HISD’s Bond will be minorities’
litmus test
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African-American News&Issues has long made it
known that we consider HISD a parasite that feeds off minority communities, sucking the
life blood (in the form of taxes and bonds that do little or nothing to improve our
schools, or our kids’ education) like a political tick. And that’s just about as
plain as we can put it to make it positively clear why we will not support the $808.6
million bond that will be on the Nov. 5, 2002 ballot. Furthermore, our State Rep.
Sylvester Turner was bold enough to officially put it on record that his district shall
not support a HISD bond.
“We will kill the bond unless we have a guarantee written in HISD officials’
blood that it will benefit us,” Turner warned. If, however, I am being presumptuous
to assume that you are among the projected 2 million enlightened citizens (privy to over
300,000 free copies of Texas’ widest circulated newspaper with a Black perspective
each week), we will bring you up to date. Rep. Turner got a chance to speak directly to
HISD officials while he was master of ceremonies at the Acres Home Citizens Chamber of
Commerce’s 13th Annual Awards Banquet at M. C. Williams Middle School on Feb. 22.
He told them that he would be highly upset if anybody in his district forgot their history
and made the mistake of voting for another HISD bond. Turner represents the community that
he grew up in, therefore he gets his marching orders from the voters who elect him to
represent them. With that said, we would like to applaud LULAC’s Johnny Mata for
publicly going on record that his organization will oppose the bond. Houston Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce is also pondering whether or not they should follow LULAC’s lead,
but for entirely different reasons. “We have a specific agenda, which is a business
agenda,” explained chamber President Richard Torres.
An editorial “Just FOR SPITE: LULAC opposing school bonds for wrong reasons,”
appeared in the Sept. 27, 2002 edition of Houston’s only daily newspaper that
apparently will support HISD’s bond proposal. The editorial claimed that “bad
blood among HISD board members and chronic resentment of the district by some
Hispanics,” prejudiced LULAC’s decision. The so-called “bad blood” was
exacerbated by African- American board member Larry Marshall’s alleged racial slur
that offended fellow board member Ester Campos. Campos said that Marshall referred to
members of her community as “parasites” while discussing HISD’s taxing
relationship with HCCS.
However, Mata quickly cites HISD’s historically insensitivity towards his eastside
neighborhoods, as being the major reason LULAC is not about to vote for a bond that’s
controlled by people who don’t respect his community. On the other hand, the chamber
leaders are concerned about Latino businesses getting a fair share of the contracting and
procurement action. Need we explain that, when you combine the two Hispanic groups’
issues, it becomes obvious why African-Americans should also oppose HISD’s bond
proposal. Consequently a Black and Brown coalition to defeat HISD’s bond proposal
makes very good sense.
Insensitivity toward the Black community’s children and not giving Black contractors
a fair share is definitely why we are as mad as hell at HISD and “ain’t gonna
take no more.” You can be sure, however, that HISD has already lined up the usual
Black and Brown suspects that will preach, cajole and rationalize that we should vote for
the bond “For our children’s sake,” but we’ve been down that crooked
road before.
You can also be sure that HISD has already made a pact with minority media pawns that will
sell our children’s future for 30 pieces of silver. We can’t speak for any other
minority newspaper, but we wouldn’t be on record to oppose the bond if we were
worried about a few advertising dollars. Quite frankly, people that dupe political naïve
minorities erased AAN&I’s name from their list (of publications that will
compromise their creditability for a profit), a long time ago. Tax supported entities have
long had a policy set aside for at least 10 percent of their advertising budget for the
minority media, that they have historically misused to hurt our community more than help
it.
Politically-astute Black voters have learned over the years how public and private
advertising dollars are used to divide and confuse our community, under the guise of
getting the most bang for their bucks. We are sure that Hispanic leaders are doing an
equally good job of educating their readers about how advertising dollars have become a
political weapon. One that can be used to reward their friends in the minority media and
punish (economically), those that refused to be compromised to support special interest
agendas that hurt their people.
Ideally, our media is the watchers on the wall and the editorial voice that speaks for
their people. Black and Brown faces in high places aside, when time and space can be
purchased for sellout minority political puppets to push special interest agendas, the
disenfranchised have a very big problem. Nevertheless, the problem isn’t too big to
overcome. Especially if right thinking minority leaders combine their efforts to address
common issues. I consider HISD’s bond proposal a litmus test to determine just how
much political clout the minority community has. In conclusion, I’m saying that Black
and Brown leadership should make a combined and concerted effort to not only defeat the
HISD bond on Nov. 5, 2002, but crush it with such force until it sends a message (to
insensitive and/or disrespectful politicians), that the power is still with the people.
Even if we are called a minority. |
