By Antonio D. French
Filed Monday, June 12, 2006 at 9:41 AM
Several candidates and elected officials were in the audience at yesterday's OBS Candidate Forum for the 4th District State Senate candidates. Labels: State_Senate, Video_Reports
State Representative Connie Johnson, Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, State Rep. Candidates Jamilah Nasheed, Joe Palm, Talib El-Amin, and Karla May all watched as Derio Gambaro, Jeff Smith, Kenny Jones, Amber Boykins, and Yaphett El-Amin answered questions on different issues facing the residents of the district they each want to represent in the state senate.
May, who is running against Committeemen Palm and El-Amin to replace Yaphett in the state house, rose to ask a question that was directly pointed at the wife of one of her opponents.
She asked where the candidates stood on the issue of Missouri becoming a "right to work" state. There are currently 22 states with laws that discourage collective bargaining by prohibiting trade unions from making membership a condition of employment, either before or after hire. There is an ongoing effort to make Missouri such a state.
Four of the candidates voiced their strong support for labor, but El-Amin, who along with her father, Eddie Hasan of MOKAN, has sometimes been critical of local labor unions, said that unions do no have an excellent record for being inclusive of blacks and other minorities.
"In order for us to all come together and for us to really see the benefit of labor, we have to be at the table benefiting from the good-paying jobs," said El-Amin.
17 Comments:
I can't believe the unenlightened statement made by Rep. El-Amin. The issues facing modern labor transcend race. Further, the Communication Workers of America, one of the largest unions in the St. Louis area, promotes participation by all represented members. Here we go again with a candidate playing divisive politics rather than bringing people together. Divide and conquer is obviously her only hope to stay in the race based on the polls.
6/12/2006 1:19 PM
Mr. Smith, Ms. Boykins, and Mr. Jones showed a lot of class and knowledge about how to get things done to benefit everybody by emphasizing the need to work with the unions to create change for inclusion. However, Ms. El-Amin may want to remember that the 4th Senatorial District is more than just the immediate area surrounding her in North St. Louis.
The 4th Senatorial District goes into Central and South St. Louis and she must represent everyone in the entire district, not just Team El-Amin and French Fries-I mean Fish Fry. Serve some bratwurst, beer and pretzels, for everybody.
You can get some free beer from all those liquors stores where your signs are, we all know you support liquor stores in the black community and high gas prices-aah that's right you are against high gas prices-you just happen to have your campaign signs plastered at every gas station in North St. Louis.
Liquor stores and high gas prices are crippling people in North St. Louis, and everywhere else for that matter!
Why don't you take your campaign signs down from the liquor stores and gas stations, and show you support a liquor store free, and high gas price free community?
Or do you care more about politics than your principles that you should be standing on. Be "A Strong Voice for A Strong Community" like your slogan says-if you really mean it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don't really mean it, keep your campaign signs at the liquor stores and gas stations, stay in the race and compromise yourself!!!!!!
6/12/2006 2:36 PM
People that have power (OF ANY SKIN COLOR) are not inclusive. That is why they have power and other people don’t.
What is the difference between Craig Williams and Vince Shamole?
Ms. El-Amin has once again proven that she is a mouthpiece for Eddy Hassan. I can guarantee that Mr. Hassan has excluded many Black employees in his life.
6/12/2006 3:02 PM
Ebony and Ivory what about those campaign signs that Ms. El-Amin has at all of the liquor stores, high priced gas stations, undeveloped buildings, and every other unacceptable place in North St. Louis, do you think that South St. Louis would allow a Senatorial candidate to make their neighborhoods look trashy with all those campaign signs!
Hell no, Ms. El-Amin should not support liquor stores, high priced gas stations, or neglected buildings with her campaign signs. Furthermore, why haven't these buildings been developed during her tenure as State Representative?
Whatever the case, these same undeveloped, pitiful, safety hazard, unacceptable buildings deserve the "CROWN" of a Yaphett El-Amin for Senate sign. Were these buildings allowed to deteriorate so that Ms. El-Amin could have more locations to stick her signs on, a real community person with "A Strong Voice for A Strong Community" would be ashamed to have their campaign signs at liquor stores, high priced gas stations, vacant lots, abandoned properties, and buildings that are safety threats to the community.
Please show that you have some kind of respect for the upliftment of the North Side community, and take those campaign signs down from these locations!!!!!
It's too much-too many, it's tacky, it's disrespectful, it's tasteless, it's ugly, it's ridiculous, and it's got your name written all over it!!!!!!
Everybody knows who the El-Amins are by now, even if we don't want to know we have to look at those signs and it is shameful to disgrace the North Side community like that!!!!!!!!!
6/13/2006 3:14 AM
I can not believe some of the stuff that is posted for comment on here. Travis and some of the others are indicative of what is seen as subtle racism. Let's face it, when the numbers are crunched, minoritites(of all ethinic backgrounds) and women are under-represented in the local unions.
Some of you like to point out that Eddie Hsssan is Yaphette's father . .but you don't have an issue with realtionships like those of the Carnahans, Blunts, Slays and other "white" families who have utilized their families connections to improve their communitites. Even Dick Gephardt & the Aboussies(although not related by blood) utilized their relationship with the unions to strenthen their community.
