It is unfortunate that the article had to focus on the spat between the Mayor and Evelyn Neely, because that was not the focus of the meeting. I understand, however, that Blake really had no choice but to center the story there.
I hope people do not forget that the anger expressed last night is less about the actual cuts than about fair and open government. In fact, more than one person expressed the opinion that the Commission should figure out what it wants from the organizations and if they cannot perform then they should not get the money. However, there was much frustration from the community on what those expectations are. And I would point out that we were asked that question directly and not a single one of us elected officials could provide an answer. So it is certainly fair to ask - if we are not clear on what we want from these organizations, how can we justify attacking them for not meeting our expectations?
In any case, it bears repeating that many people there agree that these two organizations could stand improvement, but they feel betrayed by the secrecy involved. They should feel that way. Any reasonable people would. My only beef with the meeting was that the format was not made clear, so I think the commissioners that voted to remove the funds justifiably felt surprised by the direct questions.
So What About Race?
The answer to this question fills many volumes written by people much smarter than me. But race is important. The fact that members of the community and Commission act so strongly against even discussing the issue is very telling to me. It is a statistical fact that black citizens are sentenced very differently than white citizens when accused of the same crime. The rate of actual prosecution of black citizens is higher than white citizens for the same crime. If you discount students, the vast majority of the poor in our community are people of color.
So you can only draw two conclusions - either black folks are just incompetent and their culture just can't function as well as white folks (and they need to work harder, get a job, etc) or there is a disparate impact visited upon them by our institutions.
Note that disparate impact does not require our leadership to be racist, just that the institutions favor people NOT of color. That is the point Ms. Neely was trying to make and that the Mayor missed. No one thought SHE was personally someone who does not LIKE black people.
Also, it is unfortunate that we cannot discuss the racial bias of our institutions without people immediately accusing the black community of wanting to blame everyone but themselves. The cycle of poverty exists because the culture is broken. And I have always said that the path out of that cycle can only be navigated by the people living in poverty. That is why empowerment is so vital. Why power sharing is critical. What those of us that do not have to face poverty every day have to do is clear the path for them - but we cannot drive the bus. Our disadvantaged communities MUST take personal responsibility for their own fate.
What I heard last night was a complete willingness to do that, but a strong belief that we as a government are standing in their way rather than clearing the path.
So What Now?
We need to do so many things. But for now, I will just say one thing. We need more meetings like the one last night, but with actual non-black people there too. It is so easy for people not living in communities caught in the poverty cycle to over-simplify the anger in the black community and throw out the clique race card accusation. So here is my challenge - rather than make the easy conclusions based on a single news story with an obvious angle, why don't we all begin the process of making TwoAthens OneAthens by having a real dialogue on why these frustrations are out there. Both sides have a lot to learn and a lot more in common than they realize.
I deeply regret the division that this has created on the Commission, but I see this dialogue as positive. We are FINALLY having "the talk." This has been festering since long before unification. Unification itself was sold as a solution to disparate impact. But now we cannot ignore the conversation. We can be accused of playing the race card, sure, but that is just a reaction spawned by a deeper insecurity. At the end of the day, this should not be about race, but about people. As we used to say when I was in trenches in Little Rock fighting the same cause in a different way -
It's about Democracy.
It's about People.
It's about Time.
2 comments:
So convenve a meeting to talk about racism in Athens. I'm white & I'll come. When Moore's Ford Memorial Committee held community dialogs they were very powerful. It helped me understand the powerful history of wrongdoing that still affects our black citizens.
As for Tuesday's meeting: when blacks folks convene a meeting and only invite black folks one gets the impression they do not want white folks to attend.
Just to remind folks, poverty in Athens is not a black or white problem, but one that impacts one in every three folks, many of whom are NOT African American.
Anyone who is disabled, a disturbing number of our elderly, and an alarming number of kids are in poverty, and it's not possible for those groups of people to "pull themselves" out of their plights.
Disabled folks are forced to live in poverty as a trade off for medical care. That's a systemic truth, and a brutal one that this government needs to look at. I don't know anyone living on SSI who would not love to tell Uncle Sam to keep the little over 600 dollars a month we're supposed to live on and try to make it w/when we're feeling well enough on part time work, even learn to work from home, on computer, start a part time business making crafts, or anything, anything that would give us choices AND medical care.
