Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 July 2005 — Page 7

FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2005

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE A7

EDITORIAL Far too many lack initiative and drive to be independent By SHANNON WILLIAMS Recorder Editor

The Fourth of July symbolizes freedom and independence for the United States, yet there are millions of Americans that are neither free nor independent in a country that prides itself on democracy. In proving my point from an African-American standpoint, I could do like many and place all the blame on “the white man,” or “government policies,” but instead I think it’s important to dig deeper for the source of the problem. Through my digging, I’ve surmised that a large portion of the blame is individually based, which has absolutely nothing to do with a white male or government. There are lots of Blacks in today’s society that are not free and are totally dependent upon others to maintain their livelihood. Much of this dependence has to do with the type of mindset these people have. Somewhere along the line our people have gotten lazier and lost the work ethic that many of our ancestors had years before us. While I understand that jobs can be incredibly hard to obtain in this day-and-age because of increased populations and a declining economy, there are some jobs that are available. Granted these jobs might not be everyone’s ideal place to work, but there are jobs available and in order to generate some sort of income, one has to start somewhere. As my mom used to say, “something is better than nothing.” However, since there are so many people in our community that aren’t actually workinglegitimatejobs to support themselves, other problems are generated. One such problem is increased crime. Whether it’s through robbery, selling illegal drugs, or stealing...crime in our community is rampant. Previously I mentioned that one’s mindset can be the source of blame for the lack of mental freedom and independence within our community and that’s true. If a person believes that they can do whatever they feel like (even if it’s morally wrong or a crime) to get by, then they will. The thing that amazes me about this sort of behavior is that generally, when people do these immoral and criminal things they do so with such vigor and enthusiasm. Why can’t they turn that vigor and enthusiasm towards a more productive (and legal) means of generating money? The reason is simple and also goes back to a previous point: they’re lazy. The reason I say they’re lazy is because work is work, so whether you’re at the local supermarket working or standing on a corner “working,” you’re still doing something that’s going to produce some sort of income. The lazy part comes into play because the people who opt for an alternative way of employment want to do so when they desire, as opposed to having a job where they’ll be held accountable for various things. Many of the people in our community that don’t have the work ethic or positive attitude don’t seem too excited about getting it...and that’s an even sadder problem which in turn will create future problems for generations to come. What’s unfortunate about everything that I’m discussing is that it severely affects the African-American community. While I know problems like the aforementioned exist in other communities, my primary concern is for my people, and right now my people are in trouble. As far as those drug dealers or “hustlers” on the street, they have such enormous egos because the people that think these dealers are actually something great are the ones that are addicted to the drugs. Nonetheless, these hustlers parade around as if they own the world. Too often I’ve seen these sorts of people place fear in the hearts of many in the community as well as use intimidation methods to get what they want. Yet when they get treated unjustly in their opinion or if they are reprimanded, they think “how unfair” things are. What else would they expect? I really can’t believe the bravado of these people. To those of use that are hard working individuals that attempt to lead somewhat decent lives, I encourage you continue to do so in the admirable way that you have. Don’t be discouraged or intimidated by the heartless, soulless people that chose to live a life of crime. Continue to be advocates for the youth and the community and don’t ever let someone as gutless as the unmentionables I wrote about in this editorial stifle your voice, your motivation or your passion. All we can truly do is work towards rehabilitating our communities and pray to God that a change will come soon.

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JUST TELLIN’ IT

Do Republicans want to turn Indy into a city in decline?

By AMOS BROWN III The original political godfather, Chicago’s legendary boss [ - Mayor Richard J. Daley, would challenge his political adversaries by saying, “What trees do A they plant?” H It’s a question Mayor Bart Peterson and Indianapolis/Marion County’s nearly 900,000 residents should ask local Republicans. After telling everyone there would be severe budget and service cuts if his Indianapolis Works plan wasn’t approved by the Legislature, Mayor Peterson showed last week he wasn’t selling woof tickets, but reality. Mayor Peterson’s nearly $30 million in cuts, over the next 18 months, includes not replacing 126 retiring police, firefighters and park rangers, eliminating neighborhood street cleaning, severely cutting parks maintenance and severing $ 2 million from Peterson’s administrative budget. Mayor Peterson’s also taking heat for closing city swimming pools in midAugust. But frankly, that should’ve been done years ago. Why keep city pools open on late August weekdays after school starts? Kids should be in school then, not in the water. But it’s the public safety cuts that have everyone talking, since it’s the first time Indianapolis has reduced, not expanded, public safety personnel. Unfortunately, Peterson didn’t publicly pin the blame for Indy’s fiscal crisis on those who caused it - recalcitrant, rabid, partisan, ambition-addled Republican legislators led by House Speaker Brian Bosma, from Indy’s Northeastside. Bosma and his Republican colleagues frustrated Peterson’s attemptto reorganize Indianapolis’ Byzantine patchwork of funding sources, taxing districts and state laws that are the weeds, not trees of UniGov. Bosma and his Boyz want Peterson to twist in the wind of negative public opinion, instead of providing credible alternatives. So, since the mayor won’t, I’ll ask the Republicans “What trees do you plant?” Indianapolis was catapulted into a major city by the can-do spirit of statesman Republican politicians and business leaders like Richard Lugar, William Hudnut, Jim Morris, Tom Binford and Beurt SerVaas. They and others possessed a strong vision to make Indianapolis great. They possessed the will and the guts to fashion a community consensus to make it happen. Today’s local Republican leaders are head-in-the-sand folks like Bosnia,

