. Of the 513,236 local, state and national officials, African Americans represent only 1.8 of those officials and 12 percent ofthe U.S. population. There has been only one African-American governor and only three African-American senators elected in modern times, none of whom are in office now. Other highlights ofthe report: • The 10 states with the largest number of Black elected officials in 2001 were Mississippi (8.92), Alabama (756), Louisiana (705),

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Illinois (624), Georgia (611), South Carolina (534), Arkansas (502, North Carolina(491), Texas ; (460) and Michigan (346). • In 2001, the South.had the largest number of Black elected officials, with 6,179. That’s 68.2. percent of all Black elected officials nationwide. • In 2002, there were 11 Black women serving as mayor in cities with populations of more than 50,000, including Shirley Franklin of Atlanta, Rhine McLinn of Dayton, Ohio, Mamie s Locke of Hampton, Va., andGwendolyn Faison of Camden, N.J. There were also 12 Black women holding statewide office. I n the Joint Center’s first count in 1970, there w;ts only one Black female serving in Congress, Shirley Chisholm of New York, and no Black w omen served as ■ mayor of a big city. • Black women have made political gains faster than their white counterparts. According to the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University, 14 percent of all U.S. House members are women; 38.5 percent of; the members ofthe Congressional; Black Caucus are w'omen. Women; were 20.5 percent of all state sena-: tors in 2001, but 35.2 percent of all Black state senators, and 23 percent of all state representatives, but 32.6 percent of all Black state representatives. • Younger Black elected officials in their 30s and 40s, such as Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in De-. troit, are being elected ^faster as older officials arc retiring. “For the remainder of the current decade, a generational replacement of Black elected officials will almost certainly continue, and perhaps accelerate,” the report states. “And recent trends strongly suggest that the number of Black women in elected office will continue to rise.”

23 Indiana nonprofit receive over $1.5 million in grants Special to The Recorder

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust presented $1,541,000 in grants to 23 Indiana agencies on Nov. 14. More that 70 guests representing the nonprofit organizations attended the check presentation at the Indiana State Museum, 650 W. Washington St. “Our funding helps people in need, protects animals and nature and enriches community life in 1 ndianaand Arizona, the states Mrs. Pulliam called home,” explained Harriet Ivey, president and chief executive officer ofthe Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. “Ten of today’s grantees are first-time recipients ofthe trust's giving. Grants range from $9,000 to $150,000," Ivey added. This is the third of the trust’s three funding rounds for 2003. Since the trust began making grants in 19.98, it has committed $41,617,393 to 272 nonprofit organizations in Indiana. “As the trust completes its sixth year of funding, we are most pleased with the long-term impact of our grant dollars and the relationships and programs established withourfamily of grantees," said Trustee Carol Peden [ Schatt. “Nina would have been so proud ofthe work her dollars are supporting today," she added. “The trust will he a part of this community for many years to come during the next 44 years of; the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust’s 50-year lifeand more i mportan tly th rough the legacy of your work,” Trustee Chairman Frank F. Russell stated to the Indiana organization representatives attending. The next deadline for the nonprofit organizations to apply for funding is Jan. 15, 2004. Preliminary applications may he obtained by visiting the trust’s Web site at www.ninpulliamtrust.org. Or call (317) 231-6075. t