Amos Brown Continues To Fuel Politics Of Race

Amos Brown penned an opinion piece in the Indianapolis Recorder recently under the guise of dispelling the myth that most blacks in Marion County live in Center Township. A closer examination reveals this to be a mere pretext for promoting racial polarization in voting. "Many whites can't understand the growing strength of Democratic political power in Indianapolis/Marion County," Brown writes. "It's simple. The growth has been directly fueled by the numerical growth and geographic spread of the African-American population into all areas of this city/county," he concludes. Because blacks represent one-in-four total voters, he surmises "Democrats can't win without the black voter." Conversely, he notes that Republicans can only win "if they command disproportionately higher margins of support from white voters."

Brown boasts that African-Americans are "now the fulcrum of political power in Indianapolis." Shockingly, Brown asserts that it's "a demographic reality few of our Black leaders really understand." Is he kidding? African-Americans have been holding the Marion Co. Democratic Party hostage to its demand for more and more political power for years. Sadly, the "Black leaders" to whom Brown refers have used their political power in a manner that sometimes has been harmful to the public, including members of the black community. It's no secret that Marion County Democrats by affirmative action award blacks one-third of the seats on the city-county council, a greater percentage than the demographic percentage Brown acknowledges that blacks represent in Marion County. Fully 75% of the at-large seats are given to blacks to ensure the magical one-third number is reached. It is also no secret that the council leader's position, by fiat, must be a black council member. Rozelle Boyd was the first Democratic President of the CCC. When Democrats quickly grew frustrated with him, they sought to replace him with Monroe Gray, only to be thwarted by a rump group within their caucus who teamed up with GOP members to select Steve Tally, another African-American. The following year Democrats reunited and dumped Tally in favor of Gray, who has been an unmitigated disaster as CCC President. The Democrat's caucus leader, Lonnell Conley, is also African-American.

Democrats have similarly allocated one-third of the county-wide offices to African-Americans in recent elections. Sheriff Frank Anderson became the first county-wide elected official, although black Republican candidates won county-wide races prior to that as at-large council candidates and at-large state representatives when Marion County still elected legislators at-large. Two years later, in the race for Coroner Democrats shoved aside a highly-qualified, white deputy coroner when then-county chairman Ed Treacy and U.S. Rep. Julia Carson imposed at the last minute chiropractor Kenneth Ackles on county Democrats at the slating convention. Ackles presented no credentials to Democratic committeeman other than he was black and would hire more blacks in the coroner's office if he was elected. He won and kept his promise. In last year's election, Democrats elevated State Senator Billie Breaux to the Auditor's office, giving blacks one-third of the nine, elected countywide offices.

There's no better example of the Democrats' politics of race than what we've seen with the 7th congressional district. Black leaders laid down the gauntlet when U.S. Rep. Andy Jacobs (D) retired in 1996 and demanded the seat for one of their own, Julia Carson. To this day, Ann DeLaney is despised by many of these black leaders for daring to challenge Carson's entitlement to the seat because of her race. Marion County Democrats have steadfastly defended her in the face of ever-increasing evidence she is one of the least effective members in Congress and severely hampered by chronic health problems which have caused long-term absences from her congressional duties. But as talk of her successor mounts, you only hear the names of African-Americans as her potential replacement. The message is loud and clear to other well-qualified white Democrats like David Orentlicher and Melina Kennedy to not even think about running for this seat.

If you examine this hard evidence, it is unmistakable to most political observers in Marion County that blacks fully recognize the extent of their political power within the Democratic Party and they are exercising it to the maximum, even if it means pushing corrupt or unqualified candidates like Monroe Gray and Kenneth Ackles on the public. The Democrats' strategy of using racial politics to win in Marion County has proven successful in recent elections. But are Democrats taking it too far? Are white voters feeling short-changed when unqualified and corrupt Democrats are being promoted and supported by the party simply because of the racial demands of a handful of "Black leaders"? Is there a relationship between this new culture of corruption Democrats have ushered in with their new-found power and the frightening rise in crime and taxes? If so, is this causing the start of a process whereby white voters in Marion County are beginning to polarize against Democrats the way black voters are polarized against the GOP?

Let me share with you a statement Brown made in his column, which I believe has the effect of creating greater racial tensions in this year's election and only promotes more polarization. Brown, who lambastes all Republicans, black or white, on an almost daily basis, complains in his column that GOP mayoral hopeful Greg Ballard is not reaching out to black voters. Brown warns that "time's running out for Ballard to make his case to our community." He then hurls an inflammatory barb at Indianapolis' law enforcement community. "The Fraternal Order of Police endorsement doesn't help [Ballard] with black voters," he declared. Implicitly, Brown unfairly stereotypes all police officers as anti-black, even though blacks are proportionately represented in the ranks of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and an African-American, Earl Morgan, is in charge of Public Safety. Brown also conveniently omits the fact that one of the city's most distinguished black police officers, Robert Turner, is backing Ballard.

Brown may have disdain for law enforcement, but I suspect most voters see the police as the trusted friend they're counting on to get them through the latest upswing in crime in our city. What Brown is really trying to do is use the police as a whipping boy to perpetuate the polarization of black voters in Marion County elections. It's a strategy that has worked in the past, but white voters might give Democrats a dose of their own medicine if they don't knock off the politics of race real soon. None of this is healthy for race relations in our city. Brown and his fellow Democrats would be wise to heed the thoughtful words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." And as King eloquently put it, let's not allow a person to be "judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."