Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child
Excerpt from “The White Man’s
Burden” by Rudyard Kipling
The White Man’s Burden. Originally, it was the title of a poem exhorting the United States to revel in the responsibility for its newly won colonies after the Spanish-American War. It has since become a euphemism for the racist and paternalist idea that the more melanin-enriched folks of the world are indeed “half devil and half child,” incapable of self-rule, who can only be rescued from their lot by being uplifted by the noble efforts of melanin challenged white people.
In a diverse city like T-Town one would think the notion of a white man’s burden would be relegated to the dustbin of unenlightened history. With significant numbers of competent, educated professionals with a variety of skin tones and gender identities, simply removing barriers to advancement should elevate a diverse group to positions of leadership.
So why are there still enclaves in city politics predominately populated by men with skin tones of the whiter hue?
Consider the leadership of Lucas County. According to recent census data, about 19 percent of the population of our swampy environs is of African American heritage and 6 percent is Hispanic. A bit more than half is female. One might expect a barrier-free, race- and gender-neutral process should elevate a group of folks to county leadership reflective of those basic facts.
The county is headed by three commissioners. Other offices include the treasurer, auditor, recorder, prosecutor, clerk of courts, sheriff, engineer, and coroner for a total of eleven elected seats. Four of eleven positions are filled by women. Auditor Anita Lopez is the lone Hispanic. Recorder Phil Copeland is the only African-American. All the rest are, you guessed it, white men.
Then there’s the leadership of the city. Toledo is about 27 percent African-American and 7 percent Hispanic. City leadership would include the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of city government as well as the elected board of education, which oversees the Toledo Public Schools.
The judicial branch is represented by seven judges of municipal court and the municipal clerk of courts, Vallie Bowman English, a total of eight elected positions. Three are female and two, Ms. Bowman English and Judge C. Allen McConnell, are African-American.
The executive branch under Mayor Mike Bell is a bit more diverse, especially as compared to the previous administration of Carty Finklestinker. Carty, his chief of staff Bob Reinbolt, and his fire and police chiefs were all white men. Including Mayor Bell, his three deputies and two chiefs, the Bell Administration is headed by three African-Americans and one Hispanic-American. Safety Director Shirley Green is the only woman.
Then there’s city council. Twelve members, and by far the most skewed from being representative of the city’s diversity. Eight white men, ten men total. Only two women. Adam Martinez the lone Hispanic, Paula Hicks Hudson and Tyrone Riley the only African-Americans.
The school board is by far the most diverse group of the lot. The five school board members include Brenda Hill, Cecilia Adams, Lisa Sobecki, Bob Vasquez, and Larry Sykes. Three women. three African-Americans. One Hispanic-American. Not a white man in the group.
What accounts for the fact that women are drastically under represented in elected leadership, Hispanics are rare, and African-Americans are well below their representation in the population? And does it matter? Can’t white men just bear the burden of uplifting the “fluttered folk and wild?” Note that out of all the offices listed above, only three are filled by Republicans, and all three are melanin-deficient men. The chairs of both political parties are white men. The politically powerful labor unions in town are almost exclusively run by white men. An African-American mayor has done a better job of diversity than his old white male predecessor. The voters of the public school district, which includes a higher percentage of voters of color, tend to elect a much broader representation than the rest of the city or the county at large.
Is there an answer in here somewhere? (To be continued…)
