Urban Views (03-18-04) Clarence Hightower, President/CEO
Empowerment Zone Dollars: Fact or Fiction? A few years ago, the City of Minneapolis applied for and was granted Empowerment Zone designation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Along with this designation came significant dollars to improve the life and lot of Minneapolis residents by revitalizing communities. To justify the need for such a designation, the City of Minneapolis included in their proposal the following language: Economic disparity by race is perhaps the most significant problem facing Minneapolis today. In Minneapolis, people of color are disproportionately represented among the economically disadvantaged. People of color living in Minneapolis are impoverished at rates higher than any other city in the country, and Minneapolis has one of the highest economic disparity ratios in the country, especially between white children and children of color. Consider the following statistics: The Twin Cities has the highest rate of poverty for people of color in the 25 most populous metropolitan areas Minneapolis has the highest rate of African American unemployment of any metropolitan area at 27.5 percent but one of the smallest African American populations in the country The unemployment rate for workers of color is higher than for whites, even though workers of color participate in the work force at a lower rate than whites Poverty rates among people of color are six times greater than that for the white population in the region The African American child poverty rate is 49.5 percent in Minneapolis. The white child poverty rate is 9.7 percent. Minnesota ranks fourth in the country for disparities in child poverty rates based on race The statewide high school drop out rate for Minnesota is 19.2 percent. In Minneapolis, however, 89.6 percent of Native American students. 65.6 percent of African American students Clearly, this city's designation was born on the misery of African Americans in Minneapolis. Now, because of the designation, dollars did flow. On Monday, March 15, there was a forum held at the Minneapolis Urban League to talk about how African Americans have benefited from the city's EZ designation. Some troubling facts emerged. First, there has been $24 million committed to the City of Minneapolis. The City of Minneapolis has spent or pledged $18 million. The remaining $6 million has to be spent by 2009. The question that I have is, if $18 million has been spent to revitalize urban communities in Minneapolis, then how have African Americans benefited from this multi-million dollar investment? Kim Havey, Executive Director of the Empowerment Zone, stated that the poverty rate among African Americans in Minnesota has dropped by 60% as a by-product of having Empowerment Zone dollars working on its behalf. Mr. Havey also stated that, of the $18 million spent, $13.8 million, or 77%, has been spent to support African Americans. Further, he alleges that $4.14 million dollars, or 23%, went directly to organizations headed by African Americans. I am troubled by these statements. I'm troubled that the figure of $13.8 million that Mr. Havey claims was spent to support African Americans includes $4.7 million given to Heritage Park, because "there will be African Americans living there." If there are more instances like this one factored into the $13.8 million figure, it must be concluded that the benefit to African Americans that Mr. Havey speaks about is hugely a 'benefit by association.' The Empowerment Zone produced a document that lists every organization that has received Empowerment Zone dollars. I took the liberty to go through their own document, trying to identify the $4.14 million that went directly to organizations headed by African Americans. Going through the list, I was able to find 11 organizations that were headed by African Americans that received dollars. According to Mr. Havey's own information, the following organizations received $1.1 million, not $4.14 million: Siyeza ($184,000), Summit OIC ($134,000), Harvest Prep ($25,000), Hollywood Dance Studio ($31,000), Mad Dads ($75,000), North High School ($125,000), Pilot City ($90,000), Sabathani ($98,000), The City, Inc. ($138,000), Turning Point ($139,000), Minneapolis Urban League ($103,000). Now, clearly I could have missed someone that Mr. Havey included. My point, brothers and sisters, is that these dollars came to the City of Minneapolis to improve the lives of African Americans and other low income minority groups. Efforts towards improving those lives should not be based merely on association, they should be direct. More minority directed jobs, increased minority training, minority start-up businesses, are examples of direct efforts. Certainly $18 million could and should improve the "life stake" of a whole lot of folks of color. That's why I am calling for a thorough accounting of how these dollars have directly benefited the African American community and other communities of color! http://www.mul.org/urbanviews.cfm Posted by Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. 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