Marion County GOP chair Rep. Mike Murphy, State Rep. Phil Hinkle (who killed the original Indy Works proposal) and Jim “Ban Black music in Broad Ripple” Bradford. Politicians with no vision or desire to propose any positive programs to solve Indy’s pressing fiscal crisis and move our city forward. With local Republicans not knowing whattrees they’d plant and Mayor Peterson and Democrats refusing to educate the public about the GOP’s do-nothing attitude, Indianapolis runs the risk of entering a period of lethargy and drift, with dangerous consequences. Last week, the Census Bureau released new population estimates for American cities which show that Indianapolis is within striking range of surpassing Detroit as America’s 11th largest city by 2010. The census estimates reported that many Midwestern cities have lost population since 2000. Of the largest Midwestern cities, only Indianapolis, Kansas City and Columbus, Ohio, gained population; while Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Minneapolis lost population. Republicans’ failure to provide a positive vision for Indianapolis and their insistence on the politics of local destruction, could result in the GOP being responsible for retarding Indianapolis’ growth and starting our city/county down the negative population growth spiral other Midwestern cities are experiencing. Complicating matters is the fact that one-fourth of Indiana’s top 20 cities are now suburbs of Indianapolis. Carmel is now Indiana’s 10th largest city. Fishers is 13th largest, and depending on the results of a special census, Noblesville could land among Indiana’s top 20 cities along with Greenwood and Lawrence. Do Bosma, Murphy, Hinkle and local Republicans want America’s 12th largest city to decline? Do they want the renaissance their Republican predecessors began to end in a cloud of Republican partisanship and nihilism? It’s time Bosma and local Republicans explain to the Indianapolis 900,000 what trees they would plant? And it’s time Mayor Paterson stands up and makes it clear that the reason there’ll be less cops and firefighters on our streets is because Republicans are planting weeds; not trees. What I’m hearing in the streets Dr. Thomas Lockamy, the runner-up to Dr. Eugene White for IPS Superintendent, was hired last Friday by the Savannah-Chatham County (Georgia) school district. Lockamy was approved by a strict racial 6-3 vote with white

board members voting for him and Black board members voting for a Black North Carolina educator, Dr. Donnie Evans. Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson, who is Black, told the Savannah MorningNews newspaper, “I think we just polarized the community.” Board member Lori Brady, who voted for Lockamy, defended the vote telling the newspaper, “We have a new superintendent that comes from a district that has proven successful in narrowing the gap (between Blacks and whites).” The controversy mirrors what could’ve happened here if the IPS Board had split along racial lines and chose Dr. Lockamy, instead of Dr. White. The Daniels administration has already purged scores of African-Ameri-can executives and professionals in state government. Now, I’m hearing rumblings that veteran African-American employees maybe ousted at the Indiana State Department of Health. Just three weeks before Indiana Black Expo’s Black and Minority Health Fair, run by the State Health Department, a key African-American Health Department staffer, an integral part of the Health Fair’s operations, was cashiered with no warning. I wouldn’t be surprised after Expo ends that other key African-American State Health Department staffers are shown the door. This looming purge of AfricanAmerican professionals in Indiana’s health agency is deeply disturbing. If it occurs, our state’s health department will have been indelibly infected with the disease of racism. I’m honored and humbled to have been selected to receive two recognitions during Indiana Black Expo; at the President’s Reception and at the Media Reception, where I’m receiving a Trailblazer Award. I don’tfeel I’m a trailblazer, but rather a survivor. In 31 years serving this community, I’ve become the longest tenured African American in Indianapolis broadcasting and one of the few local newspaper columnists who are African Americans. I accept these accolades not for myself, but for those who paved the way for me and for those whose future way I’m paving today. See ‘ya at the 35th Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration. Amos Brown’s opinions are not necessarily those ofThe Indianapolis Recorder. You can contact him at (317)221-0915 or e-mail him at ACBROWN@AOL. COM.

