Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 November 2005 — Page 8

PAGE A8

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005

EDITORIAL

Democrats seem to be off to good election start

By SHANNON WILLIAMS Recorder Editor

Well if the two governorship wins in New Jersey and Virginia are any indication of how Democrats will fare in next year’s local and Congressional races as well as the 2008 presidential race, then we’re off to a good start. Sen. John Corzine won New Jersey’s governor’s seat while Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine won in Virginia, both are Democrats and both ran very strong and aggressive campaigns - something Democrats across the country have lacked in recent races. Hopefully the vigorous and insistent campaigns that Corzine and Kaine ran will ignite a flicker that will evolve into a ferocious flame that Democrats will use to gain control of future offices. The chances for Democrat-controlled offices are rather good and certainly obtainable. On a local level, Republication legislators have done enough damage with ineffective proposals and legislation to be booted out as the House majority. The key is strong and effective campaigning from Democrats. The same is true on a congressional level. Republicans have supported key items on the president’s agenda that would stifle the rights of women, eliminate key components for Blacks such as Affirmative Action, and turn this country into more of a dictatorship than it already is today. With powerful people like the ever-so-popular Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid, who have proven leadership skills and the trust of the community as a whole, Democrats can easily control Congress. In addition to Corzine and Kaine’s opponents, another Republican that didn’t fare so well at the polls was Arnold Schwarzenegger. While Schwarzenegger’s position doesn’t end for another two years, the outcome may be inevitable. The Hollywood actor turned governor of the state of California presented four ballot measures or initiatives that were all defeated by voters. See what I meant when I said Schwarzenegger’s end is inevitable. What I think the case is in Indiana as well as the rest of the country is that the public is tired. We’re tired of all the warfare and frivolous proposals that aren’t even worth the discussion they get, nor the paper used to document them. Many Americans were fooled in the 2004 elections, for others, who felt strongly about their candidates, their votes were ignored, discarded, or simply “lost.” Americans now understand how they’ve been bamboozled by this country’s leadership and finally they’re tryingto do something about it. People are becoming more involved in the political process because they’re opposed to the direction this country is headed. They understand how senseless war is, they know how unintelligent the president is, and they are fully aware of the fact that things aren’t going to change until people in this country unite and institute a form of change ourselves. Last week the Recorder JAWS interns participated in Conner Prairie’s Follow the North Star program that allowed participants the opportunity to experience what it might have been like to travel on the Underground Railroad in 1836. Almost immediately you’re transformed from a 21st century citizen to a runaway slave, and quite obviously, the transformation is a humbling, yet realistic portrayal that gives an inside look at what so many of our ancestors had to go through. It’s also very eye-opening. When I left Conner Prairie, myself, another trainer and the students made it back to our van and immediately checked cell phones for missed calls and messages, I couldn’t help but realize how truly blessed we all are to be living the lives we have - no matter how difficult times can become. What we experienced at the 90-minute living history museum wasn’t even a 10th of what our ancestors were subjected to years ago. I strongly recommend that as many people as possible visit Follow the North Star. The experience is one that families should definitely share together. It’s something that will certainly make one stop, think and remember the struggles of the past. And it will be incredibly good for today’s teens who oftentimes take so much for granted. Be sure to see what JAWS students had to say about their experiences on pages A6 and A7.

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JUSTTELLIN' IT Countdown to the 2006 elections; let the campaigns begin

By AMOS BROWN III

It’s a year until the Nov. 7, 2006, elections. Time for Indy’s senior political newspaper columnist to return to the game of covering the upcoming election season. Statewide, the 2006 elections are seemingly a onesided Republican affair. Sen. Richard Lugar will run for an unprecedented sixth term. He already has over $3 million in campaign cash and his campaign office has been open and active most of the year. So far, no Democrat has reared his or her head to meet the Lugar juggernaut. You mean to tell in me a state of 6.2 million people, Democrats can’t find anyone to run against Lugar? This race could be more one sided than Lugar’s 2000 race against a valiant David Johnson. The absence of credible Democratic candidates extends to the three Indiana statewide offices up in 2006 - secretary of state, state auditor and state treasurer. Incumbent Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s support of the heinous Voter ID law makes him vulnerable if a Democrat could be found who could tap into the anger Voter ID has in the Black community and the growing anger Voter ID will have among white senior citizens who are beginning to realize that their precious right to vote is being threatened. But no Democrat has stepped forward to run. State Treasurer Tim Berry was drafted by Gov. Mitch Daniels to run for auditor, succeeding Connie Nass who’s term limited. Daniels then recruited Vanderburgh County (Evansville) GOP honcho Richard Mourdoch to run for treasurer. That created an all-men’s club GOP ticket, one vulner-

