By Antonio D. French
Filed Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 9:01 PM
Citing the City of St. Louis' current racial problems, the chairman and the executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) said today they will give Mayor Francis Slay six months to make peace with the city's black community or they will relocate their 2011 national convention and take its millions of dollars of economic impact elsewhere.
PubDef, along with crews from Channel 4 and 5, waited for Mayor Slay or a spokesman to discuss his meeting with NSBE, but no one came out by 5:00 and we all left.
THIS STORY WAS NOT REPORTED LAST NIGHT ON KMOV CHANNEL 4 or KSDK CHANNEL 5 10:00 NEWS SHOWS EVEN THOUGH BOTH HAD REPORTERS AND CAMERAS AT THE SCENE.
Labels: Francis_Slay, Mayor, Race, Recall
27 Comments:
Let them go. Why should St. Louis be held hostage to any group?
12/18/2007 9:33 PM
Who exactly do you mean? The black engineers or the black community?
12/18/2007 9:38 PM
score this one as a HUGE victory for slay......the professional protestors, er, eric vickers group thought the black engineers were going to come into town and after meeting with them announce that they were cancelling their convention.....did you notice how the rhetoric changed after the meeting with slay??
the vickers group has to be reeling right now
12/18/2007 11:49 PM
Huge victory for Slay? Are you out of your mind? You must be fucking nuts.
12/19/2007 12:00 AM
"Let them go. Why should St. Louis be held hostage to any group?"
"...or they will relocate their 2011 national convention and take its millions of dollars of economic impact elsewhere."
12/19/2007 12:09 AM
I notice that the About section of this blog calls itself "a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the City of St. Louis, Missouri." Maybe it is time to remove "non-partisan" from that description.
12/19/2007 12:17 AM
Maybe it is time to remove "non-partisan" from that description.
Does it count as partisanship if all of the political leaders involved in either side of the controversy are Democrats?
12/19/2007 1:58 AM
Antonio-
You still have not answered the declining approval ratings question I raised in a previous section. From where are you gathering these declining approval ratings?
Honestly, I'd like some sort of accountable citable source.
Please provide the poll and sample pool demographics.
Thanks.
Tim
12/19/2007 2:30 AM
Is it legal to refuse to do business with someone based on a racial issue? If all the details were the same with the exception of who is black and who is white Al and Jesse would be losing their minds and stuffing their wallets
12/19/2007 6:48 AM
The engineers only strengthened the hand of the protesters, and in a non-constructive way.
Slay now has to 'make peace' which really means capitulate to the squeaky wheels.
If Slay had any guts, he would thank the engineers for their time and remember that he has hundreds of thousands of people to answer to, not a convention of I am not even sure how many 1000? for a few days.
Slay dealing with these protesters is like dealing with blackmailers/politicians. You give them truck once and they keep asking for more.
12/19/2007 8:38 AM
Hey Antonio, thanks for the coverage. Seriously, this is like C-Span for St. Louis.
This isn't anything partisan. This is about equality and justice. Boycotts are a way to achieve those goals.
12/19/2007 8:40 AM
Ha ha, French hates Slay because he is white.
Non-partisan = French is a white hating bigot.
Hey Ant how about you reach back into your VAST political experience and tell everyone how the country should be run.
YOU are SOOOOOOOO politically astute. You're smart.
12/19/2007 9:06 AM
As I review my Tivo recordings of yesterday's news broadcasts, it's important to note that THIS STORY WAS NOT REPORTED LAST NIGHT ON KMOV CHANNEL 4 or KSDK CHANNEL 5's 10:00 NEWS SHOWS EVEN THOUGH BOTH HAD REPORTERS AND CAMERAS AT THE SCENE.
Both channels did air reports at 5:00, but five hours later this story was judged no longer newsworthy.
12/19/2007 9:36 AM
I also appreciate the coverage, even though I disagree with Antonio 60%-70% of the time.
I think both the NSBE and the press concluded that the recall effort is a bit fringe.
