From Deseret News archives:
New governor and minorities must work together
As Bob Woodson, president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, once said, "Democrats look at minorities and see victims. Republicans look at minorities and see aliens."
Case in point: the minority councils. In the '60s, Gov. Cal Rampton established a Chicano advisory council to help him understand how effective state government was in meeting the needs of that community. The group met monthly, or as needed, and the meetings were lively, to say the least; but there was candor and respect for all around his conference table. The governor then created the executive order establishing the council and appointed an ombudsman who reported directly to him. Later, a similar council was created for blacks.
Once he left office, it was all downhill. The councils were removed from the governor's office and made part of the bureaucracy in the Department of Community and Economic Development. Today, councils have become marginalized and simply used for public relations to give the impression the administration is doing something for minorities.
Neither party, nor the Legislature, seems to have the courage to eliminate the councils for fear of being labeled racist. However, there is nothing more disingenuous than giving people token recognition. It is condescending, demeaning and, at best, benign neglect.
Under the Leavitt administration, the executive order was revised to make the minority councils and offices more ineffective by having them take on a public relations role that kept them busy putting on ethnic events and serving as ambassadors with state agencies. This rendered them useless as advisers to him on the issues. Council members, who were strong advocates for their communities, resigned and were portrayed as disgruntled individuals.
Since the councils have veered from their original executive order mandate — that of making recommendations directly to the governor on how to make government work for all citizens — and are now involved in programs for minorities, it raises a question as to how appropriate it is to use tax dollars on race-based programs.
For those who fought for civil rights in the '60s, the minority council experience has demonstrated that, as someone once said, "freedom is not a state of tranquility"; the rights won 40 years ago must be fought for once again. The new generation of minorities does not share the same experience as those who lived in an America during the height of the civil rights struggle. Some seem to be happy just to be recognized by any politician.
