当地政治和社区领导人参加了虚拟小组讨论, “Politics and the State of Black and Brown America.”
The event Feb. 《世界杯赌场盘口》是讨论系统性种族主义的“关键对话”系列小组讨论的第七场, sponsored by the UMKC Division of Diversity and Inclusion.
UMKC的人正在校园和我们的社区采取深思熟虑的行动，以确保持久和全面的变化 Roos Advocate for Community Change, a campus-wide effort announced in June.
The Critical Conversations are part of that initiative. The goal of each discussion is to enlighten, 教育和探索种族主义的原因和潜在的治疗方法.
Panelists for the Politics session included:
- Tom Carignan, Overland Park City Council member
- Irene Caudillo, president and CEO of El Centro
- Kelvin Simmons是Nexus Group的联合创始人，Nexus Group是一家提供全方位服务的政府事务公司
- Beth Vonnahme, 政治科学副教授兼UMKC文理学院副院长
- Gary O'Bannon (moderator), executive-in-residence, Henry W. Bloch School of Management
- 卡玛斯·休厄尔(共同主持人)，UMKC政治学专业
Excerpts from the conversation are below. View the recording of the conversation.
私营部门为有色人种提供工作机会
Caudillo: 事实证明，如果你有多元化的员工，它会改善决策并促进增长. In the private sector, the representation isn’t there. 即使在公共部门，我们仍然看不到自己处于领导地位……我们真正寻找的是那些打破通往领导地位的障碍的公司的机会.
Simmons: 传统上，私营部门必须被迫搬迁. If they’re not pushed, it’s business as usual.
Advocacy for change
Simmons: Decades ago, 当时有一场大规模的草根运动，向投资基金施压，要求它们撤出在南非的投资，以抗议种族隔离. 今天我们看到类似的事情发生在“我也是”运动和“黑人的命也是命”运动中. 草根运动只要规模足够大，就能发挥作用, have the right message and have the courage to protest.
Carignan: 以我们今天的技术和通讯能力, 组织一场推动企业变革的运动要容易得多.
我们是否缺少像马丁·路德·金那样的核心领袖.?
Carignan: 拉美裔来自20个不同的国家，有着各种不同的政治和社会结构. 我们的人口如此多样化，很难找到一个核心领袖.
Simmons: In the African American community, drawing from our biblical culture, Moses was our figure, the one who delivered us. 我们从小到大都明白有一个传递者……我们今天正在转变，社交媒体以一种非常重要的方式影响人们和人们的声音.
“我们真正寻找的是那些打破通往领导职位障碍的公司的机会.”
Tax abatements for developers
Simmons: 设立这些激励措施是为了解决问题，并在贫困社区创造就业机会. 它已经变得与它的初衷大不相同.
Government-sanctioned voter suppression
Vonnahme: 个人选民可以通过多种方式反对这些倡议. One is to act through state legislatures. One thing they benefit from is low public attention; it’s easy to pass policies when no one is paying attention. 在一些州，投票倡议也可以用来扩大选民的接触范围. The courts are able to come in to defend the 15th amendment requirement for fair and equal voting. 你也可以动员基层力量来帮助人们满足这些要求.
Suffrage is the ultimate right in a democracy. This is something we should all be concerned about. 这确实给了我一点希望，很多事情已经被揭露出来了 ... the best defense is informed, involved community groups.
Caudillo: 社区活动在上次选举中发挥了至关重要的作用. 我们必须继续教育社区，让人们登记，让他们去投票.
Strategies that can lead to desired political outcomes
Caudillo: Holding the people who represent us accountable. Civic engagement beyond the vote is really important.
Vonnahme: Policy success comes from electoral success. Recruitment, funding and voter mobilization are all vital. 选举的成功来自有资源的优秀候选人.
Carignan: Build relationships with elected officials. Become a resource for them. 永远不要一个人去——你要让他们知道有人在你身后支持你.
“Suffrage is the ultimate right in a democracy. This is something we should all be concerned about.”
Police reform
Vonnahme: You can have policy change imposed from above; leadership change is another means. 文化转变非常重要，但很难强加于人. 它们要求成员发生根本的转变，或者成员发生根本的变化. 这一条是最有效的，但也是最难实现的.
Simmons: The role of police unions is very powerful. 根据工会合同，警察享有普通公民所没有的某些保护. 它允许案件得到不同于公民做同样事情的处理.
Carignan: 在欧弗兰公园，一个公民小组在警察部门的晋升和降职上签字. A separate civilian review board reviews complaints.
The digital divide
Caudillo: The gap continues to widen. 这些缺乏数字资源的人也更有可能面临粮食不安全问题, and to be essential workers exposed to COVID. 在大流行开始时引入虚拟学习, the resources were not there in communities of color.
Political and civic education
Caudillo: We’ve lost the civics education we used to have. Our organization is stepping in to do those things now, like taking kids to the capitol, letting them see the legislature in action. On college campuses, we have to have mobilization.
Vonnahme: We teach a sanitized form of politics. We don’t explain the nuance behind politics. 我们必须以一种更现实的方式谈论政治和公民——而不仅仅是谈论妥协, but also about conflict.
Building trust in the coronavirus vaccine
Caudillo: 纵观历史，透明度并不存在，所以整个系统都存在不信任. When it comes to health care, we’ve got to listen to the community, find out what those issues are, what those concerns are, 利用那些已经在有色人种群体中建立起信任的人, like pastors and community organizations.