As we approach the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we do not see the future that Dr. King would have wished for his people and the nation.
A prosperous black middle class has emerged in this country, and positive African-American images are more readily available in public life and in the media. But a black underclass continues to fester in chaotic neighborhoods, broken families, social isolation and declining opportunities. In this underclass, narcotics, incarceration and violent crime are endemic, and the careless pursuit of pleasure (in ignorance or disregard of risk) has put young black people at the center of an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases.
It is painful to accept the fact that the black community in St. Louis is not only representative of these ills, it sets the national standard for many of them. Dr. King would weep at the sight of us.
We never forget the local institutions and initiatives that do their best to stem this tide of misery and degradation, and struggle to reverse them. This paper, in fact, is where many people come for news on these positive local programs – most, but not all, spearheaded within our own community. We have some powerful, concerned allies in the mainstream community, and this newspaper makes every effort to recognize, applaud and encourage them as well.
However, if any of us think we are doing enough, we would do well to pause for a moment, close our eyes and evoke the courageous voice of Martin Luther King Jr. Then, open your eyes to St. Louis in 2008. You will see a forbidding amount of difficult work to be done.
We accept struggle as a fact of life in a world – in a city, in a state, in a nation – that desperately needs to be changed. We burn to improve the condition of black people in St. Louis. That is why, in our small way, within the limitations of a community newspaper, we seek to imitate Dr. King and go aggressively after the people and patterns we consider counter-productive and dangerous. Just as our allies are not all black, our enemies are not all white, and this newspaper at times risks condemnation within its own community by calling to account black leaders whose motives or actions we deem to be dubious or dangerous.
At the national level, Barack Obama has awakened new levels of hope (and fear) for the candidacy of an African American. We have supported Obama from his early days in Illinois and been afforded an opportunity to get to know this strong, special man. Many attacks and struggles await Obama, and we expect to be a small force in a large movement to help him overcome them. We are proud and encouraged to work alongside key federal legislators from this region (Sen. McCaskill, Congressman Clay, U.S. Rep. Carnahan) who have prominently joined this movement.
Beyond the national level, we see more reasons for fear than hope. The Missouri Democratic Party stands a good chance to win back control of the state House, but not the Senate. In this potentially historic and transformative election year, Missouri will field a Democratic candidate for governor who has done much to antagonize black people in the past, and who needs to do much to amend for that. Jay Nixon is a death penalty prosecutor whose past actions in court have established him as an opponent of proper funding for school desegregation in St. Louis. If Hillary Clinton and not Barack Obama runs at the top of the Democratic ticket in November, Nixon will be in serious trouble.
Unfortunately, Missouri Republicans have even less to offer us than Nixon does.
In the city, we have more strength than we know, or show. This strength was awakened by the community-wide outrage against the mayor for his disgraceful handling of the city’s first-ever black fire chief. Comptroller Darlene Green, an efficient steward of the City’s finances, also showed herself to be a courageous public leader in Chief George’s defense. Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, elected by a diverse base that includes the firefighters’ union (which collaborated with the mayor in undermining Chief George), was caught in an awkward position by this turmoil. We feel he and the Board of Aldermen should have acted more decisively to defend Chief George – and to defeat an unwarranted sales tax increase. This tax hike, which was defeated in North City wards, may temporarily help the City pay some mandated pension funds (that it should have been paying all along), but with a regressive tax increase that has imposed a disproportionate cost on low-income families and retailers.
We know Missouri Democrats could have given us a better candidate than Jay Nixon. We are now waiting to see if St. Louis will give us a better candidate than Francis G. Slay. Without a serious electoral challenge, Slay’s policies and leadership strategy will not change. He will continue to rule using divisive strategies that undermine the human potential and economic competitiveness of a city and region that face many challenges. And if Slay doesn’t change, we will continue to have reasons to fear for Dr. King’s people in the city of St. Louis.
And, if black St. Louis does not get more involved in improving its condition, we will have hampered the progress of a potentially great city, and dishonored a very great man and his dream for us.