Usually the Black Expo edition of Just Tellin’ It talks about the state of our African-American community. But several issues surfaced this past week that are critically important.
Is gentrification and “ethnic cleansing” coming to Indy’s Westside?
So, our city which can’t afford to fix broken streets and sidewalks where you live, the same city that’s about to ask for tax increases for more cops, wants to spend $10 million to make New York and Michigan Streets, within the IUPUI campus, two-way instead of one-way.
It’s part of a plan where IU and the Lilly Endowment will invest $20 million to repair the 32-year-old Natatorium. Something the two groups should’ve done years ago.
The justification for the street repairs is so the Haughville and Stringtown neighborhoods can “connect with downtown.”
That’s code for gentrification! The start of a blatant force-out of the mostly Black and Hispanic residents of the neighborhoods immediately west of IUPUI in favor of “development” that’ll provide jobs for white suburbanites and housing for young trendy whites with money.
The neighborhoods west of IUPUI and White River are 43.7 percent Black, 21.8 percent Hispanic, and 29.5 percent non-Hispanic white. But Michigan Street is a dividing line of sorts. North of the street, the neighborhood’s 74.1 percent Black, 9.9 percent Hispanic, 7.3 percent white. South it’s 15.7 percent Black, 32.8 percent Hispanic and 50.1 percent white.
Regardless of the racial makeup, the scheme is nothing more than an effort by the Ballard administration to commence the ethnic cleansing of Stringtown and eastern Haughville. It should be opposed!
High-tech lynching of Glenda Ritz
Like spoiled preschoolers who don’t get their way, the State Board of Education clipped the wings of the popularly-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz. They voted 7-3 to sharply curtail her role as Board Chair and limited her powers of setting the agenda.
It wasn’t just Republican board members participating in what, to paraphrase Clarence Thomas, was a high-tech lynching of an uppity white woman. Democratic board members, especially the sole African-American member, Gary attorney Tony Walker, drove this reprehensible attack!
While some Blacks support education reforms, Walker’s attitudes on the board decry any meaningful board representation for Indiana’s 694,000 African-Americans.
Meanwhile staffers of the the Center for Education and Career Innovation (CECI), the rump education agency Gov. Mike Pence created by executive fiat, openly undercut Ritz by sending the U.S. Department of Education a memo openly attacking and nitpicking Ritz’ formal submission of waiver of the Federal No Child Left behind rules.
Speaking on our WTLC-AM1310 “Afternoons with Amos,” an angry but controlled Ritz blasted the State Board and CECI’s actions and said they, not her, imperil millions in federal money if the waiver’s denied.
Tony Bennett’s messes and Arlington High School crisis
As expected, the toothless Indiana Ethics Board and Indiana’s equally toothless Inspector General, gave former State Superintendent Dr. Tony Bennett a slap on the wrist for those serious violations of using state resources and staff for campaign purposes. Bennett got a $5,000 fine and a wink and a nod.
Several other top officials investigated by Inspector General Dave Thomas, who announced last week he’s leaving after 10 years of doing next to nothing, have been exonerated of ethics messes.
The only top ranking state official pilloried by Thomas was a Black female, Heather Bolejack in 2006. Every other top official given passes by Thomas were white. Draw your own conclusions.
Meanwhile another of Bennett’s messes now impacts Arlington High School.
Ed Power/Tindley, the charter school entity which operates Arlington as a “takeover” school, said last week that unless it gets more money they’ll walk away from running Arlington. The problem?
Tindley has to pay the utility and maintenance costs for a school building designed for 2,000-plus, but with only an enrollment of near 450. Without sufficient funding, Tindley would have to shortchange the quality education their charter schools provide.
When he was Superintendent, Bennett promised Tindley and other takeover operators that there’d be sufficient funds to do the job. After he was defeated, those promises became empty woof tickets. Hence the crisis.
Bizarrely, State Board member Tony Walker, was seemingly prepared to let Arlington, an all Black school, shut down.
Walker worked briefly in the late 1990’s for Congresswoman Julia Carson. Julia would be livid over how unrepresentative of our community and people Walker’s become.
The AK-47 WAS legal
Everyone thought the weapon that killed IMPD Officer Perry Renn was illegal; that the alleged shooter Major Davis Jr., had a violent criminal record.
The facts are far different as Davis’ mother bought the gun legally in 2010. Davis had some arrests for non violent drug possession and deal – all misdemeanors and one misdemeanor conviction in 2008, with sentence and probation served. He had no arrests since 2010.
If Davis had dropped the gun when police asked, there’d been no charges.
The real issues: military, high-powered weapons have no business in our city.
Final thoughts of a somber week
When an IMPD officer is severely wounded or killed on duty, Eskenazi Hospital needs to have a system to separate the scores of law enforcement folks and the suspect’s family who arrive at the hospital. Disrespect to any family shouldn’t occur during those tragic circumstances.
I hope we never lose another IMPD officer in the line of duty. But if we do, and that officer is African-American or Hispanic, I hope Channels 6, 8, 13 and 59 devotes the exact amount and quality of coverage they devoted to the passing of Officers Bradway and Renn. My community’ll be watching.
Your Recorder WILL be at Black Expo, despite those clueless Expo board members that didn’t want them there. I’ll be there too. See ‘ya there and here next week!
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
