Comments on: Michael Scott: Robert Clifton Weaver’s Quest to End Housing Segregation – Has Anything Changed? http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/01/19/michael-scott-robert-clifton-weavers-quest-to-end-housing-segregation-has-anything-changed/ Passionate About Cities Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:28:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: cdc guy http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/01/19/michael-scott-robert-clifton-weavers-quest-to-end-housing-segregation-has-anything-changed/comment-page-1/#comment-6839 cdc guy Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:24:13 +0000 http://www.urbanophile.com/?p=2118#comment-6839 Let's be charitable and simply say that Unigov empowered two generations of first-ring suburban Republican county officeholders. It didn't take votes away from the black minority, nor even council seats. But it did definitely stack the deck in city-county-wide jobs for the better part of three decades. Note that the current council is almost perfectly proportional. There are 8 African-American members, including one "at large", out of the 29 seats. That's pretty much in line with the 25-30% minority population of the city-county area, and it's been that way for some time. Let’s be charitable and simply say that Unigov empowered two generations of first-ring suburban Republican county officeholders. It didn’t take votes away from the black minority, nor even council seats. But it did definitely stack the deck in city-county-wide jobs for the better part of three decades.

Note that the current council is almost perfectly proportional. There are 8 African-American members, including one “at large”, out of the 29 seats. That’s pretty much in line with the 25-30% minority population of the city-county area, and it’s been that way for some time.

]]> By: The Urbanophile http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/01/19/michael-scott-robert-clifton-weavers-quest-to-end-housing-segregation-has-anything-changed/comment-page-1/#comment-6837 The Urbanophile Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:51:46 +0000 http://www.urbanophile.com/?p=2118#comment-6837 I think you hit on a good point, and it is one I plan to return to in a bit. I think when you look around at similar cities, Indianapolis has some of the best race relations out there. That's not to say all is perfect or that it has achieved racial equity, because clearly there is a way to go. But as I've observed before, it is a much more socially integrated city than many I've seen, with lower levels of tension between communities. This is particularly interesting in light of Unigov, which more or less disenfranchised blacks. I think you hit on a good point, and it is one I plan to return to in a bit. I think when you look around at similar cities, Indianapolis has some of the best race relations out there. That’s not to say all is perfect or that it has achieved racial equity, because clearly there is a way to go. But as I’ve observed before, it is a much more socially integrated city than many I’ve seen, with lower levels of tension between communities. This is particularly interesting in light of Unigov, which more or less disenfranchised blacks.

]]> By: AmericanDirt http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/01/19/michael-scott-robert-clifton-weavers-quest-to-end-housing-segregation-has-anything-changed/comment-page-1/#comment-6829 AmericanDirt Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:56:09 +0000 http://www.urbanophile.com/?p=2118#comment-6829 I have heard people argue multiple times that Bobby Kennedy's presence in Indianapolis was the one and only act that gave the city the distinction of being the largest in America with a significant African American population that did not suffer any race riots in the 1960s and 1970s. (That is, if it weren't for Bobby, the city would have had riots.) To me that bestows far too much credit on Kennedy and not enough on the subtle pacifying forces rooted in the people of the city itself. Many other occurrences could have fomented a riot during those two decades, but, at least in Indy, they did not. I have heard people argue multiple times that Bobby Kennedy’s presence in Indianapolis was the one and only act that gave the city the distinction of being the largest in America with a significant African American population that did not suffer any race riots in the 1960s and 1970s. (That is, if it weren’t for Bobby, the city would have had riots.) To me that bestows far too much credit on Kennedy and not enough on the subtle pacifying forces rooted in the people of the city itself. Many other occurrences could have fomented a riot during those two decades, but, at least in Indy, they did not.

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