able to a Democratic counter ticket which would include women and minorities that could tap into growing Hoosier discontent at the policies of the Daniels administration. Three weeks ago, a respected national polling firm - Survey USA - evaluated Gov. Daniels’ job performance. That poll, released Oct. 17, said 50 percent of Hoosier adults disapproved of the job Daniels is doing, while 44 percent approve and 6 percent aren’t sure. Hoosiers in Northern and Southern Indiana and the counties surrounding the Indianapolis metro strongly disapproved ofthe governor’s performance. Only folks in Indy think Daniels is doing a goodjob. Of the organizations that conduct statewide polls in Indiana, Survey USA has consistently surveyed an accurate number of African Americans. In their poll, 7 percent of respondents were African American and they overwhelmingly disapprove of Daniels performance 66 percent to 27 percent, with 7 percent not sure. Nationally, President Bush is in big political trouble as every national public opinion poll shows at least 60 percent of Americans currently disapprove of the president’s policies. And nearly 70 percent believe that our country is “on the wrong track.” Given the depth of voter discontent with Daniels and Bush, there’s an opportunity for Democrats running statewide. But they can’t wait until summer. They must start campaigning around Indiana, including our Afri-can-American communities, by the first of the year. Democrats could learn from President Bill Clinton’s speech Sunday night at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. Clinton received thunderous ovations from the jammed crowd every time he outlined issues where Democrats can oppose Republicans while standing for something. (The only Indy political

columnist present, I’ll have more to say about Clinton’s Butler speech next week). The campaign in Indianapolis/Marion County next year will be a brutal, contentious one. It will be a battle between Gov. Daniels and Republicans against Mayor Bart Peterson and Democrats. You must understand that all the sniping and fighting this year, from Indyworks, to law enforcement consolidation, to last week’s mess over Indianapolis being forced to jack up property taxes to pay for state inefficiency in handling adoptive and foster children is all part of the Republicans tooth and nail drive against Peterson and Democrats making gains in the 2006 and 2007 elections here. The Republicans’ great 2006 local hope is Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, who’s running for a second term against Democrat Melina Kennedy, a former deputy mayor. I’m not sexist, butthe reality is that Kennedy’s biggest hurdle will be that she’s a woman. Since the days of Steve Goldsmith, Marion County voters have voted for prosecutors who act, talk and walk tough. To combat that, the competent Kennedy has to come across tough like Golda Meir, Sojourner Truth and the rough and tough woman president on the new TV show “Commander in Chief.” But, it’s not written that the Marion County prosecutor must be a man. Kennedy could have a chance by dealing with the Achilles heel in the Prosecutor’s race - child support. Despite progress in obtaining back child support dollars, there continues to be serious problems in the administration of child support in this state and county. Deserving moms keep getting the bums rush on getting their money. Responsible dads, who are meeting their responsibilities and obligations, are treated by prosecutors, judges and the system as

irresponsible scoundrels. Besides being rough and tough, Marion County needs a prosecutor who’ll finally fashion a child support system that works for responsible parents and truly nails the irresponsible ones. Despite the feud between Mayor Peterson and Sheriff Frank Anderson, Anderson is running for re-election and the Republicans don’t have a credible candidate running against him. County Clerk Doris Ann Sadler, reviled by political pros for her botched handling of the 2003 and 2004 elections, isn’t running for re-election. Sadler tried to run for state auditor, but Gov. Daniels and state GOP leaders nixed her candidacy in favor of Tim Berry. So, Sadler’s out and Democrat Beth White, who nearly won the seat four years ago, is running again. County Auditor Martha Womacks is term limited and an African-American Democrat, state Sen. Billie Breaux, is running for the open seat. I hear rumors there are Republicans runningfor Marion County sheriff, county clerk and auditor. But despite the fact that Marion County is 27 percent African-Ameri-can, those GOP candidates haven’t informed Black media of their candidacies. This columnist has a new policy for the upcoming election season. If a candidate is not informing Black media of his or her candidacy or campaign, there’ll be no mention of them in this space. If our quarter million strong Afri-can-American community is not important to Republican Marion County candidates, this column will reflect those candidates disrespect of our community. Let the election games/ campaign begin. 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].