Let's not forget that it was Gephardt who was one of the framers of the TEam Four plan that led to a lot of the derliction of properties in North St. Louis. {Check with Antonio for the whole story}
Travis, the unions have not all been so inclusive, nor have the CWA been that way historicaly. It is through the work of many people, over many years that they have come to this point and it is important that people concitinue to hold them accountable. It is only when everyone has an opportunity to benefit from an economy that we will see a dramitic decrease in crime and people will also have money to re-invest in their neigborhoods.
6/13/2006 5:45 AM
"do you think that South St. Louis would allow a Senatorial candidate to make their neighborhoods look trashy with all those campaign signs!"
Yep.
Jeff Smith has huge campaign signs in front of the trashy 7-11 at Jefferson and Gravois. It's not even in the district!
But it's definitely in South St. Louis.
But, yeah, that probably wouldn't happen around Hampton Village or on The Hill.
Only in my neighborhood.
;-(
6/13/2006 9:46 AM
Some of these posters may not be as white as you think that they are.
Black people are not idiots needing to be led around by the preening idiot brigade of El-Amin, Brown, Smith, Baruti and others.
6/13/2006 11:11 AM
I personally am having trouble reconciling the (apparent) actions of El-Amin's campaign with her personal demeanor. In person Yaphett is centered, principled, disciplined and charming. At the St Louis Hills meeting (the most lily-white part of the district), instead of pandering to the audience by hiding her support for civilian oversight of police or efforts to insure more minority participation in Hwy 40 construction (policies not particularly popular in that neighborhood), she came straight out with her stands and explained why they were relevant and important to that audience. Her campaign's picketing of Jeff Smith's basketball tournament and the comments attributed to her campaign on this blog seem so out of character.
El-Amin needs to take control of her campaign and make it more like herself.
6/13/2006 12:44 PM
I don't understand how unions that are made-up of the employees they represent are not considered inclusive. In my dealings with the CWA, most of the stewards were black, and many were women, eventhough the employee population was a well diversified group. In fact, the chief steward for our business group was a black woman.
So, again, the supporters of Rep. El-Amin are trying to avoid the real issues by trying to pit those of different backgrounds against eachother--more divide and conquer.
---
For the record, I've never mentioned Eddie Hassan, as I have no clue who he is, other than Rep. El-Amin's father.
6/13/2006 12:58 PM
What is with the comment of Unions not being inclusive? The county is full of active Union members that are black…
I have seen Plenty of Black folks driving around in big old pick up trucks with IBEW, UAW and Teamster Bumper stickers.
Many union members moved out of the city because of cheep homes with big yards in the suburbs.
If Yaphet can only find two Black Business Agents in the St. Louis I would say she is not doing her constituent work very well.
Also what is with the quizzing folks about how many black members are in the Union? I have seen her do this and it was very rude.
Even more annoying is that she has asked this question of folks whose unions have Black Presidents, like CWA 6355 (John Bowman Jr.) and SEIU 2000 (Barbara Black).
6/13/2006 3:27 PM
How about this as a reason for their not being parity in the labor movement of black and white people… only about 12% of the work force in America is black. 80% of the work force is white.
On the other hand the percentage of black folks in unions or employee associations is higher than whites.
According to the burrow of labor statistics in the year 2004
2.1 million out of 14 million (15.1%) of Black Folks are in a union.
12.3 million out of 101.3 million (12.2%) White Folks are in a union.
Additionally
2.4 million out of 14 million (16.7%) of Black folks are in an association
13.7 million out of 101.3 million (13.5%) of white folks are in an association.
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat40.txt
6/13/2006 4:12 PM
I will try the link again.
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat40.txt
6/13/2006 4:13 PM
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/
special.requests/lf/aat40.txt
6/13/2006 4:14 PM
I looks too me that Unions and associaltions are actually beeting out the economy as a whole for aceptace of people of color.
12% of the work force is Black
14% of unions are Black
Lets say the USA was a room with 10 people in it.
I think a lot of people in the St. Louis area would think that the room would have
4 black
1 asian
1 latino
4 white
or something like that
But the reality of the whole county is more like
1 black
1 mixed
8 white
That is why it is perceived that Unions are not inclusiveness.
6/14/2006 5:05 PM
Um, excuse me. I don't know where you anonymous posters are getting your numbers from, but let me remind you that all politics is local.
Most people that live in the City of St. Louis are black.
Whites only make up 43.8% of the population, according to the 2000 Census -- that includes foreign-born whites, like Bosnians.
With that in mind, now venture to guess the percentage of blacks working in construction trade unions in the City of St. Louis.
Do you honestly think it's proportional?
6/14/2006 5:37 PM
Antonio, do you have those numbers on the union stats?
6/15/2006 1:38 AM
I am not making an argument that there is not racism.
I maintain that people need to fight for Justice.
BUT we need understand our position on the playing field.
Unions organize around economic issues. They are formed to fight for work place issues like pay, benefits and RESPECT at work.
Employers organize companies around maximizing profits. They want to keep wages and benefits down and to do that they don’t want workers to co-operate and form unions.
So, to look at how unions should look in a race-based perspective, look at the economic region as a whole.
We all should know that from 9a to 5p the city of St. Louis dose not have the same demographics of workers as it dose residents.
Here are the county/city numbers
56.2% of the 350k people in the CITY are black – 196.7k
19% of the 1 million people in the COUNTY are black – 193.3k
28% out of 1.35 million people that live in the city or county are black - 390k
There is also a considerable amount of people that commute in St. Louis from other collar
Counties like St. Clair, Jefferson, Franklin, and St. Charles have even higher rations of white to black.
6/15/2006 10:07 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home