12/19/2007 10:17 AM
And unless I'm missing it somewhere, the Post-Dispatch also decided not to cover this story about a $15-20 million convention possibly pulling out of the city because of the mayor's relationship with 52% of the population.
This place is incredible.
12/19/2007 10:22 AM
I find it ironic that the recall group is trying to do this economic terrorism involving future convention prospects. In 1990, the International Association of Fire Fighters made a difficult decision and choose St. Louis for their convention site. The IAFF membership, all over United States and Canada, was very concerned about the crime problem and were worried about bringing their families into St. Louis for the convention festivities. The firefighters in the St. Louis area, black and white, took great efforts to make everyone feel safe and, as a result, the convention was one of the best ever.
The black firefighters knew that the economic well being of the city could only help the cause of city employees overall.
This action is fueled by a group of 'false prophets' that want to make everyone believe that demoting Sherman George was more than a punitive action against a high profile Fire Chief who was insubordinate.
For the media to give coverage to this misleading representation just makes the recallers look more credible, which is exactly what you are doing in your editorials in this blog.
I realize that you actually believe what your are preaching and you have every right to pursue and fight for your views. On the other hand, to criticize the other media outlets who don't believe as you so that this is a credible story is in bad taste.
12/19/2007 10:52 AM
Conventions cancel -- and move -- all the time. They get better deals from other cities,their plans change, their sponsors go out of business. St. Louis steals them; others steal St. Louis's.
What a convention scheduled for 2011 MIGHT do is worth the coverage it (didn't) got. Had they cancelled, it would probably have made the 10 pm news.
12/19/2007 10:54 AM
In contrast, Channel 4 and 5 and the Post-Dispatch all featured stories on the litter of puppies left outside in the cold.
If only the black engineers were cuter and fuzzier.
12/19/2007 11:06 AM
hey french, did you think that the post and tv's aren't reporting this story b/c it really ISNT a big deal?
the only people who think this is a big deal are you and the professional protestors who have hated slay since day one!
12/19/2007 11:12 AM
There was nothing in the Post-Dispatch. The possible cancellation of a convention three and a half years from now is just too remote.
The press is correctly avoiding the mistaken assumption that the Vickers group represents every African American in the City of St. Louis.
12/19/2007 11:20 AM
Antonio,
Thanks very much for your reporting on issues that the white main stream press ignores.
Bill Monroe
Once again my $7.00 @ month is money well spent and each time the white main stream press ignores issues impacting the community with few voices; you should receive monthly contributions from others who feel the same way.
12/19/2007 11:33 AM
Is it a myth that Richard Callow has a hand in stifling media coverage, especially regarding things which affect city hall.
I am trying to minimize or eliminate the hostility I feel towards people who do not deserve it.
But if they do deserve it---I would like to know.
12/19/2007 1:42 PM
let me take their convention elsewhere......52% of the workers at the hotels, restaurants, and caterers are african-americans.....this boycott doesn't hurt the mayor, it hurts working african-americans
12/19/2007 2:00 PM
Is that Zaki Baruti I see in the first photo?
Zaki already boycotts the city -- he don't live here. U City won't suffer with a city boycott.
City residents, stop letting County folks tell you what to do and who to follow. Be the man Danforth or Zaki, the County pipers are leading us to jump off a cliff.
12/19/2007 2:09 PM
Slay,Rainford and Slay's "Boy" Charles Bryson remind me of the 3 Stooges with their many mis-steps that alienate the majority of St. Louisans!
12/19/2007 3:27 PM
Does anybody else see something wrong with this? The National Society for Black Engineers? Talk about Racist. They won't let anyone but African-Americans in their group. And for those of you idiots that are going to respond with "there already is one for whites" no there is not...THe NSPE accepts all engineers regardless of race, they look at the profession not the color of your skin. Let these Racist Pigs go somewhere else.
12/20/2007 10:53 AM
Is the reference to Charles Bryson, a middle-aged African American man, as a "boy" not racist?
Is it OK, because one disagrees with him?
12/20/2007 11:19 AM
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