The DMZ in black and white Downtown

For Pinnacle’s Lumiere Place casino and hotel project, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Ballpark Village or any other future major Downtown entertainment/retail project to truly be successful over time, they must attract large numbers of African-American consumers and significantly include blacks in their workforce at every level.

For St. Louis’ Downtown to mirror other flourishing urban centers across the nation, this city’s business, political and social leaders must find a way to draw middle-class and affluent African Americans to the city’s core. Successful cities need economic growth, but the quality of leadership is the most important factor, other than the economy, in the success of the city. If the region’s old-school, established leadership does not make the proper strides to make this happen, then its black leaders (and forward-thinking white leaders) must stand up and fight for a Downtown where blacks are included economically and feel comfortable spending their time and money.

A few hours to our south lies Memphis. Its black population is about 62 percent – higher than St. Louis’, but when it comes to black participation in the city’s vibrant social life, there is no contest. Memphis is the clear winner.

During the weekend of the Cory Spinks vs. Jermain Taylor fight, Beale Street was crowded with well-dressed, well-mannered black participants. Ages ranged from 21 up, and all seemed to be having a great time.

There were also many black families taking in museums, walking the riverfront, at theaters and malls and dining Downtown. And many of the workers running the activities that were keeping all these black folks entertained also were African-American.

In St. Louis, only a handful of blacks participate in most Downtown activities, as workers or consumers, and even fewer can be spotted dining at the city’s so-called Downtown hot spots. If blacks don’t feel welcome, as workers or consumers, that concern should be at the forefront of Downtown St. Louis, the RCGA and other civic agendas – not to mention top-of-mind for black elected officials.

If safety is a factor – for both blacks and whites – St. Louis should follow Memphis’ lead: cops, cops and more cops. Literally hundreds of visible police officers patrol the party areas of Memphis, and the majority of these officers were African-American, The cost to the City must be high, but it clearly pays off in tourism and dollars spent Downtown.

Scores of black people in Memphis work in bars, clubs, stores, shops and boutiques Downtown. We are everywhere in Memphis, and it apparently doesn’t frighten white people to see us there.

Unfortunately, this is not true in Downtown St. Louis. These attitudes must change for St. Louis to truly take off, as many investors and the City itself are betting it will. Many a person from the South says the racist attitudes in the St. Louis area tops that of their native towns. This should trouble area leaders, white and black, until a change is made.

St. Louis’ Downtown cannot be a cosmopolitan haven of good times and economic growth until it stops being the demilitarized zone between North and South St. Louis. We must work collaboratively to capitalize on the opportunities the current interest in Downtown affords. If black and white people can’t party together comfortably in large numbers, then what on Earth can we do together?