Love him or hate him, no one can deny that Ed Koch loved his city. Often described as New York’s “Quintessential Mayor,” Koch had none of the glamor that one expects from a person in such a formidable position. Like the city he took control of in 1977, he was loud, brash, imperfect, yet proud. Above all his memorable characteristics, his firmness in his beliefs defined his leadership. “Part of the thing that was most refreshing and most appalling about Koch is that he will stand for what he believes in," Reverend Al Sharpton, one of Koch’s great critics, said of Koch. “He will not say what you want him to. And he will not be intimidated either way" {ABC News, 2013}. So why did minorities dislike him so much while he stood as Mayor? Mayor Ed Koch had such a poor relationship with minorities because his forthright leadership style made him appear insensitive towards racial issues, he struggled with city crackdown of hate crimes, and the strong cultural responses from minorities made Koch-hatred acceptable.
While this leadership style made him an effective decision maker, it fostered a perception of antagonism towards minority groups. He thought of solutions that would benefit the city for many years to come, and he had known they would initially affect minority communities the most. During the budget cuts in 1983, when “…The City wasn’t taking in enough cash to balance the budget” {Soffer, 235}, Koch met with minority group politicians and informed them that minority neighborhoods would suffer the most. He encouraged them to push for additional aid to compensate for “the lack of services in the neighborhoods” {235}. Fortunately, he did not pay a large price because New York managed to recover from the recession quicker th...
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... tension. During the campaigns of 1988 for the New York Presidential Primary, Koch set out a relentless attack on democratic party candidate, Rev. Jessie Jackson, by saying that Jews would be "crazy" to vote for him, accusing him of "arrogance and contempt” {NY Times, 1988}, and charging him for lying in 1968 about Martin Luther King dying in his arms. Mayor Koch’s fiercest, most powerful opponent, his voice, caused him both his credibility with minority voters and his fourth term as well. In the end, even when the Mayor claimed his “style” {NY Times, 1987} had changed attempted to repair the rift he had created with minorities by convening for meetings, pleading for “exquisite sensitivity to others,” {1987} and speaking out following the incident at Howard Beach in which white youths hit and killed 23 year old Michael Griffith with their car, it seemed too late.
Buzz Bissinger’s A Prayer for the City discussed many issues that impacted cities around the nation, but more specifically the problems of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has had an illustrious history as an American city- the Declaration of Independence was signed there, it was one of America 's first cities, and currently it has the fifth largest population of any city. When Rendell took office as mayor, he faced a multitude of issues. Some of these issues were “immediate crises” that he believed may go away by some miracle, others would require much more work and seemed to be nearly impossible tasks. Among the problems for Philadelphia were crippling unemployment, crime, and race relations within the
I live in Brooklyn, New York City. I was born and bred there. I am one of eight million New Yorkers. New York City is sometimes described as a "melting pot," meaning we are like different Kool-Aid powders that dissolve into a uniform color and flavor. My view differs, though. I think we are eight million different insoluble liquids layered one on top of the other, appearing like oil floating on water. When stirred these liquids are rustled from their respective positions, almost coming together, only to revert to their original separated composition a second later. I'm sorry, Dr. King, we haven't all "sat at the same table" yet. This polarization and social indifference, I believe, stems from the ruthless, heart-hardening, cutthroat environment of our city. But underneath this coarseness, I wonder if there isn't a sliver of pillow-soft care and empathy for those wishing to escape the city's coldness.
...les and what they were actually going through was true. I could never imagine a mentality of a police chief being this way. It is an absolute horrific way of policing, and goes against anything to what the current era of community policing stands for. Also, what I don’t understand is how not one police officer took a stand against the police chief, and how this type of policing was never reported and deemed as acceptable behavior. The reason I also chose to include the L.A. riots is because it displays a side of the story many people simply do not discuss. The impression that I received is the rioting is deemed as justifiable. Both incidents are classic examples of how a lack of proper ethics and leadership can lead to such tragic incidents. What is even sadder is in between all this innocent people were affected, such as Rodney King, the businesses, and 53 deaths.