Supreme battle looms over court appointments

By GEORGE E. CURRY For NNPA

The unexpected resignation of Supreme Court Justice San- | dra Day O’Connor creates a vacancy that, once filled, can radically shift the court to the right on social issues. And that can ultimately spell disaster for such issues as affirmative action, women’s rights, civil liberties, the death penalty and employees’ rights. O’Connor, the first Supreme Court appointment made by Ronald Reagan, was the court’s swing justice, with her vote helping constitute a 5-4 majority on many important issues. Court watchers had expected ailing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to retire after this session - and that’s still apossibility - buthe was expected to be replaced by another conservative, meaningthe 9-member court would remain evenly divided, with four liberals, four conservatives and O’Connor darting back and forth between each camp. However, the resignation of the court’s swing voter means that George W. Bush’s first court appointee could instantly shift the balance of power, creatingaconservative majority. This appointment will force Bush, who has tried to have it both ways on some

issues, to choose between his rhetoric of compromise and cooperation and his pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the court’s most conservative members. To understand O’Connor’s impact, all one has to do is examine some of the 5-4 Supreme Court decisions. She cast the deciding vote in: • Grutter vs. Bollinger, affirming the right of universities to use affirmative action in admissions. • Brown vs. Legal Foundation of Washington, maintaining legal funding for the poor. • Rush Prudential HMO vs. Moran, allowing people enrolled in HMOs to seek a second medical opinion. • Hunt vs. Cromartie, upholding the right of states to consider race as a factor in redistricting. • Brentwood Academy vs. Tennessee Secondary Athletic Association, affirming a lower-court decision that civil rights laws apply to associations regulating intercollegiate sports. Even before O’Connor announced her decision, the battle lines were drawn and multi-million dollar campaigns had already been launched. Progressives were campaigning to persuade the public -and President Bush - that only mainstream jurists should be appointed to the lifetime appointments on the court. Conservatives were eager to avoid a defeat similar to

1987 attack that blocked the elevation of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and the narrow (52 votes) and bitter confirmation of Clarence Thomas in 1991, formed Alliance Defense Fund, a consortium of conservative Christian organizations. Even more important, they set in motion a campaign aimed at making sure the next Supreme Court selection will consistently side with conservatives. Upset that Justice David H. Souter, a Reagan appointee, consistently votes with the more liberal wing of the court, conservatives have developed a rallying cry: “No more Souters.” Bush’s conservative base is pushingfor a strong conservative who will not disappoint them. A research paper by People for the American Way observes: “...Right-wing activists have turned their harshest fire not on the court’s more moderate justices but on two conservative justices who frequently forge majorities on the most important cases before the court - Justices O’Connor and Kennedy. A number of far-right leaders have harshly criticized these two justices, going so far as to call for their impeachment. “In an April newsletter, Focus on the Family’s Janies Dobson called Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy “the most dangerous man in America,” and demanded that he be impeached “along with (Justices) O’Connor, Ginsberg [sic], Souter, Breyer, and Stevens.”

Despite such radical views, White House officials have acknowledged that they are sharing the names of several potential nominees past Dobson and other conservative groups for their review. Some senators are urging Bush to select a nominee who will enjoy broad bipartisan support. They note that Sandra Day O’Connor was ap-proved99-0 in 1981, Anthony Kennedy, 97-0 in 1988, David Souter 90-9 in 1990, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 96-3 in 1993 and Steven G. Breyer 87-9 in 1994, the last time there was a vacancy. So far, Bush does not seem to be striking a conciliatory tone. “The nation deserves, and I will select, a Supreme Court justice that Americans can be proud of,” Bush said. “The nation also deserves a dignified process of confirmation in the United States Senate, characterized byfair treatment, afair hearing and a fair vote.” Whether the nominee gets that kind of reception, will depend on whether Bush is able to break the hold the far right has on his administration and nominate a mainstream candidate acceptable to both Democrats and Republicans. George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSA. com. He appears on National Public Radio (NPR) three times a week as part of “News andNotes withEd Gordon.”To contact Curry, go to his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.

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