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

PAGE AS

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2005

EDITORIAL

JUSTTELUN' IT

The gentrification of Martindale area By SHANNON WILLIAMS Recorder Editor

I’ve always been a big fan of Mayor Bart Peterson, but I have to disagree with his Martindale on the Monon initiative that will be in the Martindale/Brightwood area. The City of Indianapolis and the Martindale on the Monon development team celebrated an $800,000 grant that will help revitalize the impoverished area by building new homes. I wouldn’t have a problem with Martindale on the Monon if the new homes that they’re building were affordable homes - they’re not. Instead, the eight homes that have already been sold in this area range in price from $129,000 to $190,000. What the mayor and other officials are doing is offering current homeowners in this area, who generally live significantly below the poverty level, a minimal amount for their property, and then build on the land and sell it for 10 times the amount they originally paid the homeowner. To give you a sense of what I’m talking about, I’ll give a hypothetical example: Mary Homemaker has lived in the 1700 block of Yandes Street for 35 years. Her husband died, kids are grown and she’s collecting disability benefits from her former employer. City officials offer Homemaker $20,000 for her land. Thinking she’s never had such a huge amount of money at one time before, plus the pressures from officials, Homemaker signs on the dotted line. The city demolishes Homemaker’s house, builds a new home and sells it for $190,000. Before much time goes by, the “old” neighborhood is totally renovated with nice new homes and nice new families. The city is happy because it did what it set out to do, which was improve that particular area. Homemaker, however, isn’t so happy because she realizes that the $20,000 she received from her home really wasn’t that much after all - especially since her credit score had dropped over the years, and because she was on disability, her chances of owning a home she could afford were slim to none. Homemaker eventually rented a small house in a not-so-nice part of town, but felt that she could at least be stable there...that is until the city comes again. The purpose of this story is that if the mayor and city officials continue to built homes in underserved neighborhoods, but not make the new homes affordable to those in the area, the problem is not resolved. It’s resolved for that particular area, but it’s not resolved for the city and its poor residents. It’s as if a band-aid is placed on the affected area rather than giving it the stitches it truly needs. Martindale on the Monon is a fancy, fun, “it” term for gentrification. And regardless of how you say it, or how you look at it, gentrification is wrong. It’s unfair to the residents, many of whom can’t afford luxuries so many of us take for granted, let alone a $190,000 house. There have been instances where true affordable homes have been build inside areas that are reflective of the neighborhoods and its residents...and these homes have been properly maintained over the years. One division that comes to mind are the Oscar Robinson homes that were built in the midlate 1980s in the Brightwood neighborhood between the 2500 and 3000 blocks of Eastern, Tacoma, and Temple avenues. I often ride through this area to just see the neighborhood, and the Oscar Robinson homes as well as the older, pre-existing homes are still cared for nicely. Rather than just force someone out of their home, thinking they’d bring property values down, it’s nice to offer positive alternatives. You never know how someone values something as important as their own home... they just need an opportunity. That’s all the people in Martindale/Brightwood and other similar neighborhoods in this city want. An opportunity.

INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER DIREQORY

George P. Stewart

Marcus C. Stewart Sr.

Eunice Trotter

William G. Mays

Founder-Editor-

Editor-Publisher

Editor-in-Chief

Chairman-

Publisher

1925-1983

Publisher

Owner

1895-1924

1988-1990

1990-present

Publisher/General Manager. Carolene Mays Administrative Assistant Kelly Sankowski EDITORIAL Editor. Shannon Williams Staff Writer. Brandon A. Perry Ericka P. Thompson Copy Editor. Jack Sales ART & PRODUCTION Production Manager. Jeana M. L. Ouattara Senior Designer. John L. Hurst Jr. Designer. Jessica R. Holman Designer. Brandon M. West

ADVERTISING

Sales and Marketing Manager. LeRoy Lewis Classified Advertising Sharon L. Maxey Local Display Advertising Lisa Shoemake Rita J. Wise C. Denise Petty BUSINESS/CIRCULATION

Business Office Manager. Angela Kuhn Interim Controller. Arthur Carter Business Office Crystal Dalton Kay Toliver Shirl Williams Circulation Bruceil Mays

The Indianapolis Recorder encourages short, concise letters to the editor and opinion articles from the public. Letters and opinion articles will be used at the editor's discretion and are subject to editing. We will not guarantee publication of material received. We cannot guarantee dates of publication. Letters containing libelous or untrue statements will not be published. All letters and opinion articles must include a verifiable full name, address and telephone number. This information will not be published at the reguest of the writer. Letters and articles should be typed but will be accepted if handwriting is legible. (317) 924-5143 P.O. Box 18499, Indianapolis, IN 46218-0499 [email protected]

