Op-ed

This opinion editorial was published in the November 16, 2009 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal.

With the state and our local areas in virtual economic free fall, the 2010 census is perhaps the single most important population count in the history of California. There is almost nothing that will ensure our continued decline or alternatively provide the resources to help build a prosperous future than the census.

In Los Angeles and across the state, community organizers are mobilizing and strategizing the outreach to various constituencies in an attempt to avoid a catastrophic undercount. But at a time when census resources are needed more than ever, California has precipitously reduced funding for the outreach.

The state has cut the outreach funding from $26 million in the 2000 census to a mere $2.5 million for 2010 – a 90 percent reduction. How can California be so shortsighted as to virtually eliminate funding now? Equally important, considering the significance of the count, why is the public debate on the subject so muted? As bad as the reduction decision is, the lack of any real outcry – from elected officials and the public – may be even more disconcerting.

The Los Angeles Urban League joins the Kennedy family and the nation in mourning the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a social justice giant, one of the nation's most effective and irreplaceable advocates for equality, a brilliant legislator and a tireless champion for those in need. Senator Kennedy's service to the United States Senate will forever stand as a citadel of legislative accomplishments and provides a template for future leaders in the fight for civil and human rights. Throughout his career in the United States Senate, Senator Kennedy was a friend of the Urban League Movement and all organizations that waged the battles to end inequality and discrimination in all areas of America society. By some accounts, he was responsible for supporting more civil rights initiatives than any other senator in US history.

This week I participated as a panelist in Los Angeles for CNN's hosted preview of “Black in America 2” followed by a community discussion of the program and issues related to race. With an audience of more than 400 at the California African American Museum, one of the most provocative questions raised was –"is racism still an issue in America today?" Ironically, the CNN event coincided with the news release that Cambridge, Mass. police officers had arrested Harvard University professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of America’s most prominent Black scholars and one of our leading intellectual minds, Black or white. Gates, taken into custody at his home, was not held for breaking and entering, as initially reported. He was charged with disorderly conduct for speaking his mind after producing his bona fides to dispel the police contention that he was a felonious criminal. Gates, true to his style, apparently let the officers know they had no right to harass him in his residence. Clearly, racism in America is not dead. It is alive and well. Disturbingly however, in our politically correct society it has morphed and gone underground; manifesting itself in policies and practices that systematically exclude, without overtly pointing to race. This renders discrimination far more difficult to identify and combat in the 21st Century.

Chris Strudwick-Turner, VP of Marketing for the LA Urban League talks to CBS2 about the planned closing of the Starbucks located at Crenshaw & Vernon and the loss it will be to the community.

Update (6/18/09): The LA Sentinel cites the Los Angeles Urban League's support of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

The Los Angeles Urban League applauds President Obama for the historic nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Judge Sotomayor has demonstrated excellence and distinction as a trial attorney and she has compiled an extensive record of judicial expertise. Judge Sotomayor possesses the real-life experience that President Obama has determined will be critical to the new Associate Justice, who will be called upon to apply the law in a manner reflective of everyday lives and circumstances.

Originally featured in the Los Angeles Sentinel on November 16, 2008.

With the enormous bailouts that the federal government provided over the past several months to myriad sectors of our economy, here's a new twist: How about some relief for the nation's not for profit and social service sector? Now, perhaps the idea sounds spurious or even facetious at first, that is until we realize that as our economy has increasingly failed the middle and lower class over the past two decades it is the nation's social sector that has essentially served as the "safety net" for our country's most disenfranchised people and communities. This sector has been servicing millions of our country's neediest people for decades. Yet today, as a result of our nation's economy, more and more of our nation's most prominent social, civil and community organizations are in serious financial trouble. And as the economy continues to contract more rapidly, far too many of our most valuable and venerable not for profits--organizations that tirelessly service America's most disenfranchised--will likely fold under the pressure.

Blair H. Taylor, President & CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League, testified at September 9, 2008 hearing held by the National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Mr. Taylor’s testimony was as follows:

Good morning. Thank you to the Commission for allowing this important testimony to occur.

Many of the panelists have described elements of the housing crisis in vivid detail. The hope is to use this brief time with you to specifically focus on the impact of this crisis on urban communities, and also to pose possible solutions.

We will use a sample neighborhood in South Los Angeles as a proxy for inner city LA. The neighborhood I will be referencing, known as Park Mesa Heights in South Los Angeles is located in the 90043 zip code. Up front note that it is not the most blighted urban community in this city, but then again, it is clearly very far from the top. It faces a major crisis in homeownership, but also major issues in health care access, education/school performance, and violent crime. I want us to focus on this neighborhood because in many ways it both exemplifies the problems we face and also offers a roadmap for solutions.

