Friday, February 13, 2015

Black History and Plainfield

Call it Black History Month or African-American Heritage Month, either way February is the month to recognize both the struggles and victories of people of color.

In Plainfield, the "white flight" of the 1960s left the city a predominantly black community. Since then, black leadership has emerged to the point where blacks dominate all the city's major agencies - school board, City Council, PMUA. This even though between 2000 and 2010, the black population dropped from 60 percent to 48.3 percent at the same time that the Latino population increased by 67 percent to 40.4 percent. The white population, formerly the contrast to the black community (or, as Jay Jefferson Cooke liked to define it, the brother man and the other man) dropped to 8.3 percent in the 2010 census.
 The black majority is not without its internal strife. In the bitterly fought 2013 mayoral race, the incumbent expected to benefit by a visit from Rev. Al Sharpton, who predictably drew a line within the black community to separate blacks from "Negroes," those who did not agree with him in supporting the incumbent. Well, she lost, but the battle goes on in a constant stream of attacks on the winner.

A year has passed since Mayor Adrian O. Mapp took office and yet in January some anonymous person posted this comment to the blog : "Mapp doesn't recognize the black population 55 percent and we will make sure they know that." Besides the odd allegation against a black mayor, one wonders who the "we" is. Might it be one of the speakers who regularly harp on race and class at the public microphone? Maybe one who just can't stand the thought of "One Plainfield, One Future" for Plainfield but would rather have each group off in its own corner?

Notwithstanding the present political battles, the history of Plainfield is replete with figures to celebrate during Black History Month. There are sports champions, scientists, authors and many who struggled for equality and black rights. The late Rasheed Abdul-Haqq campaigned to have the high school named for James West..When I first came to Plainfield in the 1980s, I was impressed by Rev. Frank Allen, a Garveyite who had great ambitions for the local NAACP branch.
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Given the political enmity that some would foster in the city, it might be a very long time before there is one Plainfield and one future, but meanwhile the community can still celebrate Black History Month - maybe starting with the city's own history makers of the 20th Century.  Marshall Brown, Freeman Whetstone, Westry Horne, M. Elizabeth Chitty, George Clinton, Joe Black, Vic Washington, Bernie Worrell, Everett Lattimore and Ernie Scott are among those who come to mind.

--Bernice

12 comments:

  1. Mapp loves the former colonist and he still serve Anglophile interest.

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    1. So, Mapp serves the Anglophile interests

      Does that mean that only Anglophiles want safe streets, jobs for Plainfield citizens, good roads, no crime, good education, no fraud in government, spending taxpayers money the way it should be spent (not donating it to a charity which is against NJ state law), economic development, and rising house prices? Well, then I am going to change to an Anglophile, because what existed before Mayor Mapp took office was a dump and incompetent leadership.

      So sorry that you are representing African Americans as people who don't want the same thing. But you are not! You are part of the hateful group who wants Plainfield split for your own self interests. Glad you are not running this city.

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    2. @10:33 AM - AMEN!

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    3. First off.. say what you mean you racist.. You wanted to say white, so go ahead and say it. And if "serving whitey" means safe streets, a clean city with thriving business to lower the tax burden on all the home owners while fighting corruption in the entrenched Democratic City Government then GOOD.. GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD.. I am sooooooo glad that you set the bar so low for yourself and your race that you consider an honest Black Man attempting to do right by the citizens of this city as "serving whitey" .. .You want some Black Men who don't mind screwing over the citizens of the city.. you need to look no further than our local Assemblyman and his lackeys on and formerly on the PMUA as well as his ultimate butt monkey - SHARON, as well as his butt kissers on the City Council...so you've got plenty of your own race ready willing and continually trying to screw you over.. So sorry the current Mayor isn't one of them.

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    4. TO ARMS! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!
      Some of these comments are so bizarre they challenge the imagination.

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    5. You just assume that I'm black, so ask yourself who's the racist? Was raised with the vision of being accepted in the circles of the British empire elite, being mayor is a fulfillment of one his dreams, but his message is clear, he came to rule,

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    6. 2:54 does not represent me and their ignorance is embarrassing. Wake up!!!

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    7. Wake up ? I have that's the problem !

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    8. Then go to sleep and let Plainfield move forward. That is after the mess that was left is cleaned up.

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  2. I find the infighting amongst the blacks in the City of Plainfield amusing.

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  3. To 9:35pm - can you please use punctuation? I am not sure of your point.

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  4. Every person, every race, every human wants the same things: meaningful employment, a safe place to live and raise children, enjoy life with friends and family, a clean community.

    I don't care if the human being is purple with green hair, as long as they work towards making the city safer, cleaner, more attractive, with incentives to attract businesses that will employ, they are doing the right thing by everyone,

    I accept that NO ONE is perfect. No one can make everyone happy. It's just not possible.

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