Affirmative Action is Alive and Well and Living in Peoria

Affirmative action was the result of the Civil Rights Act, which was passed in 1964, and enacted into law by President Lyndon Johnson. On September 24th, 1965, he enacted Executive Order 11246 which stated that all government contractors would take “affirmative action” toward the consideration of minority employees. In 1967, the order was amended to include discrimination by gender.

Up until 1997, the Affirmative Action policies were considered the “law of the land”. Less qualified candidates gained admission to colleges, were placed in jobs where better suited candidates were available, were promoted over their more senior co workers, and in general caused the nation to recede in its ability to move forward. Since many candidates for both employment and higher education were clearly unqualified, the claim was made that the tests and requirements for those circumstances were themselves “discriminatory”, based on the quality of an individual's education and social status. This resulted in standards being lowered so that minority candidates could participate.

Affirmative action did more to solidify and establish racism than any prior attempt to equalize the opportunities for all Americans. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are 1,002 registered “hate” organizations in the United States, and these are only those organizations who openly admit to their beliefs.

Today, Affirmative Action is alive and well in the City of Peoria. It is called cumulative voting, and it is a front invented to assure people of color that there is some equity provided by allowing voters to cast multiple votes for a single candidate in the “at-large” elections. In fact, according to an article appearing in the Journal Star on November 13th, only one candidate of color has been elected to an “at-large” council seat since the inception of cumulative voting in 1991.

While this councilman, W. Eric Turner, may have been elected based on that system, his subsequent reelection has been the result of his obvious hard work and political abilities, not cumulative voting. The other candidate who benefits from cumulative voting is Gary Sandberg, often described as a thorn in the mayor's side.

Tuesday, the city council heard arguments concerning redistricting. Since I was not able to attend, I am relying here on the minutes of the council meeting, available to anyone at the Peoria City website.

Had the city council chosen to ask voters to move to a 10 district council in order to both relieve the representative burden now borne by 5 districts, the question would be moot. Mayor Ardis, Riggenbach, Spain, and Gulley voted for the 10 district plan. Akeson, Weaver, Irving, Spears, Turner, and Van Auken voted against the plan. Significantly, Sandberg was once again absent.

Had the city council chosen to ask voters to move to an 8 district council with 2 At-Large members without cumulative voting, the question would be moot. Mayor Ardis, Riggenbach, and Van Auken voted to support such a measure. The remainder of the council did not.

The end result of these two actions? We continue to have 5 districts which will be reapportioned to fit within the requirements of representation, and we will continue electing 5 At-Large representatives with cumulative voting. And cumulative voting is Affirmative Action.

According to the representatives who spoke at the meeting, the cumulative voting does not accomplish what it was intended to accomplish. So are we then saying we will accept the insanity of our current system and hope for different results?

The argument of dividing the city into 10 smaller districts had the most merit in my opinion, since this would allow smaller segments of the population to elect representation from their own districts. And at least 3 of those districts would have been areas where minorities are the predominant residents. Now that may or may not make a difference, since the number of minority voters in Peoria elections continues to be low. But since the candidates from a primarily minority area are likely to be minorities themselves, at least the voters who did participate would have the opportunity of being represented by a member of their community.

Even the 8 district plan would have to include at least 3 areas where minority population was larger. And while this would not solve the problem of participation, the above argument holds true. Since residency in your district is a requirement, 3 out of 8 members would be representatives of minority areas. And 4 out of 10 is twice as good as 2 out of 10. (I am assuming that of the two At-Large representatives, Councilman Turner would keep his job. Hoping, actually.)

But this all so many words and not enough action. Since the purpose of all this discussion is to determine how to better serve the citizens of Peoria, why not throw all this effort into educating people about the importance of participation? Why not let people know that, regardless of your race, religion, ethnicity, or social status, you DO make a difference in our community?

We have spent several generations trying to achieve “Equality” in this nation, and have come up instead with a plan that denigrates the inherent ability of every human being to rise above their circumstance and achieve true independence. We have raised generations of people to believe they cannot survive without government assistance, they have no opportunity beyond their poverty, and there is no real help aside from handouts and empty promises. We have created our own underclass, and we insist on allowing them to flourish and grow.

True equality is when you stop thinking of yourself as a victim and start trying to make your life better. Poverty is not a racial condition, nor is despair. The current economic setbacks have affected everyone in this nation with the exception of the very wealthy, the “1%” the Occupy protestors are complaining about. The rest of us, regardless of color or faith or gender, are in the same boat. We are the 99%, and we are all worried, and rightfully so, about the future of the nation, of this state, and of the City of Peoria.

Continuing to follow the same path like lambs to the slaughter is an unacceptable solution to the problem. The city council needs to choose a proposition that allows for more equity and less pandering to the Powers That Be. The citizens of the city of Peoria need to let their representatives know, by email, letters, and phone calls, that this current decision is unacceptable. We need to change the way we elect our representatives. We need to educate our citizens. We need to change.