Originally featured in the LA Times on July 17, 2008.

The cover of the New Yorker magazine this week drove home a stark reality that both columnist Tim Rutten and The Times editorial board missed: Although many Americans appear to be ready for an African American president, the question remains as to whether America itself is ready. The recent cover is the latest example of the willingness of the American media and thought leaders to openly demean African American leaders and play into the worst fears of some American people.

Now, before I am labeled "thinskinned," let me make some acknowledgments upfront. Yes, I know that the New Yorker is a purportedly "liberal" magazine with a history of satirical illustrations. And yes, I am aware that it has a constitutional right to publish a provocative cover image. But it also has an ligation to be wary of the line between provocative and scandalous. So, regardless of the magazine's political tilt or its intentions with respect to this or any other cover, in the end, the magazine and its staff must be held fully responsible for such reckless decisions.

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008, Blair H. Taylor, President & CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League, testified before the Federal Reserve in support of Bank of America Corp.’s proposed $4 billion acquisition of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. The two-day hearing regarding the acquisition took place at the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in downtown Los Angeles. The Federal Reserve reviews bank acquisitions to determine whether they are in the public interest. Mr. Taylor’s testimony was as follows:

Good morning. My name is Blair Taylor. I am the President & CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League. As some of you may know, the LA Urban League is part of the affiliate network of Urban Leagues across this nation. The network includes 100 affiliates located in major metropolitan areas. As to the Los Angeles Urban League specifically, with an operating budget of more than $30 million/year, and a staff of more than 300 full-time employees, we are the largest affiliate in the nation. For the past 87 years the LA Urban League has been a central part of the lives of tens of thousands of this city's most needy residents. We locate jobs and provide employment services for hundreds of residents each year through our Worksource Centers. We provide after-school programs and mentoring services through our Milken Family Literacy and Youth Training Center. We provide childcare services to thousands of children and their families through our 34 HeadStart and State Preschool Centers. And when the issues of this city arise, when it is time to advocate on behalf of African Americans and other minorities, the Los Angeles Urban League is usually front and center. When issues of police brutality and lack of African American sensitivity had our community in a headlock in the 1990's, the Los Angeles Urban League led the charge for police reform. And when UCLA's African American freshman admissions rate fell to a paltry 96 students in 2006, the LA Urban League was front and center, driving the public institution and the entire UC system to refocus on minority enrollment. I have been at the Los Angeles Urban League in this role for nearly 3 years. During that time, I have had the pleasure and the challenge of working on some of Los Angeles’ most difficult issues. And despite major progress on many fronts, many major issues remain:

• Unemployment rates remain locked at levels 4 to 5 times higher than the average in urban communities.
• High School dropout rates remain near 50% in the African American community.
• Inadequate access to health care and services threatens the lives and well being of our community.
• And the latest housing crisis threatens the overall economic stability of the entire region.

Yes, there are certainly challenges. But the LA Urban League and our partners have consistently focused on solutions. And one of the things that has helped me in the ongoing push for social justice are the major allies – corporate, public sector and foundational partners, who have arisen to take on their share of the load. I place the Bank of America squarely in that camp.

This nation is mired in a housing market collapse. This nation is on the brink of a severe economic recession. This nation is faced with the largest gaps between rich and poor since the great depression. This nation is facing crumbling infrastructure, schools that do not work, and a rapidly deteriorating position in the world. This nation is now $9 Trillion in debt, and is bogged down in a war whose objectives are not clear, and whose costs now exceed $1 Billion per week. Yet in the midst of a Presidential election, for the better part of the last week we have scarcely debated these issues. We've instead spent an extremely large portion of our limited attention spans on the issue of Barack Obama and his pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

Why is it that the words from a fiery Black pastor have so stirred America that we seem to have little appetite for anything else? Candidly, I am non-plussed by the right-leaning media's assault over the past few days waged against Pastor Wright and Senator Obama. Their antagonism to this type of situation is both expected and predictable. But what is surprising and also interesting is the reaction of the so called liberals to the Reverend Wright situation. That is, the reaction of those who claim to be in "favor" of a more fair and just (or colorblind) America, but who are nevertheless somehow shocked and indignant by open expressions from the very people who have yet to see that fairness come to fruition.

What is truly fascinating to ponder is the reality of those who were previously supporting Senator Obama before this fiasco, but have decided against supporting him after.