A Point of View

Gwendolyn Grant
President & CEO
Urban League of Greater Kansas City
September 28, 2007

Something is Wrong in America

These are disturbing times for Civil Rights in America. It seems that people who should know better have thrown good judgment to the wind. After the remarkable progress of the 20th Century, in the first decade of the 21st Century we seem to be regressing.

In Jena, Louisiana six black students are being persecuted and facing jail for a fracas about nooses being hung after black students sat under a tree, which had been reserved for whites. The white students involved were merely suspended from school.

I thought these battles were won in the Sixties when courageous young black people were beaten and jailed for trying to eat at segregated lunch counters across the nation. Incarcerating black youth for defending themselves and their rights while whites are merely suspended from school is intolerable and an indication that something is wrong in this country.
The recent appointment of Frances Semler to the Parks Board is also a disturbing indication that years of progress can be eroded with one insensitive act. Ms. Semler is a member of the Minuteman, an anti-immigration group with a history of vigilantism. Civil Rights organizations, church leaders, and institutions devoted to racial harmony have called for her removal because a person who supports racial ostracism and vigilante tactics should not serve on the prestigious public board responsible for managing the City’s parks and recreation facilities.

Although the Mayor said he would not have appointed her had he known she was a member of the Minuteman, he has steadfastly refused to remove her citing her free speech rights and his principles as the bases for his position.

The possible loss of the national NAACP and La Raza conventions has not changed his mind. These organizations have been criticized and the Mayor praised for their respective positions in several letters published in the daily newspaper. I don’t understand how anyone can praise the Mayor for standing on his principles but criticize the Civil Rights organizations for acting on theirs.

In my view, the Semler appointment was a mistake that should be corrected as soon as possible. People who support hate mongers and vigilantes should not serve on public boards. Something is wrong when citizens of this City think its ok for such a polarizing figure to serve on a public policy making board.

The increase in racial profiling reported by the Attorney General is disturbing. According to data compiled from law enforcement agencies across the State, African Americans are routinely stopped by police at a disproportionate rate. That is inexcusable and should be intolerable. Something is wrong in a society when such practices are accepted.
It is also wrong for an aide to the Governor to suggest that all or most Mexican workers on a job site are “illegals” and for the Governor himself to suggest that the Highway Patrol request proof of citizenship from all Latinos stopped on public highways.

However, in a world where the President of the School Board and his ineffectual Superintendent are allowed to terminate a long and successful contractual relationship with a popular before and after school service provider and give that contract to an organization headed by that School Board President, I guess anything is acceptable.