BIG SISTER'S BIG SPOON ...

... to stir the racial pot with.

At least that's how Nick DeLeeuw of RightMichigan.com, our local pundit on Michigan politics, characterizes G.R. Mayor Heartwell's criticism of the city's new chief of police.  Nick got it right, even when he goes as far as to describe Big Sister's bloviating as "racist".  Heartwell is ticked off that City Manager Kurt Kimball chose the white guy instead of the black guy to serve as the next police chief.  Big Sister's reason is that Kimball blew an opportunity to restore racial harmony in River City by not making the politically correct pick for the top cop slot.  Well, I wasn't aware that the city was embroiled in racial strife, unless you count the race-mongering of the professional grievance industry.  I don't.

You see, folks, the lack of racial harmony in Grand Rapids is a phony and pernicious issue.  It is predicated upon the false primacy of race:  We are nothing but creatures of our skin color captive to the accidents of our birth.  Our individuality, the actual source of what unites and divides us, is obliterated in favor of collectivizing each of us into one arbitrarily designated tribe or another.  Our dignity, which wells up from the word written upon all of our hearts, disappears through this dark lens of racial politics which lets the race-mongers strip us of our humanity and force each of us into stereotypes of victim and victimizer that only a Great White Hope like Heartwell -- correction, Heart-less -- can transcend to bring peace to the community.

Meanwhile, all of our government officials have a great excuse for not doing their jobs.  Most recently we have seen this in public education:  Racial discord arising from deep-seated and institutionalized white bigotry against blacks and other minorities becomes the underlying reason why the Grand Rapids Public Schools fail to perform.  Racism is why black and brown students don't learn.  Of course, the real reason is broken families and bad parenting, which can be the ruin of any kid regardless of skin color.  But that's not a problem the government can fix and so take an ever-increasing bite out of our paychecks.  More telling, it leaves no ground upon which a sanctimonious moralizer like Heartwell can proclaim his progressive mutlicultural enlightenment in contrast to us benighted middle-class working-stiff bigots.

So our public servants stick to the racial discord storyline to the exclusion of the truth.  It gets them off the hook for their failures while providing a rationale to make even bigger claims upon our resources.  But it only works if we buy into the canard that our city is a festering pit of bigotry.  Moreover, to believe Heartwell's cant, we have to buy into the genuinely racist idea that whites will respect the law regardless of the skin color of the police chief but blacks will do so only if he is black.  Therefore, as Nick wrote, it is Heartwell who is the racist in playing racial politics over the city's new top cop.

Those of us who are sick and tired of the corrosive politics of race must call out Big Sister on this.

Comments

[Rollnggrnade]

Appearances matter. It's not racist to acknowledge that reality.

You may prize other factors above making a very visible gesture to the minority community when it comes to picking the chief of police for GR, but that doesn't make Heartwell a racist or a bigot for recognizing the strained relations that most urban police departments have with the minority communities they police.

[Amie]

Excellent post.
I have said for years that the only "racial issues" we have today are those who make crap up so that there is a problem. Jena 6 anyone?

Heartwell is an idiot.

[larry]

Maybe we need a black mayor?

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Grenade.

You speak of recognizing "strained relations". I'll grant that criminals have strained relations with the police. They don't like having the law interfere with their lawlessness.

To the extent that some noisy citizens claiming to speak on behalf of certain communities make common cause with the criminals to the extent of straining THEIR relations with the police, it is not a sign of good government to pander to such civic dysfunctionality, especially with "visible gestures" like the one Heartwell said we should have made.

Regards, Bill

[The Executive Director]

Thanks, Amie. Certainly bigotry in officialdom still rears its ugly head here and there, but, as you suggest, most of what is labeled as racism these days is either absurdly exaggerated or pure fiction.

Regards, Bill

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Larry.

How about a mayor with commonsense and the modest amount of political courage to speak plainly about our problems?

Regards, Bill

[Leonard Wood Grotenrath Jr.]

Heartwell yet again demonstrates how a self-indulgent liberalism corrodes the common good. His statement is intended to reflect his moral superiority over against those of us who detect nothing invidious in the manager's decision. He remains oblivious to the fact that his preening has the practical effect of undermining the new chief,degrading the deputy chief, and inciting the very racial tensions he purports to deplore.