Blueprint for rebuilding a Black college

By GEORGE E. CURRY For NNPA

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Eightyears ago, Knoxville College, my alma mater, lost its accreditation for the first time since the historically Black institution was established in 1875. Usually, the loss of accreditation is a death knell for colleges, with most of them closing their doors within three years after falling from grace. But Knoxville College has refused to die. And how it has remained alive without accreditation since 1997 can provide a future blueprint for saving troubled historically Black colleges. And they are worth saving. Black colleges represent only 3 percent of the nation’s colleges and universities yet produce 24 percent of all African Americans earning bachelors degrees. Black colleges represent nine of the top 10 colleges that graduate students who go on to earn a Ph.D. And of the top five colleges that produce students who are accepted into medical school, four of them - 80 percent - are historically Black colleges. Although it has never had a journalism program, Knoxville College has produced numerous notablejournalists. They include: Vernon Jarrett, the first Black columnist for the Chicago Tribune and former president ofthe National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Barbara Rodgers, anchor for KPIX in San Francisco; myfirstprofessionaljob was as a reporter for Sports Illustrated and Ralph Wiley, also wrote for SI and appeared regularly on ESPN. I served as president of the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), making Knoxville College the only institution to have had its alumni head both NABJ and ASME.

That’s just Knoxville’s track record in journalism. Similar lists could be compiled for other fields and would include the late “Jake” Gaither, the legendary Florida A&M football coach who won more than 85 percent of his games over a 25-year period; Dr. Edith Irby Jones, the first female president of the National Medical Association; Tuskegee, Ala., Mayor Johnny Ford and Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Grady Jackson. After KC lost its accreditation, Board Chair Jack LeFlore recruited a half-dozen of us to join the board in an effort to regain the school’s footing. In addition to rejuvenating the board of trustees, the next step was to reinvent Knoxville College. This, perhaps more than anything else, is why it’s still surviving today. Prodded by LeFlore, Knoxville College became and remains the nation’s only historically Black work college. Students can attend college for $5,600 per academic year. Of that amount, students pay a total of $2,800, with the other $2, 800 subsidized by grants and income from businesses that participate in the work program. When students graduate, they begin their careers virtually debt-free (For more information on the work program, go to www.knoxvillecollege.edu or contact the admissions office at 865/524-5502, 524-5625 or 524-6500). At the time KC lost accreditation, we had an acting president. To find a new president, the board hired a search firm for the first time in its history. For the first five years or so, the new president performed admirably. Without going into details, suffice it to say that her leadership style became one of several contentious issues. So, three months ago, after an 8-year run, the board of trustees decided Knoxville College would be better served by selecting a new person to guide the institution. I am chairing a board committee that is

in the process of hiring a search firm and a new president is expected to be in place by next September. The change in leadership has transformed the atmosphere on campus. Students and faculty praised the decision, inactive alumni have stepped up their contributions and we are now able to attract people to the board who were unwilling to serve before. Recent board additions include Gregory L. Turner, chief financial officer of Oak Ridge Laboratory; Darrell Akins, former chief executive officer of the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and vice chairman ofthe Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association; Rev. James Foster Reese, a nationallyknown pastor and the first director of the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) Racial and Ethnic Ministry Unit, and Nancy Cochran, a local business leader. Under the leadership of Ronald Damper, a Chicago businessman, the board is now stronger and more diverse than ever. We’re not yet out of the woods. The national alumni association has launched a $1 million campaign for the nextyear (ithas raised almost $300,000 of that goal in three months), the Tom Joyner Foundation continues to come to our aid, student recruitment is being expanded and a team is in place to focus on regaining accreditation. Even without accreditation, KC students have been able to enroll in Ivy League graduate schools and get hired by Fortune 500 companies. If we’ve been able to stay alive eight years without accreditation, just imagine what Knoxville College will be like after we regain it. 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 and Notes with Ed Gordon. ” To contact Curry, go to his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.

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