What do anti-affirmative action blowhard Ward Connerly and Mayor Francis Slay have in common?
They both fit Julianne Malveaux’s description of people who “hijack Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream” for their own twisted causes.
Malveaux, president of Bennett College, respected economist and keynote speaker for last Saturday’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Kickoff Celebration, said “I get nervous when I hear some people talk about his dream. It is taken so out of context. Ward Connerly has the nerve to use Dr. King’s words. I’ve seen King’s dream hijacked again and again.” The crowd responded enthusiastically.
While Mayor Slay has been defiant and bold when asked about former Fire Chief Sherman George’s demotion, his disregard for causes of importance in the black community and the resulting cataclysmic decline in race relations in St. Louis, he was very sheepish as he delivered his remarks at Harris-Stowe.
Not only did he use King’s dream in vain; he threw in Barack Obama’s, as well.
He said Obama’s Iowa Caucus win was a “remarkable achievement” as the “first step to color-blind politics or first step to the White House for a person of color.”
It takes some nerve for the man who has set back race relations in St. Louis at least two decades to stand up and say that, but Slay has such little respect for the black community nothing is surprising.
Slay spoke long before Malveaux took the stage, but as she defended King’s dream and his words from those that pirate them in the name of holding blacks back, he squirmed in his seat noticeably.
The genteel crowd at the celebration did not boo or interrupt Slay, but he only received a smattering of applause.
Sherman George received a thunderous ovation that lasted nearly two minutes. But Slay has to become accustomed to that.
Malveaux said she has not decided what Democratic candidate she is supporting, but said she had “a smile on my face all night long,” after Obama’s triumph in Iowa.
Congressman William Lacy Clay’s remarks on King soon included Obama’s win.
“There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that somewhere up in heaven, in front of the ultimate big screen TV, Dr. King and his dear wife Coretta were jumping up and down, just like I was,” he said.
As American as The New York Times
The St. Louis American thinks it is a story worth covering.
The New York Times thinks it is a story worth covering.
The Associated Press thinks it is a story worth covering.
But the Post-Dispatch continues to ignore what has now become a national disgrace for the city of St. Louis.
Last Saturday, the Times devoted much of its national news page to the unprecedented and unwarranted demotion of former Chief Sherman George which exacerbated the racial divide in St. Louis, the intimidation of black firefighters in the city and the cavalier attitude of Mayor Slay.
AP has contacted various sources and it too is working on a story, which would also likely run not only in this state, but also nationally.
The Post has played off many news conferences, been absent from a rally attended by hundreds of African Americans in the City Hall rotunda and followed the obvious instruction of the Slay administration to sidestep this controversy on his personal behalf.
The Post’s ambivalence on one of the major stories of 2007 – and now 2008 – is not for the betterment of St. Louis. It is for the betterment of one Francis Slay. Slay’s actions are selfish and petty. The Post’s buying into his agenda and foregoing its duty as a responsible newspaper should haunt it through history.
Whether Post owner Lee Enterprises is laying down the law from Des Moines to ignore the story or it is a decision of Publisher Kevin Mowbray and/or Editor Arnie Robbins, the fact remains that any sound journalism school in America should use this current example to teach the tragedy of a newspaper being in too tight with a mayor’s office or any other public official.
The Times article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/05stlouis.html?ex=1200200400&en=a827f2dc62276f0c&ei=5070&emc=eta1. (Click on this link on the Political Eye on www.stlamerican.com)
The Political EYE knows that Post editors are aware of it, by the way. The response, so far, is to continue burying their heads in the sand while apparently following the wishes of the mayor and pressuring columnist Sylvester Brown to stop writing about the controversy so often.
Shameful is about the only way to describe what the Post is doing by buying into this agenda.
Charlie come lately
This just in.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley has endorsed Barack Obama for president.
Congressman Clay and many other black political, clergy and civic leaders endorsed Obama almost a year ago. Dooley made his Earth-shattering announcement following Obama’s big win in Iowa and while he was holding a double-digit lead in New Hampshire Primary polls on Tuesday.
“I am inspired by the movement Senator Obama has begun and I am proud to support his campaign for change,” Dooley said.
Obama seemed obliged to acknowledge the endorsement and didn’t question why it took so long for Dooley to decide on a candidate.
“From Vietnam to St. Louis County, Charlie Dooley has spent his life serving the people of Missouri and I am honored to have his endorsement,” Obama said.
The Obama bandwagon suddenly needs to add seats.
Just ask John Edwards’ supporter Alvin A. Reid, city editor of the St. Louis American.
“I’ve been an Edwards supporter since he announced he was running. But since Obama’s win (last week) I’ve received a flurry of calls and emails questioning why I am not with the black candidate.”
Reid said Charles Kirkwood called and said his support of Edwards “sends the wrong message,” adding that all black people should be with Obama.
A nice woman named Aurora left a rambling message for Reid and when he returned the call, he was told the only reason he stands up for Edwards on the Channel 9 news discussion show Donnybrook “is because you are intimidated by being the only black person on the panel.”
“How silly and insulting is that?” Reid said
Ironically, even Mayor Slay sounds ready to jump off Hillary Clinton’s sinking ship and swim over to Obama.
Slay, Missouri co-chair of the Clinton Campaign, didn’t mention her in his praise of Obama’s win during the Harris-Stowe MLK event. How’s that for leadership? Smart money says he’s sending Clinton roses after her New Hampshire Primary victory.