Lots of interesting things at the Redistricting Meeting and the 9/12 Project

A plethora of public servants were on hand today at the Peoria County Board chambers for the Illinois State Redistricting Meeting, along with a sizable crowd of concerned public members. Among the public servants, Jehan Gordon, David Leitch, Michael Unes, as well as several others. An Illinois House employee, Mr. John Maxin (sp) was on hand to give an excellent overview of the process facing the Illinois house, and the legal requirements and process was explained in a straightforward and forthright manner. The floor was then given over to those who had registered to speak.
Mr. Allen Mayer of the Peoria County Board spoke first, with an admonition that he was addressing the board as a private citizen. His main emphasis was the protection of African American voting rights, which was all well and good, but when asked his feelings about the other minority communities, such as the asian and hispanic communities that are becoming prevalent minorities, he had little to say. Guess they aren't a voting block he was concerned about.
Mr. Stephen Morris, also on the Peoria County Board, spoke to caution the committee on the dangers of making changes on a strictly partisan agenda, saying they should be cautious to take the "pulse of the public" and work in the best interests of the community.
Next was Mr. Lonnie Whisker on behalf of the Tri-County Urban League who spoke to the needs and wants of the African American and "disadvantaged" communities. His concern, speaking for the Urban League, was that effective redistricting should consider the needs and wants of the "minority" communities in the area.
Donald R. Jackson, President of the Illinois Conference of the NAACP and the Peoria Chapter of the NAACP, spoke to the necessity of considering an area of influence where it was not possible to create a minority district. His comments were well founded and based on the last redistricting in 2001, which led to the election of Senator Barrack Obama, and ultimately produced the first African American President. He stated he was in favor of counting inmates (there are a proportionately larger number of African Americans and Hispanics in prison in Illinois) as residents of the area they would ultimately be returned to when considering redistricting.
Bernie Miller, a private citizen, was next. Mr. Miller spoke to considering the same type of distribution as is in practice in the state of Iowa. He is against districts that are based on minority considerations and other factors, and thinks they isolate some members from effective representation.
Charles Gabbert from the Lindhurst Home Owners Association was also against the Illinois system of redistricting, claiming that our long history of "jerrymandering" has led to the current problems of the state. He feels that districts should be community based, not spread out so broadly that some people never have access to the issues or the representatives.
Doug Crew, Vice President of Government Relations for the Peoria Chamber of Commerce, said that we are in a current "Fiscal Abyss" and that Illinois leaders are looking for a change in the way we do business in Illinois. He spoke about the companies who have been approached by other states to relocate, and stated that the current trends require an "Open Process".
Next was Irene Brown, the President of the Peoria Black Chamber of Commerce. Her admonition to the committee: "You are messing with people's lives." She spoke about her experiences in different zip codes, both poor and rich, and urged the committee to consider Diversity in Redistricting. She pointed out that the current map does not allow for redevelopment or opportunities for people in those poorer areas, and that the district lines need to be drawn to be inclusive, not segregated. Her words were eloquent and passionate.
General Parker, the youth advocate and unsuccessful candidate for the latest School Board election, spoke as a private citizen and voiced his objections to the Iowa model discussed by Mr. Miller. He stated that a system that would not provide for minority representation would be unfair and violate the Illinois Voting Rights Act.

So there were a lot of opinions voiced and a lot of feedback to the committee, which was what this meeting was to provide. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for the remainder of the meeting, but the diversity of comments makes it a sure bet this will not be an easy task for the committee. I have to say I was impressed by the openness of the meeting and the willingness of the participants and committee members to discuss opinions.

As my intermission, and the reason for my early departure, the press conference by Matthew Woodmancy, the young man who has announced his candidacy for the U.S. Congressional seat in 2012, was a non-event. I know Matt was fully prepared to answer questions about his past and to state reasons for his decision to run. However, Karen McDonald of the Journal Star did run an interesting and informative article resulting from a phone interview. Here is the story.

And now we come to the 9/12 Project and their guest speaker, Mr. Brian Costin of the Illinois Policy Institute. His topic was a local Transparency in Government project that is currently being undertaken by several members of the Tea Party affiliate. Mr. Costin was very specific in his talk, letting the members in attendance from Peoria and other 9/12 groups that the purpose of the Transparency in Government project was not to target local politicos or public servants, but to ensure local governments were in compliance with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements. He discussed how to "audit" local government websites and demonstrated some "grading" information used in determining the level of compliance. He took several questions and spoke until approximately 7:30. At that time, Jody Pitcher, founder and leader of the Peoria 9/12 Project, cleared the room of the observers and convened a local meeting.

The Transparency in Government project, if handled correctly, should be a "wake up call" for the Peoria City Council, one that might turn this city around. I believe there are several members of the 9/12 Project who will pursue this project with a passion, and I do believe that Mr. Costin's organization will be instrumental in revealing some very "interesting" workings in the last few years in Peoria and the surrounding area.