The best thing about this race is that the African American community has produced two viable and experienced candidates for this office. How they got there, i.e. redistricting, is another subject and as far as I can see, not the fault of either. The fact is they are running against each other, which ids their right, and both have the potential to be a good representative for this ward.
The saddest part of this race is that the only things they seem to argue about is who is more African American and who loves black people more. This is a ward that is desperate for attention when it comes to development that will bring money into it, but nobody seems to give a darn. This is a ward made up of many different races, not just African Americans, and nobody seems to care (check out the Star Tribune article about Hmong gang activity and the raping of young Hmong girls). This is a ward which continually comes out on the losing side of the city planners time and effort, and nobody is discussing that. While city inspectors have time to measure the height of grass in other parts of town, rental properties in my neighborhood are allowed to go to the dogs, sometimes literally. A friend of mine was a volunteer with the schools this fall and stood on a corner with the children the first week to get them onto the right busses. Fifteen different school buses came by that corner to pick kids up and take them to fifteen different schools. And we wonder why we have no parental and community involvement with our kids. Does this happen in the more well-to-do neighborhoods. I think not. But again, nobody seems to care. More than anything else, this is a community which needs strong, African American leaders who put their community needs above their own. The children in this community need to see leaders who take responsibility for their actions and stand on their own merits. We do not need leaders who are so busy placing blame and complaining that they accomplish nothing. These are just a fraction of the problems our community faces, and still, the discussions between the candidates sound like children tattling on each other. What's more, all of this garbage being slung makes the Northside look dysfunctional and reinforces the negative stereotypes the rest of the city uses to describe us. While I wouldn't call Travis Lee's publication pornography, it is not going to win a Pulitzer any time soon. That aside, he is not an innocent family member in this campaign but rather an active participant. Don's reference to his ancestor's position on the plantation may have politically incorrect, but certainly doesn't mean he thinks he's better that most of his race or that he doesn't care for his African American constituents. I wish, but do not see it happening, that the mud would stop and these two candidates, and their supporters, would start having an honest, public discussion about the real problems facing our community and ways to fix them. On November 9th, one of them will be on the City Council and one of them won't. The community, however, will be left with the hard feelings and divisiveness that this campaign has caused. Just what we need, more divisiveness in out community. Like we haven't got enough already. Anne McCandless Jordan 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