On the brighter side, at least when the Democratic Left finally succeeds in November 2008 on a national scale, we in metropolitan G.R. will already be habituated to its style of governing.

Leonard Wood Grotenrath Jr.

[The Executive Director]

Well said, Leonard.

As for this ...

"On the brighter side, at least when the Democratic Left finally succeeds in November 2008 on a national scale, we in metropolitan G.R. will already be habituated to its style of governing."

You do have a nose for silver linings!

Regards, Bill

[Anonymous]

Worse, it seems like the most of the City Commission is drinking the same Kool-Aid.

[TNT]

Heartwells comments show his true character, or lack thereof. Chosing a person simply because of their skin color is discrimination, no matter white or black or brown. I believe the City Manager chose the best qualified candidate, not the one who was black. If he was doing his job, he chose correctly.

We don't need a token police chief like we have had token GR School Superintendents like Newby and the current one we have.

We need people who are serious about making the tough, correct decisions rather than whining about "racial harmony" or the color of the police chief. If the criminals are 75% black, who gives a hoot? They are criminals and should be treated the same if they are white, black or other. The same with the GR Public Schools. If they are failing, fire the people responsible. Start running things like a business and maybe the whiney tokens won't be around too much longer.

Love your website.

[The Executive Director]

Hello, TNT.

I'm glad to hear that you like our website.

Whether or not City Manager Kurt Kimball picked the best man for the job, I don't know. However, the authority to hire and fire department heads belongs to him under the city charter. If the city commission doesn't like how he exercises that authority, it's their job to boot him, not undercut him to make cheap political points with special interests (in this case, the racial grievance crowd).

I agree that public appointments should go to the best person for the job and that such accidents of birth as race and sex should not be considerations. That's the ideal and I do believe that even in the pragmatic world of politics, we can usually achieve that ideal in most cases these days.

That said, I do not think that city commission, despite its wretched handling of the police chief dispute, supports Farris as a token. Nor do I think that Taylor is a token as the school superintendent. I do believe that those who supported Farris and Taylor on some basis of race did so because they genuinely believe it would make a substantive difference in how these men would work with the community.

Regards, Bill

[Rollnggrnade]

Bill,

Minorities have strained relations with police. Whether or not you think it's legitimate, it's a real perception that minorities have. This problem goes back decades to back when there was very real racism and double standards when it came to law enforcement (as someone with former law enforcement folks in the family - I've heard the stories) - and it's something that is still a sensitive issue, in spite of the great strides law enforcement has made in recent years to address inequities (which includes admirable efforts to pay attention to how their various decisions are perceived).

The only thing that's wrong with what Heartwell did is that it's unfairly hamstrining the new Chief in public. All Heartwell is doing is representing the interests of the minorities that voted him into office and asked him to represent them on this issue. None of that makes him racist.

Just like an Obama presidency, putting Farris in as police chief would be a very visible sign that we're beginning to get over the racism that has plagued this country for hundreds of years.

[BOYD H.]

It's like this; who's the most qualified to hold the job?
not just one gets along and plays well with others is not
exactly the only criteria for the job. what kind of edu-
cation is the individual packing for the job? experience?
etc, yada-yada...like has he been there and dealt with
contingent situations before? Can he assemble the right
people and put them in the right positions? It doesn't
matter whether the guy is caucasian, latino or hispanic,
or whatever. if he or she is qualified to do the job,
let them do it on a trial basis and let him work, don't tie
them down. If the person is local and knows the area and
what they will be dealing with, it shouldn't take much time
to do what has to be done to straighten out what has to be
straightened out or whatever. Everybody always thinks they
have the answer and try to be 'sidewalk supervisors'. if
they aren't the right person, the town will find out in the
time span(about a year? two years?)well good luck y'al

[TNT]

Boyd,

Here, here. That's about what I was trying to say.

Bill,

Sorry about the token statement. I just want the right person for the right job and to DROP all this political crap.

TNT

[Ted Van Kuiken]

Has Big Sister Heartwell lost his mind, has he been outside lately, or does his Escape hybrid not work in the 16 inches of snow piled up outside. Shut the lights off my tail, I'm gonna turn 'em all on tonight. Doesn't he have anything better to do, maybe we need to cut his hours back and save the city some money. Best thing he could do to fight carbon emissions would be to hold his breath.