If the above number referred to the Richter Scale, I’d be talking about an earthquake of biblical proportions. But the above number is a type of “earthquake” that denotes a severe crisis in America’s 11th largest city.
The 21.3 is the percentage of African-Americans in Indianapolis’ workforce who were jobless in 2010. That’s the highest Black unemployment rate in this city since the Depression.
The Census American Community Survey (ACS) reported that of a Black labor force of 117,440; 24,972 were out of work last year.
A decade ago, the 2000 Census said 10.2 percent of our city’s Black community was jobless. Since that time, the labor force population, those over 16 ready and able to work increased by 23.5 percent. Despite the poor economy, the actual number of African-Americans employed in the city/county increased 8.3 percent to 92,468. But unemployed grew by 157.6 percent.
The depressing and maddening thing about the new data is the cavalier reaction to it by this city’s institutions.
Mayor Greg Ballard virtually ignored the news. The mayor didn’t even acknowledge other Census ACS data showing deterioration in household income and a corresponding increase in poverty in Indianapolis.
The city’s mainstream news media also treated the Census news of record Black unemployment as something not worth reporting on.
Last Friday, trying to galvanize action, I invited both Mayor Ballard and Democratic mayoral candidate Melina Kennedy on our WTLC-AM (1310) “Afternoons with Amos” program to react and comment on the Black unemployment crisis. I also asked representatives of some key community institutions to discuss the crisis as well.
Ballard sent his communications director Marc Lotter who frankly stunk up the joint by flatly refusing to even acknowledge that 21.3 percent Black unemployment is a crisis.
It was puzzling that on an issue involving the Black community and neighborhoods, why didn’t the mayor directly talk to our Black community about the crisis? Why didn’t Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams speak for the mayor?
Williams has been noticeably incommunicado the past few months. He’s been so invisible I thought I needed to check some milk cartons to see if his photo was among the missing persons.
Democratic candidate Kennedy was direct and forceful saying that we were in a “crisis.” She said that beginning with her January speech announcing her candidacy, she has repeatedly talked about “25 percent Black unemployment” in Indianapolis.
Kennedy said mayoral leadership and leadership from foundations like Lilly Endowment and Central Indiana Community Foundation is critical to deal with the joblessness crisis.
At least Kennedy offered solutions, while Ballard’s spokesman actually said the administration’s increased spending with Black-owned business would help increase prosperity in the Black community. (Do they really believe that malarkey)?
Meanwhile, unlike Ballard/Lotter, Tammie Barney, senior vice president of public policy for the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, and Jay Geshay, United Way senior vice president/community planning both agreed that 21.3 percent Black unemployment in Indianapolis is a crisis. But both seemed paralyzed at what to do.
Geshay and Barney talked about the importance of education. But, improving K-12 education is a long term solution. It doesn’t address the immediate issue.
It is true that Black joblessness among Indianapolis young adults is horrid, with 63.6 percent unemployment among Black 16 to 19-year-olds and 24.4 percent of Black 20 to 24-year-olds.
But, those ages comprise just 26.5 percent of the city’s Black jobless. The majority are adults over 25, especially adults 25 to 54 where the unemployment rate is 19.6 percent.
Barney and Lotter talked up the city’s existing job training efforts. The city’s job training system has undergone more name changes than create effective job training programs, especially for longtime laid off workers needing new skills and training for the jobs of today.
In the past four years, those job training efforts have been scattershot, inconsistent and not dealt with the problem. The city’s summer youth jobs program touched just a few hundred, despite 6,631 unemployed in those age groups.
Both Barney and Geshay, along with the Indianapolis Urban League’s Director of Education and Housing Mark Russell told the community that a meeting needed to be called to deal with the problem.
Russell offered that the National Urban League’s recently announced blueprint to Put Urban America Back to Work could be used as a blueprint for Indianapolis to take action.
And that brought up the big problem.
In past Indianapolis crisis, from Michael Taylor, to township busing, the 42nd and College mini-riot and other crisis throughout the years, it was always mayoral leadership, along with strong leadership from the business and civic community that helped Indianapolis through its crisis.
Today, with our city facing record high Black joblessness, not only is there NO leadership from the current mayor, but there’s a paucity of leadership from the city’s movers and shakers.
That’s not how world class cities solve their crises.
What I’m hearing in the streets
For months, the Ballard campaign has proclaimed their candidate ahead “by double digits” in this campaign. Their hype turned to dust last week.
The Marion County Democratic Party paid for a poll by local veteran researcher James Riggs. This poll, with a sample 22 percent Black, showed Melina Kennedy at 40 percent, Mayor Ballard at 38 percent; 21 percent undecided, margin of error 4 percent.
Next day, the Ballard campaign unleashed the negative TV haymaker with an ad complaining that Melina Kennedy raised taxes, including hotel, motel taxes that Mayor Ballard raised two years ago to bail out the Capital Improvement Board so we could give millions to the Pacers.
One tax Kennedy’s is accused of touting occurred when she was on maternity leave.
For an incumbent mayor to have just 38 percent in a poll with a fifth of voters’ undecided this late in the campaign isn’t a good sign. Ballard’s nowhere near a double digit lead. This race is close. Kennedy can win, IF she gets strong turnout in our African-American community.
And if Ballard keeps ignoring and dissing our community he will lose.
See ‘ya this weekend at the Classic and here next week.
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
