The only thing missing from Tuesday night’s Columbus City Council meeting was the girl in sequins with the elephants.
Occupying center ring was gadfly Carl Lee, who on this night had complaints to lodge about the city attorney, chief operations officer and city treasurer. Mr. Lee would like the men who presently hold those positions to rotate elsewhere after a year. He does not question their competence or service to the city; the main problem Mr. Lee seems to have with these men is that they are white.
After chastising City Attorney Jeff Turnage for what he deemed an improper exchange with a citizen with a tax issue, Mr. Lee went on to say the council should declare Selvain McQueen police chief because he is African-American, has worked hard and lives in a community that is majority black.
In Mr. Lee’s world, race is what matters most. This crusader for justice enshrouds his fuzzy logic in the cloak of civil rights. Someone should remind Mr. Lee that hiring people on the basis of race is racism, a practice the champions of the civil rights cause were intent on eliminating. It is also against the law, fortunately.
Mr. Lee then went on to chastise the mayor and council for not doing more to secure a regional mall. If Mr. Lee knew anything about retail development, he would know that local officials have no more say about the decisions of mall developers than does a leopard about the placement of his spots.
Those decisions are driven by demographics. And might we add, the demographics of the city would only become less attractive to mall developers if the city were to embrace Mr. Lee’s vision, a government hiring policy where skin color trumps competence. Follow Mr. Lee’s dictum and watch real estate values soar in New Hope, Caledonia and Steens.
This is not to say the city doesn’t have competent black employees; of course it does. However, they were hired not because of their race, but for their ability.
To their credit, the mayor, council and targets of Mr. Lee’s harangue quietly persevered before moving on to the next order of business.
Birney Imes III is the immediate past publisher of The Dispatch.
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