Bennett’s hateful words another example of GOP insensitivity

By AMOS BROWN III

William “Bill” Bennett, secretary J of education during the Reagan administration and drug czar during the first Bush K administration, ft was the original “compassionate” conservative. An educated, erudite, engaging conservative who seemed somewhat open minded and compassionate on issues of race and class. But Bennett, unmasked as a hypocrite when it was learned a year ago he liked to gamble while publicly condemning gambling, last week, in his role as talk show host, caused a hrestorm of controversy among African Americans. Some 115 stations carry the “Mornings with Bill Bennett” talk show, including Elkhart, South Bend, Lafayette, Bedford, and Princeton, Ind.; but, thankfully, not Indianapolis. Bennett’s last caller at the end of his three-hour program Sept. 28 was “Louis in Sarasota, Fla.” who charged that the number of “abortions that have happened since Roe vs. Wade could fund Social Security as we know it today.” Though disagreeing with Louis’ contention, Bennett spoke about the economic implications of abortion declaring that abook, Freakononics, argues that the nation’s declining crime rate and lower numbers of young people are due directly to abortion. Then Bill Bennett uttered the words that created a controversial chasm with African Americans, (emphasis added), “I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could - if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every Black baby in this country, and your crime rate

would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. As a talk show host myself, I know what sometimes happens when you get to a program’s final caller. You try to rush through to get off the air on time, often thinking about what you’re going to do when the show is over, rather than concentrating on what you’re doing and saying right then. That said, for Bennett, a strong pro-life advocate, to even publicly acknowledge the efficacy of abortion, is duplicitous, hypocritical and arrogant. In the space of a month, African Americans have been confronted with Republican insensitivity in the aftermath of Katrina, Bill Bennett’s reprehensible and dangerous comments and the outrageous rhetoric from HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who is Black, who told the Houston Chronicle that “New Orleans is not going to be as Black as it was for a long time, if ever again.” Once more major national Republican leaders are again demonstrating, for all to see and hear, that their rhetoric about reaching out to African Americans is just rhetoric when our community hears and sees the true colors of the GOP reflected in the public words of Bill Bennett and Alphonso Jackson. What I’m hearing in the streets Thisyear’s Circle City Classicwas a paradox. Attendance at the game was the third lowest of the 22 years. Yet, attendance at the Classic Parade was the highest ever. Usually, there are a couple of spots on the parade route where the crowd is slim. Not this year as crowds packed the parade route starting a block before the parade’s starting point at North and Pennsylvania and for nearly two

blocks past the parade’s end atNorth and Meridian. Despite parade crowds extending the route, the parade committee still insists that parade VIPs leave the route at North and Meridian, depriving hundreds from seeing the VIPs and celebrities. That must end in 2006! The Classic Parade and Executive Committees must extend the parade route to at least St. Clair and Meridian to accommodate the additional crowds coming for the parade. Reversing the Classic game’s declining attendance is a critical issue and this column will soon address the reasons for the decline and what should be done to reverse this disturbing trend. Not only was the Classic crowd down, but the number of VIPs in the Dome’s suites during the game was also down dramatically. One VIP who did attend was Bryan Monroe, new president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). NABJ will bring nearly 3,000 Black journalists to Indy next August. Monroe and NABJ Executive Director Tangie Newborn were the guests of this columnist and Radio One. Both journalists were impressed with Indy, especially Monroe who acknowledged this was his hrstvisitto America’s 16th largest African-American community. NABJ’s national convention always deals with topical issues of the media and minorities. So, expect that the media’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath will be a major topic at NABJ’s Indianapolis convention. See ‘ya next week! Amos Brown’s opinions are not necessarily those of the Indianapolis Recorder. You can contact him at (317) 221-0915 or e-mail him at [email protected].

Bennett remarks irresponsible in any light

By EDWARD L. WHEELER

Having worked with a variety of media over the past 30 years, I am fully aware of how comments can be misconstrued when they are taken out of context. I am therefore usually very careful not to get upset with remarks that are made when I do not know or did not hear the original context. However, the recent statement made by William Bennett requires me to make an exception to my efforts not to be offended by comments reportedly made by people in the public eye. I cannot imagine any context in which Bennett’s remarks could be acceptable. Whether hypothetical or theoretical, Bennett’s comments connecting a reduced crime rate with the aborting of all AfricanAmerican babies was unconscionable. Whatever Bennett’s point was, the reported purveyor of morals and values could have used a much less irresponsible example. That he chose to connect crime and Black babies as synonymous is, to use his own word, reprehensible.

In the aftermath of the horrific scenes of mostly African-American United States citizens begging for food and water at the Louisiana Super Dome and the New Orleans Convention Center, I am outraged that the former secretary of education would be so callous and demeaning of a whole race of people. As an African American, a Christian minister, and a human being, I find Bennett’s comments to be morally repugnant and worthy of condemnation by every American. In the face of my anger and disbelief, I am nevertheless hopeful that Bennett’s despicable remarks will give our community the opportunity, if not mandate, to resolve to work toward the day when every child will be valued as a human being and the American dream becomes reality. That is the best of America and Indianapolis, and that is worthy of our time, energy and resources. Edward L. Wheeler is president of Christian Theological Seminary.

PAP,F It Afi

CYAN MAHFMTA

Rl ATK