I’ve always felt the NAACP deserves its reputation as a leading civil rights group so I went to a recent press conference for the newly elected president of the Anne Arundel County Chapter. I was pleased to see a few familiar faces there and it’s evident that President Wayne Jearld has ideas, vision and plans to invigorate his group.
Jearld addressed his goals in a number of areas but I’m concerned about his strong emphasis on ensuring that minority contractors would be getting plenty of government contracts. With issues related to schools, crime, job and housing discrimination, why should the NAACP be so involved with seeking contracts for minority-owned businesses? Would that not be more in the purview of a special interest group, say for example, a Black Chamber of Commerce?
Economic empowerment is one thing, but focusing on securing contracts for businesses is just one small part of that. A focus on minority contracts seems to benefit mainly those who are already equipped for or on their way toward business success, rather than those faced with poverty or more basic civil rights challenges.
I was also concerned by Jearld’s statement that “nothing” has been done for minority economic development in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Nothing? While nobody would argue that major inequities continue, all levels of government have made major strides and there are a number of prominent and successful Black-owned businesses in our area, the most notable being Tele-Communications Systems. Some of the area’s largest and most established taxicab companies are owned by African Americans. It is unfair to say “nothing” has been done and the city has an expanded economic development office with a specific staff person whose goal is to assist minority-owned businesses. There is a similar effort at the county’s Economic Development Corporation as well.
If the nearby and much larger Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP is any indication, Jearld has a long way to go. As of mid-February, its web site lists dates for 2006 meetings but not for 2007. The web page for its Economic Development Committee is blank and its page showing “City of Baltimore Projects in Planning or Design Stages” shows a list from 2002. The only item on its “news” page is the swearing-in of its current officers from February 3...2005!
Jearld also plans to get an office and a web site going for the county branch. He is a man with energy and vision and if he can build up the county NAACP into a strong and viable organization, he is to be supported and appreciated.
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2 Comments:
Here is a comment received from Patrick Weadon where this article appeared on www.freestatepolitics.blogspot.com:
Thank you for revealing the nonsensical ravings of Delegate McConkey’s lunatic mind. Due to the now famous book many thoughtful people have been prompted to ask “ “What’s the matter with Kansas?” After reading your post one might also ask, “ What is the matter with Anne Arundel County?
McConkey like so many right wing legislators appears to be devoid of any kind of cogent thought process. His perpetual braying about abortion and capital punishment reminds one of the sheep in Orwell’s Animal House who did nothing all day but bleat “ Four legs good, two legs bad”
I have the misfortune of living in McConkey’s district. During the campaign I had hopes that the revelation of his alleged past run-ins with the law and legal authorities would prompt the electorate to throw the bum out. No chance, once again the good people of my district sent him back to Annapolis to rant and rave about issues that have little to do with the important challenges facing our county and state.
How did this happen? There is a simple answer, taxes. Yes Mr. McConkey in keeping with the philosophy of so many misguided Anne Arundel County Republicans has pledged to “ never raise taxes.”
This “no tax fever” is not limited to the halls of the state house. Many of our school board members and county council members have also come down with a bad case of the disease as well Some of them are so afraid of offending their constituents or departing from their love of " voodoo economics" that they can't bring themselves to even mention the words " tax increase."
The problem is that even though we are the fifth richest county in the state we are only eleventh in the amount of money we spend on our public schools. For too long our schools have had to go without the proper levels of funding due to the inability of far too many right wing nuts to face up to with reality.
Retromingents like McConkey considers any talk of increasing taxes for schools (or anything for that matter) as a “socialist plot.” Typical of this mind-set is Victor Bernson, the newest member of the school board, Benson was appointed by the now ex-governor of Maryland, Bob Ehrlich. He believes that we should reign in spending in the school system before any making any tax increases and that " It's too easy to ask for the moon and stars, say it's all for the children and then force the county executive and the County Council to be the bad guys."
But the fact is that while we pinch pennies, counties like Howard, Montgomery and Prince Georges are investing heavily in their schools and making substantive plans to ensure a bright educational future for their children. If this trend continues it will likely be those jurisdictions and not Anne Arundel that will reap the lion's share of future jobs and economic growth.
Note to Mr. Bernson: Ehrlich is no longer governor because he wasn’t bright enough to understand that while Marylanders (like most people) don't like to pay taxes, they value education, and will under the right circumstances, provide whatever it takes in the way of revenues to ensure a future for their children. Unfortunately there are still far too many citizens of our county who like McConkey have partaken of the “No Tax” Kool-Aid and believe that morons like Bernson are looking out for their best interests.
The fact is that a slight tweaking of the county tax cap would only cost each resident of our county only about 350.00 (the cost of one car payment) and reap an additional 80 million dollars for a school system that is badly in need of additional revenues.
This will never happen as long as we have conservative kooks like Bernson and McConkey running the show. Anne Arundel County has such great potential but we will never get there until we begin to elect people who understand that “ you have to put the hay down where the goats can get it or eventually the goats will starve.”
2/12/2007 06:12:00 PM
Thanks for your well-expressed thoughts. However, I am not sure that raising taxes is so easy, or as simple and popular as you suggest. If we followed your rationale, we would just keep raising and raising and raising them, if each time it only meant "another car payment" or a house payment or whatever....pretty soon it gets to be real money! Paul Foer
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