News-Record.com

Good use of audio, guys.

From my experience on matters of race relations, if Claudette says it, it is true.

Institutional racism certainly does exist because I hear the charge brought by too many black leaders for it not to be a real and present problem. And I guess the best way to describe it is, as she says, 'a perception', because you can't reach out and actually touch it.

To me, as a white guy, I'm sure it is one of those, "I know it when I see it" things but there has to be some way for the average non-black person to be able to grasp the tell-tell signs of the practice when occurs, or after it has occured.

To the specific example at hand - St. James II - it would seem simple enough to find a similar management agreement between the City and a white run management group and then compare and contrast how our city staff handled both situations.

If they were to be studied for signs of racism, there would hopefully be a point in the history of the entities where the staff's handling of the two group's finances diverged. Wouldn't that be the place where institutional racism could be pointed to, and we could say, "Aha... now we see it."

Question for Scoop: Are there similar housing management groups like the Graham's who are white? Are they under the same contractual scrutiny? How have they performed, been funded, been audited? Is this too simplistic?

I really want to understand.

David: If you like that audio, check the original Alston post. We have a short section of audio posted there now as well. --mark

David,
We're working on a story looking at the other projects where the city has a loan to either rehab or build affordable rental housing, so I don't want to steal our thunder. But I can say that the St. James II arrangement is fairly unique. The owners of the property, a nonprofit board connected with St. James Baptist Church, were from all accounts fairly hands off as far as managing the property. That left most of the work to Alston when he managed the property, and later to Sarah and Donald Graham when they took over around 2001.

In most of the city's projects, including many that were developed by Project Homestead, there are corporate-run management companies that handle the day to day work of collecting rent, doing maintenance, etc. Even though Homestead went away, the original partners in the developments have bought out PHI's share and they continue to operate. There isn't a good example of a two-person team like the Grahams who are in charge of the property to compare it to.

Good.

Understanding that there is nothing comparable to the Graham's arrangement, my underlying question is this.

Are there low income housing entities out there, black run entities, who deal with HCD on the same level as the Graham's parent organization?

If so, what are their views as to how much institutional racism is exhibited by HCD, if any and by who? If they agree with Skip's assertion, then that would be corroboration of his charges. If they are running along fine with no 'perceptions' of racism on the part of HCD, then something else is going on with the racism charge.

Dig Matt, dig... Dig?

With respect to the need to hear the specifics, while I agree, I must say that my African-American friends do say that they get tired of always having to bear the burden of proof. Not only do they have to live under the thumb of racism, but then they have to convince everyone that it exists.

I am confused about a comment by Robbie Perkins near the end of the council meeting last night. I think that he said that the council needs to make clear which loans are made without any expectation of being repaid.
I think most people know the difference between a gift, a grant and a loan. Aren't most loans repaid, most with interest?
Is this what I heard?
Diane

jw,

I wasn't asking African-Americans to prove anything. I'm asking our newspaper to ask some questions.

I acknowledge that racism exists, but I would hope its existance would be demonstrable in some way to the average citizen.

It should always be incumbant upon the accuser to prove their case. No? Even if it does get tiresome, it is important and necessary the continuing struggle for equality.

If you are going to call someone "racist," you need to explain yourself.

Simply to throw out the charge is as irresponsible as that classic example of yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded theatre.

In the past, if whites merely charged blacks with a crime (such as whistling in the presence of a white woman), no documentation or evidence was necessary to ensure guilt (and/or punishment). Merely saying that a black person was guilty made it so.

Alston seems to want that same freedom that whites once enjoyed, simply to accuse and know that the so-charged individual will be considered, simply by that pronouncement, guilty. Alston appears to see little need to offer evidence or at least a more clear outline of his perceptions of racism.

I cannot say beyond a doubt that Skip Alston's most recent charges of racism are false. There is almost certainly more information I don't know than there is information that I do know.

There are past incidents in which Alston has made a fool of himself on the same level as Billy Yow, and because of that, it is much more difficult to judge the legitimacy of what he says and does.

Alston has that ugly habit of hurling ugly labels at his critics and at people who do not support him 100%. (Ironically, George W. Bush and some of his supporters seem to want the same thing Alston wants for himself: immunity from any criticism--always!)

I have heard and read people accuse the Guilford County Schools of being "racist." When you look at statistics that show African-Americans students as more likely to do worse academically and more likely to be suspended, it is easy to buy into such a charge.

As a teacher, I know that our school system is not perfect. As someone who has deeply studied and paid attention to issues of race, I know that problems exist on a much higher level than a lot of white people would ever care to admit. (This is 2005, after all; how can any problems still exist?)

At the same time, I have had experiences and made observations as a teacher that lead me to believe that there is much more than simply white racism at play. People who argue that white racism is the sole cause of problems plaguing too many black students fail to understand how complicated the issues are.

If, for example, there are legitimate excuses for the misbehavior, bad attitudes, and poor efforts exhibited by students (of any race), then perhaps there are legitimate excuses for why some people are racist--and if we are going to call for greater sensitivity and understanding for those students whose behavior, attitudes and efforts are less than desirable, then maybe we need to be more tolerant and understanding of racists also. [Wordy, I know; hopefully clear.]

I know that loud charges of racism have been brought against the school system before for not meeting the needs of African-American students.

But not too long ago, when the needs of students at historically black Bennett College were not being met, there was eventual publicity, but I do not recall an instance of any similarly loud charges of injustice. (It sometimes seems that it is acceptable for African-Americans to display, at best, incompetence when dealing with other African-Americans, but it is a completely different (and worse) scenerio when whites fail to serve the African-American community well.)

When Bill Hayes was fired as N.C. A & T University's football coach after years of enviable, well above-average success, I do not recall hearing Alston's voice loudly accusing the university of an unjust act against someone who appeared to deseve far, far better treatment.

Had Hayes been at a predominantly white local school and not been allowed to leave on his own terms after so many years of strong success, I guarantee that we would have heard Alston's voice loud and clear. Instead, unless I missed something, Alston's voice was completely silent on the matter.

I personally think that Alston has some qualities that could have made him one of our area's greatest leaders. (Unless he changes--and I don't mean by never bringing up matters of race--Alston will never achieve greatness.)

Like Yow, though, Alston seems too often to be guilty of self-worship.

I am convinced that Alston is much more concerned with his own advancement than with improving the lives of African-Amercians (and/or others) who have much greater needs than he has. This is one of the factors that contributes to him being far less than he could be.

Instead of being a responsible voice for needed improvements in our society, Alston has become just another part of the overall problem.

I am not saying that my employer (the Guilford County Schools) should not be criticized and examined under a microscope. Nor am I saying that the City of Greensboro is beyond the need for greater scrutiny.

What I am saying is that we need to do far more than simply throw around loud, one-word charges.

We need to contribute maturely to a dialogue which we acknowledge needs far many more voices than merely our own.

And as we criticize and examine, we need to be as willing to give serious consideration to someone else's criticisms of us as we are to dish out such criticisms toward others.