Kenney throws a curveball to black voters

Posted 3/2/16

by Jay A. McCalla

Last week, Mayor James F. Kenney chopped down a giant oak tree in a forest and watched it fall. The falling tree was reported in the news and witnessed firsthand by many. …

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Kenney throws a curveball to black voters

Posted

by Jay A. McCalla

Last week, Mayor James F. Kenney chopped down a giant oak tree in a forest and watched it fall. The falling tree was reported in the news and witnessed firsthand by many. Remarkably, that tree has made not one sound.

Announcing that “my position on stop-and-frisk hasn't changed,” Kenney proceeded – without blushing – to shatter the only pledge he made to black voters during his run in the mayoral primary. Not only will he not be ending the program that targets minorities, he went so far as to suggest the program was good but the name was problematic, saying stop-and-frisk was “unfortunate terminology.” (Irresistibly, I think of the cosmetic transitioning of “torture” into “enhanced interrogation.”)

You see, Kenney is stuck between the Fraternal Order of Police, which likes stop-and-frisk and his unambiguous promise to black voters that he would end it. Months earlier, he declared, “If I'm mayor, stop-and-frisk will end in Philadelphia, no question.” In case black voters doubted his sincerity, he followed up by explaining that “83 percent of the time, stop-and-frisk does not result in an arrest or recovery of a weapon.”

On the other hand, he's got the estimable John McNesby, leader of the FOP who complains about the criticism of stop-and-frisk every chance he gets.

“Everybody is making a big deal out of stop-and-frisk,” he said. “You're allowed to stop-and-frisk under a Supreme Court ruling,”

Stop-and-frisk isn't the average urban political issue that can be resolved by disingenuous denials and clumsy “sleight of hand.” Even most of its opponents don't understand the vast, pernicious, authoritarian nature of this program. In 2009, over a quarter of a million stops were made by the Philly PD.

Modest easing was recorded in 2014 with still more than 200,000 stops, with only 47 percent based on “reasonable suspicion.” That is to say, 53 percent had their constitutional rights violated. Most whites and middle class blacks are unaware of the draconian scope of stop-and-frisk because it is focused on poor neighborhoods of color. In fact, 89 percent of those frisked were black or brown.

When Kenney told black pols and black voters he would end stop-and-frisk “no question,” it became possible for him to acquire Philadelphia’s black political establishment and the mighty black vote, which is about half the Democratic Party. Despite a quarter century on City Council, Kenney had been a pol exclusively based among blue collar “ethnics” and labor unions. If he were to become mayor, had simply had to broaden his appeal.

With an important promise made and broken within months, we now get to see another level of urban politics where a key (but, new) constituency has been dissed by the Mayor they thought dealt faithfully. Who will get angry and how will they show it? This is the exact question Kenney asked himself before switching positions. Trust me.

During the primary, Kenney previewed his “no question” pledge to Dwight Evans, Marian Tasco, Cherelle Parker, Derek Green and other key pols in Northwest Philly. In turn, they sold him to black voters, successfully urging the abandonment of the viable black candidate for mayor – State Senator Anthony Williams.

The pledge was not the sole basis for acquiring the first batch of black pols. Kenney enjoyed the “whole hog” support of Uber Boss Johnny Doc and was able to trade favor for favor. All sorts of nice things have happened for those Northwest pols, since their endorsement. Dwight is running for Congress with a ton of cash and Kenney’s support. Cherelle Parker has been elected to City Council. Derek Green has been elected to City Council. Marian Tasco is the Mayor’s Liaison for the Democratic National Convention.

So many lovely things have happened for each of them that I began to wonder if they still cared about stop-and-frisk – the promise they sold to their voters. Well, a search of Council records for the last couple of weeks and a Google search for each politician reveals not one word regarding stop-and-frisk. Perhaps they are so deeply involved in creating ingenious solutions to our pension, schools, prison, health and housing crisis that they didn't notice Kenney doing the “shim-sham-shimmy.” Perhaps, once they take a breather from the daily heroism that is the life of a Philly pol, they will scream “BETRAYAL” at the top of their lungs and threaten a primary challenger when Kenney comes around for a second term. Perhaps. Perhaps, not.

For all the very bad things stop-and-frisk is, the cynical use of “bait and switch” policies [– without censure – destroys the pittance of trust remaining between voters and elected officials. In part, it's how we descended to 9 percent turnout in last year’s special election.

We sigh and chuckle remembering that, despite promises to the contrary, not one chicken appeared in anybody’s pot. Guantanamo is still open. Educationally, plenty of children have been “left behind.” The fact is, pols can throw a calculated curveball with the same precision as a major league pitcher. As a voter, I find it more soothing to simply admire their skill.

opinion