Rothstein (2014) states “long before the shooting of Michael Brown, official racial-isolation policies primed Ferguson for this summer’s events” (p. 1). Rothstein writes how African-Americans were denied access to better jobs, housing, education, and were placed into areas that eventually became slums. Blacks were relocated several times, which eventually “converted towns like Ferguson into new segregated enclaves” (Rothstein, 2014, p. 9). Government policies were a catalyst that caused what is known as white flight, or the movement of white residents to more private residential, upscale areas, in which blacks could not afford or were not permitted to reside. Some neighborhoods used eminent domain laws to keep blacks from moving into white developments. Blacks were targeted with unethical lending rates by banks. Deceptive real estate practices were the norm when it came to selling houses to African American families. Before 1980, laws allowed boundary and redevelopment policies to keep blacks from white neighborhoods. However, in 1980, the federal courts ordered all forms of government to create plans on school and housing integration. Rothstein (2014) adds “public officials ignored the order” and only “devised a busing plan to integrate schools” (p. 4). The housing market collapse, along with exploding interest rates, left the black neighborhoods devastated, as stated by Rosenbaum (2014, p. 9). Ferguson was less that 1% black in 1970, however by the time Michael Brown was killed in 2014, the community was nearly 70% black, with its schools nearly 90% black. In review, Hannah-Jones (2014) relays how the white flight from St. Louis caused businesses and jobs to leave along with the residents. With their departure, the schools also suffered. Schools
In this course we have learned that a city's character is "a legacy for seeing, interpreting, exploiting, and transforming its social, cultural and political opportunities as a physical community." How is it possible for a city like Boston to have character? Well, the institutional and cultural continuity along with the resistance and reconstruction of culture has allowed the character of Boston to be defined simply by the underlying idea of conflict. Through J Anthony Lukas' Common Ground and Richard Broadman's Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston, we can see that the catalyst for this sense of conflict has been social dissentions between classes and races. These dissentions are clearly detailed through both the Urban Renewal plans of Mission Hill in the 1960s and 1970s and the school busing case of 1974.When looking at the character of Boston one must understand the amount of controversy our city has encountered as well as the way they have identified and resolved these crisis's. Through this deduction along with my own personal experience of living in Boston a step towards finding a distinct character of Boston may be possible.
On Monday, April 13th, 2009, I visited the Culver City city council meeting, and found that they operate using a council-manager form of government. For a city with a population of about 38,000, this type of governmental structure is fairly common, and I was not surprised to see it in action in a community where the median household income is around $56,000 a year. Culver City is also a culturally rich community with a 60 percent Caucasian population, and a quarter of the residents are either of African American or Asian decent. The mayor, D. Scott Malsin, is one of five members on the council, and his term as mayor is on a rotating basis. Having been to a Hermosa Beach city council meeting with a similar council-manager structure, I knew what to expect.
The statement written by the clergymen and directed at Martin Luther King Jr. was a direct action to manage the “game” and “regulate the action,” as Michael Schwalbe theorized (163). By detaining King for “parading without a permit” the Birmingham Police Force attempted to manage King’s actions with punishment (King, par. 14). By denying King the “First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest” (14) the Birmingham Police Department is protecting their “identity stakes” (Schwalbe, 165), of white privilege. The white power structure described in King’s letter was “to preserve the evil system of segregati...
Jim Sleeper’s “The End of the Rainbow,” discusses the challenges faced in a multi-ethnic political system where Rainbow I and II politics no longer appeal to nonwhites (). Black politicians entering the political realm during and after the Civil Rights era have faced increasingly difficult defeats throughout the country most often due to the lack of support by fellow Blacks, nonwhites, and whites who feel left out by the political strategy’s previously employed (). This has led to an increase in White defeats throughout urban, non-white, playing fields (). Raphael J. Sonenshein’s “The Battle over Liquor Stores in South Central Los Angeles: The Management of an Interminority Conflict,” discusses the “conflict[s] and coalitions among nonwhite communities.” Sleeper suggests the growing number of “politically centrist mayoral candidates tou...
Through his vivid descriptions, passionate tone, and expressive examples, King’s arguments evoke an emotional response in his readers. King’s use of pathos gives him the ability to inspire fellow civil rights activists, evoke empathy in white conservatives, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergymen and the rest of his national audience. King seeks to lessen the aggression of white citizens while revitalizing the passion for nonviolent protest in the minds of African Americans. King cautions, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (K...
