Bridging Communities across Racial Lines, chapter four

• overcome race & class divisions
• issue: historical inequalities, longstanding cultural stereotypes
• fight for 1. education, 2. economic opportunity, 3. democratic progress
• where can you build relationships across racial lines for common action?
• our social life is segregated
• political groups, organized along racial lines
• coalitions back candidates that help elect blacks and others to office
• anti-racist laws have been passed, government programs for social provision have been passed
• need roots in communities
• interest based coalitions: not effective, narrow interpretation of self/group interests doesn't uplift oppressed groups
• electoral coalitions help multiracial cooperation
• to forge alliances: 1. leadership, 2. relationship building, 3. ideology
• get past 1. mistrust, 2. racism, 3. ignorance
• cooperative action > greater trust, relationships, mutual understanding
• need to lead to cooperative action
• IAF: innovative model of multiracial cooperation
• William Julius Wilson has argued that the current period offers an important opening for the creation of a "bridge over the racial divide. " Rising economic inequality in the midst of an economic boom provides working and middle-class Americans of all races with a common interest in a set of government programs that can improve their lot vis-a-vis the wealthy."
• broad based organization with blacks, Anglos, Mexican Americans (Fort Worth)
• 1. races, 2. classes, 3. religion denominations CAN work together

Fort Worth in the Eighties

• Fort Worth had 1/3 of Tarrant Country's population
• most of its growth occurred in the suburbs
• 1990: grown from 385k to 448k, 28th largest American city
• blacks 22.8%, Hispanics 13% > blacks 22%, Hispanics 19.5%
• segregated city: blacks in east side and central city
• there was a middle class exodus from black poor neighborhoods
• Fort Worth: center for the oil industry
  
• affluent lived outside of city limits
• 1990: 28% of blacks in poverty, 23% of Hispanic families in poverty

Politics

• had been controlled by the "Seventh Street Gang" created by Amon Carter
• the "Gang" wasn't as unified as the good government league
• thankfully in the 1960s, study committees and neighborhood conferences
• 1978: 2 blacks, 1 Hispanic won election
• black electoral politics, organized around specifically families
• Zapata won a position on the north side
• Texas Democrats, strong support in Fort Worth
• industrial unions anchored the Fort Worth Democratic party
• patronage-style local politics: black ministers would support white politicians to get benefits for their communities
• integration came peacefully to FW without violence/strong civil rights movement
• legal segregation ended in 1967 but de facto segregation continued
• neighborhood segregation continued
• Fort Worth ministers heard about COPS success in San Antonio, wanted an IAF in their city
• racially based politics-ineffective @ dealing with the quality of life in poor black communities
• ministers looked for allies with a shared religious outlook & wanted it to lead to social/political action
• 1. relationship building, 2. sponsoring stage > common ground
• "get it all out-don't submerge it."
• General Dynamics fought IAF involvement
• affluent white church members fought IAF
  
• St. Matthew's Lutheran: lower middle & professional classes: teachers, nurses, insurance people, engineers, few wealthy/few blue collar. felt their quality of life threatened by cutbacks @ General Dynamics
• need to address common needs & feel like you have a sense of power
• property values were too low for people to move
  
• Rev. Boggs: recognized people were insecure about their financial position and wanted change, have to help middle class see common ground with lower middle class
• Rodriguez, social services leader, helped on grape boycott in the 60s
• low tension between Hispanics and blacks in Fort Worth
• Rodriguez wanted to generate power for a community-wide base
• ACT won 7/8 changes in utilities legislation

Community Initiatives and Mutual Support, p. 106

• broad based organizations, allow communities to assert own needs and take initiative
• congregations are encouraged to develop their own initiatives
• needs of blacks don't have to be overlooked in multiracial organizations
• Rev. Davis wanted to combat educational decline among black youth
• 85% of students got reduced cost lunches, 51%+ came from single person families
• the school was firebombed in 1985
• goal: get parents involved in the educations of their children
• problem: parents felt isolated from one another
• created after school program with sports, arts, and academic tutoring
• gave awards to parents who read to their children
• created a summer reading program and recognized people
• address neighborhood issues that effect the school
• 1988, Perkins, new organizer for IAF
• problem: blacks and Hispanics in competition for scarce resources

Bond Elections, p.111

• raise $ for improvements to city's infrastructure by submitting bond packages for an electorate
• inner city leaders needed funding for specific projects
• Morningside School campaign built trust
• church leaders-researched community needs
• got $ for streets and drainage projects
• white middle class and working class voters thought the development of a cultural district would benefit only the wealthy
• 21/30 precincts approved the plan, redevelopment project defeat

Synergy, p. 113

• congregations had demands, part of bond package
• 1990s: workers hurt by downsizing of local defense industries
• 1993, multiracial group created a plan for long-term job-training
• white, black, Hispanic ACT leaders
• Reverand Boggs, key leader
• jobs, organizing issue

Building Understanding and Trust

• church committees > campaigns
• develop relationships and trust & begin to depend on each other
• everything changes because of relationships built in ACT

Religious Values as a Broadly Unifying Force

• society is fractured along racial lines
• common beliefs/shared identity as people of God> help people to see themselves within the same community
• meetings start with prayer
• prayer serves a unifying function
• prayers should call people to social action/refer to the building of community

The Limits of Multiracial Unity in Act

• 1991, skinhead shot a black man, wasn't given a prison term. 10,000 marched in protest in downtown Fort Worth
• ACT didn't join the march
• 1. ACT can't respond quickly to new issues
• 2. ACT doesn't see itself as a protest organization
• 3. blacks did not demand ACT take part in the protest
• successes: Morningside school, common ground in bond-elections and job-training
• ACT does not discuss issues of race/racism directly
• strong leaders: Rev. Davis, Rev. Boggs, Raymond Rodriguez
• Davis believed IAF tried to expand its number of affiliates too quickly
• ACT, diversity of leadership made relationship building more difficult than the more homogenous Hispanic dominated COPS

Conclusion

• 1. common beliefs and shared identity can bring diverse communities together, use commonality of religion
• 2. importance of institutional organizing
• need to respect the integrity of community traditions/institutions
• letting communities develop initiatives gives them autonomy
• however, avoiding the discussion of racism internally/externally makes relationship building superficial
• Byrd, IAF, black-organizer, worked with drug users/prostitutes in Port Arthur, TX
• black organizers got hired