We rightly celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day to honor Dr. King’s extraordinary leadership in civil rights for African-Americans, and indeed for all Americans. We also celebrate this holiday to rededicate ourselves to continue the struggle for freedom and opportunity. The times demand our renewed commitment to the cause of justice in our community and elsewhere.
It is no secret that we still have a lot to do in our own backyard to assure fairness and justice for all. Whether it’s criminal justice reform, making municipal courts work for citizens first, or simply building a community leadership that looks like the people it serves … we have unfinished business in this region.
But we also need to remember that Dr. King was fighting for much more than just equality under the law. He knew that the struggle must also focus on economic opportunity. Today, some have forgotten the event where he said, “I have a dream” was officially the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
His aim was not merely an end to the legal barriers to full rights for all Americans. He was also fighting to put jobs and economic opportunity within the grasp of African-Americans and all others who had been shut out of prosperity. When Dr. King was cruelly taken from us, he was putting all his energy into building a national coalition through the 1968 Poor People’s March to demand a path to economic prosperity for Americans who had been left behind.
Dr. King’s message was that we will not be fully free until all Americans have an equal chance to share in this country’s economic bounty. This is a banner which we must continue to hold high and do everything possible to make a reality.
It is time we recognize that hard truth of our own local government: far too often the poor pay more. I see it every day in my work as St. Louis County Assessor. Residents of some of our most economically hard-pressed communities – especially in more predominantly African-American communities in North County – pay much higher property tax rates than in some affluent areas. Since the largest share of property taxes supports schools, a prime reason for this disparity is the state’s failure to fully fund the school foundation formula. Because the state isn’t doing its part, local tax rates go up for some of the region’s most financially challenged residents.
It’s time we all demand that the governor and the Legislature meet the state’s school funding obligations.
As assessor in St. Louis County, I don’t set tax rates, but I do work hard every day to make sure the playing field is fair for everyone. That’s why I have fought the big interests to make sure that all properties are assessed fairly. That’s why I have taken on battles against deep-pocket interests – like fake farmers who try to claim property tax breaks for what are actually commercial properties, or casinos trying to dodge paying their fair share, or high-end retirement communities pretending to be charities when they’re not.
When the well-off and well-connected don’t pay their share, the rest of us pay too much – especially those with limited incomes. I am doing and will continue to do all I can to fight for the ordinary citizen to make sure property assessment is fair for all.
Dr. King’s call to action for economic fairness requires nothing less of me, and all of us.
Each of us, no matter what we do, have opportunities to strike blows for justice, to live up to Dr. King’s ideals. On this day of remembrance, we all must recommit ourselves not just to his fight for civil rights but also to his fight for economic freedom for all.
Jake Zimmerman (D-Olivette) is St. Louis County assessor.