The following report gives a critical analysis of Dr. Cornel West’s book, “Race Matters.” In his book, Dr. West, a scholar, theologian, and activist, presents key issues of the day (1990s) primarily relating to race. He wrote “Race Matters” following the Los Angeles riot of 1992 after the acquittal of white police officers involved in the tragic beating of Rodney King. The book was originally published in April 1993 by New York: Vintage Books. This book is comprised of eight separate essays focusing primarily on racial issues relative to current events, the political climate, and market forces. Dr. West’s basic argument is that race matters in all aspects of American culture as well as abroad. He attempts to raise the awareness of his readers (and audiences) about the importance of race as an integral part of American society.
challenge of being the Governor of the State of New York, but his principles and values
Numerous media outlet’s painted the New Orleans Police Department as if were staffed by criminals who wore badges. Mayor Mitch Landrieu, along with many others, knew there was a growing problem within the NOPD and even invited the Justice Department to assist with a clean up of the law enforcement agency that had grown increasingly lawless. The Mayor even went as far to admit a systemic failure within the department (Frieden). The media set the tone for this story as if there were a serious issue within the department that desperately needed a solution, which is what the NOPD received.
One of the world’s best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), synthesized ideals drawn from many different cultural traditions. Recent studies of him emphasize the extent to which his ideals were rooted in African-American religious traditions which were then shaped by his education. The image of a social activist and leader was the result of extensive formal education, strong personal values and licit ethics. This excellence in leadership can be traced to his character which is shaped by his moral values and personality. We look at MLK and these traits to reveal the rationalization of his rise to transracial leadership in our society. Through studying the life and example of Martin Luther King, Jr., we learn that his moral values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, achievement and peace were what motivated him. King is not great because he is well known, he is great because he served as the cause of peace and justice for all humans. King is remembered for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of skin color. This presence of strong moral values developed King’s character which enabled him to become one of the most influential leaders of our time. Integrity is a central value in a leader’s character and it is through integrity that King had vision of the truth. The truth that one day this nation would live up to the creed, "all men are created equal". No man contributed more to the great progress of blacks during the 1950’s and 1960’s than Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brought up believing "one man can make a difference", and this is just what he did. Integrity has a large effect on what we think, say and do, it is through King’s thoughts and actions that enabled so many people to have trust and faith in him. Through King’s integrity he believed that America, the most powerful and richest nation in the world will lead the way to a revolution of values. This revolution will change the way society views itself, shifting from a "thing-orientated" society to a "person-orientated" society. When this occurs, King believed that racism will be capable of being conquered and this nation will be "Free at last." King’s unconditional love for all humans was another value that strongly influenced his character and allowed him to have such excellent leadership ability.
When the call went out in the summer of 1961 for volunteers to ride buses throughout the South to help integrate public transportation, a large percentage of the people who made a commitment to take on this dangerous assignment were Jews. To be exact, nearly two-thirds of the Freedom Riders were Jewish which is “quite an amazing feat for a minority which made up less than 2% of the entire American population” (Weinblatt 5). Although Jews and African Americans are two very distinct, and often opposing, cultural groups in our society, the great struggle to end racism in America meshed these two groups tightly together. Their shared motivations, expectations and experiences in dealing with white racists during the civil rights movement are amazingly similar, especially when they are compared in the writings of African American essayist and activist James Baldwin and the personal recollections of the Jewish Freedom Riders.
Mr. Griffin was a middle age white man who lived with his wife and children. He was not oriented to his family. He decided to pass his own society to the black society. Although this decision might help most of the African Americans, he had to sacrifice his gathering time with his family. “She offered, as her part of the project, her willingness to lead, with our three children, the unsatisfactory family life of a household deprived of husband and father” (Griffin 9). Leaving Mrs. Griffin and his children would deprive them of the care they needed. Even though he was not oriented to his family, he was full of courage. He was willing to discuss topics that people hesitated to talk about, trying new ideas that people were afraid to do. After turning back to his own skin color, he attended most media conferences and also wrote books about what he had gone through. During those interviews, Griffin was very considerate. He requested Wallace, a reporter, to report carefully so that he would not hurt his African American friends. “Please… Don’t mention those names on the air.