Dennis Plants writes: I would suspect that you are very empathetic to individuals that are either dismissed or persecuted based on preconceived ideas that others may have. In light of this, I have one last question for you Doug. Whereas you appear to take such great exception to what Rev Terrill has written and you seem so willing to take the conclusions that Booker, the MSR and Ron Edwards came to at face value, did it ever occur to you to pick-up the phone and call Rev Terrill to learn what his true intention is? Or does that not matter to you? How would you define this type of action in one word?
Michelle responds: The same can be said about you. You appeared to have judged Booker Hodges on statements he made on MTN, about CP Samuels. Have you taken the time to call Mr. Hodges to see what he meant? What his true intentions were? All of your emails have condemned him. Was he wrong? Yes. Could he have meant something else? Yes. If one was to listen to the things you have said about CP Samuels, one would come to the conclusion that he, too, would take issue with condemning the whole family, as Tyrone Terrell would have us do. Accountability seems to always be the key word used. Since some people tend to lump African-American people together, then judging one sometimes means judging all. Why do we only asked for accountability, publicly, in the African-American community? I want drunk drivers held accounbtable, but the courts seem to tap them on the wrist. I want child molesters held accountable, but more of them are released into the African-American community, and impoverished communities, then any where else in the city. I want those who sell cocaine to get the same prison sentences as those who sell crack, beacuse their crime, like the street corner crack dealer still erodes the community, but they don't get the same amount of jail time. I want public officials to be held accountable when they come to my community asking for my vote, but fail to deliver what they promised to get my vote. As to the statements by Greg Reinhart, on the subject of General Mills, the city said that the STOP program is owned by General Mills. Thereby paying Wexler to put together a program, that I as an upstanding citizen, was not allowed to give input to. They did not call a meeting in my community. If they did, it was not an open community meeting that invited the voice of all. I'm told that Wexler is being paid between $250,000 and $500,000 for the STOP program. Please correct me if I am wrong. Wexler is from out of state, making a plan for a community without meeting the people who live in that community. I know he met with some, but there was never an open community meeting called, to allow the residents to speak. Who did he meet with? Our SAFE team took the time to meet with us, why couldn't he? Wexler is being paid to tell police officers how to do what they do daily? I have live here through 5 police chief's. All with the same plan, but a different name. Why does it not work? Because those involved in the planning aren't the ones living in the heart of the problem. Wexler didn't even bother to meet with the NAACP, the Urban League, and I'm told he refused to meet with the full PCRC. But based on all of the emails on this topic, it is clear that the target of the STOP program, for some, are African-Americans. Every plan tends to displace crime, rather than solve it. Why? Because crime is inevitable in our society. Involving grassroots people in the process is what you need to make change. Empowering the people and making jobs available to impoverished areas will make progress. People tend to respect what they own. As many of you may remember, people in the minority community came together, in a federal lawsuit against MPHA, HUD and the city in the Hollman case. Many of you know it as the northside projects. Homes that were sinking into the ground. I had the opportunity to walk through some of the houses. The residents couldn't even put food on the table or kitchen counter, because it would slide off. You see, the homes were lopsided. MPHA and HUD knew this, yet they continued to allow people to live in those conditions, while collecting federal dollars for each family forced to live there. Well, the residents won the fight, only to be relocated. Beautiful homes built off of their fight, only to be sold to the highest bidder. When housing saw that the tenants were going to win the law suit they switched sides and joined the tenants and the NAACP. In that case an outside firm was brought in to control the rebuilding of that area. Minneapolis is a highly educated city. We couldn't find architect, of any race, in our own state? The group brought in with the Hollman building plan will own the property in the Hollman area until right about the time it starts to sink again. People of color were trained to be hired in the building process only to not be hired when the time came. You see, the money is brought into our community, unfortunately we are the only ones not getting rich. It is easy to say do what you can with what you have, when there is nothing in our community that would fit that description. Michelle Hill Cleveland REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
