On Black leadership

By Dr. Andre M. Perry
Contributing Columnist

Race will always be a salient factor in politics particularly if the fight for scarce resources falls along racial lines. However, if our political fights barely rise above the embarrassing displays of violence within the communities that officials are supposedly serving, then it’s time for a radical change in representation.

At the May 15 New Orleans Parish School Board meeting, Black angst sparked among fellow members around matters of disrespect. White board president Thomas Robichaux allegedly circumvented board policy by self-selected longtime chief financial officer, Stan Smith, to replace retiring Superintendent Darryl Kilbert. Black member Cynthia Cade developed a list of candidates that she and fellow board member Ira Thomas, who also is Black, wanted the full board to consider. After a round of feinting punches, the board voted along Black and non-Black lines to name Smith as interim.

The racialized school board fight parallels a City Council standoff, which pits white members against Black members in absentia. Councilpersons Cynthia Hedge-Morrell and Jon Johnson walked out of a meeting that would have put a city charter amendment up for a vote if not for the recalcitrance of the white voting bloc of Jackie Clarkson, Stacy Head and Susan Guidry.

At the heart of these cases are matters of representation. Since Katrina, a 60 percent, African American parish has lost representation in City Hall, majorities on both the NOPS board and City Council as well as numerous positions that influence the direction of the city, jobs, as well as who can run for future seats. Both of the aforementioned issues are legitimate. Nevertheless, Black people don’t need to see Black faces in office as much as we want radical changes in policy that lead to racial disparities.

Real racial divides exist in education, health care, criminal justice and municipal governance. Black and brown residents need elected officials to move beyond the land of representation towards a state of effective leadership.

In New Orleans, Blacks earn nearly half of white households ($57,593 vs. $30,167), are being expelled and suspended at alarmingly disproportionate rates, are incarcerated seemingly unconsciously and are victimized by police, landlords and criminals. All of which are in the context of “citywide” growth. These racial disparities require elected officials and other leaders to respond to the specific needs of Black people that comprise the hard data and harder realities.

Place the aforementioned board skirmishes in the context of the shameful fights that are occurring among the constituents that Black elected officials are working for. On April 15, a fight among Sojourner Truth High School students predictably led to their families involving themselves in the scrum resulting in a father hitting another youth with his car. So­cial me­dia was inappropriately blam­ed for the cascade of violence. The true culprit is a lack of leadership in our homes, institutions and government.

Board level posturing may gain moral victories or symbolically patronize constituents, but it doesn’t deliver change. Do we not have enough evidence that paternalistic leadership is limited? Elected officials who can mobilize resource, people and talent to influence policy won’t have to resort to petty fights, grandstanding or legislative trickery to win political battles.

Flailing our hands in disgust and walking away is an admission of an inability to influence policy in the most critical positions. Political battles are won and lost – those are realities. However after a loss, elected officials need to equip themselves for future victories. If elected leaders need a more responsive electorate, then get out the vote. If folks need a better understanding of the issues, then campaign. However, leaving the table or proclaiming disrespect isn’t an option. In addition, the symbolism of these crude actions fuels the type of crass aggression that occurs in the street.

Black leadership must be judged on an ability to develop a cohesive agenda that addresses real needs while empowering constituents with values and social goods that are durable, formative and community building. In other words, political tactics must prove they can change outcomes and strategic processes must instill the qualities we would like to see from the people we serve.

Effective leadership would not have only gotten the warring Sojourner Truth families to reconcile their differences, it would have leveraged those same people to push the City Council or School Board agendas. Clearly, Black representation must be present on our boards and at our schools, but it’s critical that we also have effective leaders at those tables.

This article was originally published in the May 28, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper