EF: Appointing an African-American chief would have the effect of
weakening the anti-police brutality movement
because an African-American chief would be much harder to criticize.
PS: There's some truth in what you say, Ed. A few years ago, when some
corporatists (centrist democrats of the Clinton mold) came close to
taking over Pacifica News, they deployed a few African American women to
do the dirty work of firing the few remaining lefties. When journalist
Alexander Cockburn cried foul in his biweekly column for The Nation, he
was accused of being racist and sexist.
Thankfully, most people in Minneapolis are willing and able look beyond
race and gender, even when the power elite exploits chronic and
persistent racism and sexism in order to uphold the status quo.
In the early nineties folks in Minneapolis frequently mentioned how proud
they were to be living in a city where its Mayor was a woman of color,
and its two most powerful council members were women (Jackie Cherryhomes,
President, and Joan Campbell, majority leader and chair of Ways and
Means). But several years later, when it finally became clear what a
mess these three politicians made, they were voted out of office with no
race or gender card being played.
Does this mean the new guard (which is more male, more gay) is better
than the old guard? Absolutely not. I've made this clear on this post
over and over again.
Truth is, the machine of power--a machine that has little regard for
planet Earth and our most vulnerable populations--is very strong. So
strong, that basically decent and honorable people like our former and
current mayor become seriously compromised to avoid getting crushed
beneath the wheel.
And this is where I part company with Carol Becker, who's recent
clarification I deeply appreciated. While its all very good to recruit
more women and minorities for elected public office and appointed to
postilions of greater power and prestige (e.g., Police Chief of a large
city), decent citizens, irregardless of race, gender or sexual
orientation, make a more profound impact in the streets, not the suites.
But this truth gets lost in our consumer-driven nation where most of us
have been taught that the responsibilities of citizenship begin and end
at the ballot box (and you've no right to complain if you refuse to
choose between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumber). Meanwhile the machine
persists at a more reckless pace. And as long if we can plaster black,
feminine or gay faces on the machine, so much the better for ruthless
global capitalism.
For example, we have a police officer of higher rank like Sharon Lubinski
who showed little regard for dissent in her handling of ISAG, but
so-called progressives and liberals, who claim to honor free speech,
didn't so much as bat an eye because the officer in charge was a lesbian,
the mayor a woman of color, and the most powerful council members women.
Diversity without dissent is meaningless.
BTW, thank you Dave Phiel for your comments regarding how William McManus
was recruited for the position of Minneapolis Police Chief. It puts my
mind at ease regarding the longevity issue of his current position.
Peter Schmitz CARAG
REMINDERS:
1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
before continuing it on the list.
2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html
For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
