We're going there now
It was expected, but according to Alvin Sheats this is all about race. It's not that his organization had a budget of more than $1 million and have assisted a disturbingly low number of individuals. Or that East Athens Development Corporation and Hancock Corridor Development Corporation have no mechanism to raise private funds and rely solely on the uncertainity of public grants.
No, this is clearly because they are an African-American-operated non-profit doing noble work in an African-American neighborhood.
Again, while not shocking the conversation would devolve into a banal discussion like this rather than what it was (a logical decision based on an analysis of the two group's successes and expenditures), it is nonetheless terribly disappointing. But, and this cannot be shouted from the rooftops loud enough ... it wasn't about race.
This was a decision made by a funder to deny funding to a fundee who hadn't produced sufficient results. It's as simple as that. No more, no less.
And still, for the second time this week, J.T. says they didn't deserve the money, but it was inappropriate how the money was taken away. For the life of me, I'm still puzzled by this one.
One cannot logically sit by and say 'it was terrible how they did this' and then, just two seconds later state 'but, you know, EADC and HCDC weren't producing the necessary results with public funds and that money really could put to better use elsewhere.' If the two organizations were not utilizing public funds in an appropriate and effective, then the timing of the decision has no relevance to the issue.
But J.T. picks up on a disturbing - and patently ridiculous - narrative that was parrotted by Elton Dodson as well ...
What the commission did Tuesday - with the notable exception of Commissioners Elton Dodson, Kelly Girtz, George Maxwell and Harry Sims (Maxwell and Sims represent the districts including the Hancock Corridor Development Corp. and the East Athens Development Corp., respectively) - was to signal the minorities and the poor that their voices and their views just didn't matter all that much.
I love J.T., but this one of the dumbest things I've read in a long time. Coming off the heels of the OneAthens meeting in which a diverse collection of individuals from varied income brackets, races and ages gathered together to push forward a comprehensive plan of action to address poverty in our community - an organization headed by an African-American man - I don't know how one can actually put that opinion forward. It absolutely defies logic.
Look at the populations that benefit from the majority of the smaller grants from CDBG, and you'll find they are overwhelmingly African-American and Hispanic. Look at the boards and staff of those funding non-profits, and you'll see a diverse mix of whites, black and Hispanics. Look at the volunteers and supporters of these groups, and you'll see varied races, ages and levels of wealth present.
The calling of OneAthens is to mobilize this community to fight poverty in the most effective and appropriate way possible. And while I still have reseverations regarding the competition of funding (though much less so now), this mobilization means more than just confronting the business community and the University of Georgia, but also examining who we allocate public funding too.
Listen, ineffective public spending is ineffective public spending whether it's done by the Department of Defense or a minority-operated non-profit dedicated to addressing poverty. I don't doubt for one minute the sincerity or committment from the folks at either EADC or HCDC, but the cold, hard truth of the matter is that they couldn't justify their data with the large amount of funding they received.
No, this is clearly because they are an African-American-operated non-profit doing noble work in an African-American neighborhood.
Again, while not shocking the conversation would devolve into a banal discussion like this rather than what it was (a logical decision based on an analysis of the two group's successes and expenditures), it is nonetheless terribly disappointing. But, and this cannot be shouted from the rooftops loud enough ... it wasn't about race.
This was a decision made by a funder to deny funding to a fundee who hadn't produced sufficient results. It's as simple as that. No more, no less.
And still, for the second time this week, J.T. says they didn't deserve the money, but it was inappropriate how the money was taken away. For the life of me, I'm still puzzled by this one.
One cannot logically sit by and say 'it was terrible how they did this' and then, just two seconds later state 'but, you know, EADC and HCDC weren't producing the necessary results with public funds and that money really could put to better use elsewhere.' If the two organizations were not utilizing public funds in an appropriate and effective, then the timing of the decision has no relevance to the issue.
But J.T. picks up on a disturbing - and patently ridiculous - narrative that was parrotted by Elton Dodson as well ...
What the commission did Tuesday - with the notable exception of Commissioners Elton Dodson, Kelly Girtz, George Maxwell and Harry Sims (Maxwell and Sims represent the districts including the Hancock Corridor Development Corp. and the East Athens Development Corp., respectively) - was to signal the minorities and the poor that their voices and their views just didn't matter all that much.
I love J.T., but this one of the dumbest things I've read in a long time. Coming off the heels of the OneAthens meeting in which a diverse collection of individuals from varied income brackets, races and ages gathered together to push forward a comprehensive plan of action to address poverty in our community - an organization headed by an African-American man - I don't know how one can actually put that opinion forward. It absolutely defies logic.
Look at the populations that benefit from the majority of the smaller grants from CDBG, and you'll find they are overwhelmingly African-American and Hispanic. Look at the boards and staff of those funding non-profits, and you'll see a diverse mix of whites, black and Hispanics. Look at the volunteers and supporters of these groups, and you'll see varied races, ages and levels of wealth present.
The calling of OneAthens is to mobilize this community to fight poverty in the most effective and appropriate way possible. And while I still have reseverations regarding the competition of funding (though much less so now), this mobilization means more than just confronting the business community and the University of Georgia, but also examining who we allocate public funding too.
Listen, ineffective public spending is ineffective public spending whether it's done by the Department of Defense or a minority-operated non-profit dedicated to addressing poverty. I don't doubt for one minute the sincerity or committment from the folks at either EADC or HCDC, but the cold, hard truth of the matter is that they couldn't justify their data with the large amount of funding they received.
posted by Jmac at 8:11 AM
4 Comments:
Nothing is more racially biased than giving someone a pass for their poor performance simply because of the color of their skin. Fortunately, numbers and data have no ethnicity.
Too many people are looking at what these two organizations are supposed to be doing rather than what they have actually been doing. A mission statement is not a guarantee of accomplishment.
You are 100 percent correct, JMac.
Nonetheless, as a Republican, I can't help but be amused when the tables are turned and liberals--er, progressives--suddenly have to defend themselves against unfounded allegations of racism.
Welcome to my world, Ms Kinman, et al.
Reggie
Alvin can only complain the way he did because to do otherwise would be to admit how ineffectual he has been as HCDC's "leader." It's much easier to say what he said than to admit he's incompetent.
I readily admit to being more than a little confused. I thought racist mortgage brokers had been forcing everyone to buy homes they couldn't afford, and now I find out the problem is that people can't get a house and it's the fault of racist commissioners who are denying funding to community housing counselors.
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