This newspaper has long advocated more realistic strategic thinking about the macroeconomic forces that have a direct impact on the future for the African-American community. We know that when one takes exception to African-American leadership that behaves in a do-nothing, self-aggrandizing way, one becomes a target of criticism. Yet we are committed to raising relevant questions that demand critical analysis and debate.
Among the issues that deserve serious debate are immigration reform and the rapid emergence of plant and life sciences as a promising industry for the St. Louis region.
The immigration reform issue is particularly difficult for African-American leaders, as there is a great deal of narrow-mindedness and short-sightedness about the mostly Latino illegal immigrants. These negative views in the African-American community are fueled largely by a deep concern for jobs and to a lesser extent by a lack of political cooperation between African Americans and Hispanics.
To their credit, some African-American leaders are espousing fair treatment for undocumented immigrants. Yet, these leaders must go further and make the case that our larger interests are better served if we can build a stronger coalition with Latinos, our natural allies. We have shared values about faith, family, fairness, hard work and justice. Moreover, we share a strong common interest in bread-and-butter issues like job creation, affordable housing, addressing health care disparities and access to quality education.
The enormous economic development potential of plant and life sciences in St. Louis was underscored last week at a meeting in Chicago. St. Louis was spotlighted along with well-established biotech initiatives in San Diego and Cambridge, England. Dr. Walt Plosila, an esteemed authority in the field, cited the St. Louis initiative as “having made more progress in implementation of its plant and life sciences strategy than any other region in the country” and said it “is well on the road to becoming the leading center for plant sciences and a major player in life sciences.”
It was rightfully underscored that, in the current era of “mega regions,” Chicago and St. Louis could be strong civic and economic partners, rather than fierce competitors, in today’s global economy, due to our considerable combined life science assets.
African-American leadership needs to understand better what’s going on in this promising industry during these formative years and prepare our community to fully participate.