The leaders of the National Society of Black Engineers made it clear on Tuesday that St. Louis is in danger of losing its 2011 convention – and millions of dollars in connected revenues – because of Mayor Francis G. Slay’s “dreadful disrespect of this city’s black community.
Darryl Dickerson, chair of the NSBE board of directors, said his organization received “distress signals” from Citizens to Support Fire Chief George and other black St. Louisans.
“We are here at their behest. We are seeing now what the situation is, and we are deeply concerned,” Dickerson, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering at Purdue University, said Tuesday during a press conference at the Gateway Classic Foundation headquarters.
He said that if the current situation had existed a year ago when the organization picked the city as its site, “there is no way we would be in St. Louis.”
The organization is expecting up to 30,000 people to attend its 2008 convention in Orlando, Fla. It currently has more than 15,000 members in America and across the globe.
“We still have deep concerns,” Dickerson said.
“We are calling for immediate action on issues from the mayor’s office, or NSBE might not be here in 2011. In fact, there is a strong possibility we won’t be here.”
Dickerson and Mack said that other cities are aware of the racial divide Slay has created in St. Louis and have offered to host the 2011 convention.
“Those cities understand the social consciousness (NSBE) has,” Mack said.
Mack said, “It is not our desire to leave St. Louis, but after this much disrespect, we would not have any problem moving this convention to another city.”
While NSBE ponders the fate of its 2011 convention, other conventions and meetings are being targeted. Also, all conferences and conventions that are scheduled to be in St. Louis in 2008 will face picketing and civil disobedience, according to Eric E. Vickers, an activist attorney working on the economic boycott.
Following an afternoon meeting with Vickers and representatives backing an economic boycott of St. Louis, Dickerson and Mack were scheduled to meet with the mayor.
“We ask (Mayor Slay) to be willing to sit down at the table of brotherhood. Of course, we have learned that (Slay) has met at that table and then goes off and does whatever the hell (he) desires,” Dickerson said.
“It is asinine to think that we are going to turn around and hand over to this city – or any city – our financial resources after such blatant disrespect of the black community.”
A source in the business community, who is familiar with the details of meeting, tells the American that Slay began the meeting by telling NSBE representatives that a boycott of St. Louis would not hurt him politically or financially.
The source said (Dickerson and Mack) “explained that they are just trying to help this region’s black community, not bring the mayor down. But (Slay) basically attacked them. He is taking the entire thing personally and could care less about St. Louis.”
While most media outlets have ignored an effort to recall Slay and the budding prospect of an economic boycott of the city, several television stations staffed the NSBE press conference.
“I guess people are starting to listen,” said Vickers.
The NSBE leaders listed the demotion of Fire Chief Sherman George and Slay’s push to make St. Louis a haven for charter schools as two of its main concerns.
The Rev. Douglas Parham said, “We will continue to seek justice for Sherman George. We don’t want a total shift to charter schools, either.”
“Never in our 33 years have we known a community to reach out to us like this one,” Mack said, of the black community’s outreach to NSBE.
“We realize this is politics. But the mayor measured wrong this time. The mayor chooses to disrespect black leaders and this community. We don’t live in St. Louis, but we’re here today because this community called us.”
When asked about negative impact on African Americans working in the hospitality industry, Dickerson said his organization demands that local African-American businesses and workers reap benefits.
“We want to make sure we make some financial impact on a city. But we can’t worry about one cross-section (if the entire community is being disrespected).”
Dickerson said that his organization wanted to see action from the mayor’s office within six months.
“People in St. Louis are setting the timetable. But these are the people we are going to listen to,” Dickerson said, referring to the clergy and community leaders galvanized around George.
“This is whose pulse we are going to be feeling.”
