For those who gave it any thought, the reaction was mixed about whether the Old Courthouse with its history of slave sales and the Dred Scott case was an appropriate symbol for St. Louis, as Major League Baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals seemed to think it was when they enshrined its image (along with an image of the Gateway Arch) on the outfield grass of Busch Stadium for all the world to see during the All-Star Game.
This week, as we publish our special section “Diversity: A Business and Social Imperative,” we think it is worthwhile to revisit this issue. The polarizing nature of a symbol like the Old Courthouse is a reminder of our growing diversity and the need to be aware of it and sensitive to it. To some, the Old Courthouse is a beautiful building and an image of justice. But to many others, it is a reminder that some Americans used to enslave other Americans and sell them – right here in St. Louis – like farm animals or pieces of furniture. And anyone who thinks having an African-American president neutralizes these painful memories needs to have a more diverse group of intimates telling them how they really feel.
Rethinking the choice of the Old Courthouse and Gateway Arch as civic symbols begs the question of what would have been a more appropriate choice. Again keeping in mind our mission of reminding the local business community of the essential importance of respecting and promoting diversity and inclusion, we might suggest that MLB and the Cardinals almost got it right in choosing the Arch. We might suggest a more accurate symbol of St. Louis in all its diversity would have been the Gateway Arch, but only partly completed, with activist Percy Green II dangling from it.
Before you take this suggestion as trivial or a joke, consider the importance of symbolism, because of the enduring psychological weight of the past. Without question, St. Louis is a work in progress. Unlike the magnificently wrought Old Courthouse or the finished Arch of today, we are incomplete, with much unfinished business left to be done. As many indicators suggest, from the academic achievement gap to health disparities to workforce inclusion and contracting, the under-development of our African-American community points to our most pressing and most crucial unfinished business. Percy Green II risking his livelihood and even his life to call attention to the exclusion (or inadequate inclusion) of African Americans in our economic opportunities remains a powerful symbol of St. Louis in its actual, problematic complexity.
Much like the person who is impatient with hearing rehearsals of our painful history might say of slavery, we have come a long way since July 14, 1964 – thanks in large part to the brazen courage of individuals like Percy Green II and Richard Daly, who scaled 125 feet up one leg of the unfinished Arch on that day. While direct action is not a thing of the past, and some conditions certainly still warrant protest, the civic leadership of St. Louis has shown some progress in its thinking about race and economic opportunity. As our Diversity section makes clear, there are a larger number of inclusion initiatives and pipeline programs in place now that work against the inertia of the past, dating all the way back to slave times – the Ground Zero of economic disparity in St. Louis.
We are far from Ground Zero, but our workforce and leadership are not where they need to be if St. Louis is to fulfill its potential and compete for business and opportunities in the global economy. And only by recognizing how far we have to go will we make any progress at all.