Most of us would never have wound up disabled if insurance companies hadn't raised our premiums and copays out of this world as soon as we started being sick. One thing people need to know is that something like 75% of people living in public housing are disabled.
Illness hits people of all races and classes, and I challenge anyone to keep working through numerous surgeries, mis-diagnosises, illnesses that flare over and over again, no matter what you do... unless you have family w/bottomless pits for pockets, your insurance company WILL drop you when you get sick, and since they know how much you earn, they will price you out to get rid of you if you are paying for your own insurance.
Then it doesn't take long. You can't work any of your 3 or 4 jobs, you miss more than one car payment, even though you used your insurance money when they raised it to almost 400 dollars a month to catch up on that, you live in asuch a poor neighborhood that the rates for auto insurance are astronomical. So you're paying more than your car is worth every single year just to keep it legal...
Then your home goes. At first, you try to rent a cheaper place, you get rid of everything of value you own, you mourn the doctors that will no longer see you w/out that blue cross blue shield, and start relying on the neighborhood health center.
If, like in my family, there's already a terminally ill person who's been struggling w/cancer for almost a decade, there IS no safety net for anyone new in the family to get sick. It's taking every resource in the family to care for the one who is sickest.
So, you apply for food stamps, and disability, and housing. You get a bus pass, you learn your way around to the various charities, where the soup kitchen is, and pray the next operation you're getting will make it possible to reclaim your life.
Or the next medication. Or Doctor. Or test. Oh, how we who are sick look to tests with hope.
Not knowing what is going on is worse than knowing, and every test seems to be a bubble of hope that pops, leaving nothing but more unanswered questions.
It's a hard world out here for anyone in these circumstances, and I'm tired, tired, tired of hearing it framed as an issue of race. It ain't. Period. It's an issue of greedy employers, who want you there 38 hours a week but not 40. Who, when you get there, do a great job, they justify your disgustingly low pay by saying "she's only part-time", and start listing all the other wonderful jobs you do to get by as if that is a defense for their exploitation of you.
Until legislators from local to state to federal levels get these simple facts, poverty is going nowhere. And greedy employers who care nothing for anyone but their own bottom lines will have access to care so that they don't have to nearly die several times before they qualify for disability. But their employees won't, not unless we MAKE the employers provide it, or do it some other way.
Sorry for that rant. I'm not signing this because I don't want to embarrass my family, whose financial circumstances I mentioned above. Mom passed on, so she is at peace now. It those of us who are left behind, ill and ignored, even by our fellow poor, unless it's convenient for them to mention us.
Poor, yes. White, yup. Trash? hardly. I am a child of the God of my understanding just like you, Elton. Hope you enjoy flying yourself over my little house, and sooth yourself w/how much more I could have, should have done, to keep from being born into this body, which doesn't work right, and will probably shorten my life even more now that food and gas and medicine copays have skyrocketed, even for those of us who are supposed to be cared for.
Stress triggers most illnesses, and worrying about every cent every day every month is about as stressful as it gets. Bravo for you for taking up for Heidi, I know she's not a racist, now, could you do something for me, and others like me, who face institutional racism from the EADC, HCDC and Athens Housing Authority every time we have the nerve to try to access traditionally African American resources?
Can you even imagine being the only young white woman living in Broad Acres? w/out a phone, a tv, a car, or a regular doctor? or the physical ability to carry groceries on the bus, when you can get your hands on them.
Thank heavens for the food bank of NEGA, they bring boxes of food to the community centers in the apartments twice a month. Without them, (full of fattening, unhealthy and white bread foods) I wouldn't be at all surprised to see rickets in Athens Clarke County. Not at all.
I knew I would soon die of despair, left to mold in an unairconditioned heat box, so I went to volunteer at the AHA, every day I could do it. They helped me find a window unit, taught me how to survive in that neighborhood, and once they realized I have skills, let me run their receptionist desk in their admissions and occupancy office. Staff would pick me up and take me home at lunch, some even fed me breakfast, under the pretext that they needed me to go pick it up for them, in their cars.
So there are kind people in the system, who know it is corrupt, and designed to the benefit of insurance companies and big pharm.
But they are few and far between, and so is housing and microenterprise loans for those of us who need it most.
Think about it. Please.
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