There are several reasons Youngstown’s levy failed; racism isn’t among them

There are several reasons Youngstown’s levy failed; racism isn’t among them

EDITOR:

In last Sunday’s Vindicator, a writer proposed his reasoning that the Youngstown city school levy was voted down due to racism of whites against blacks. He cited that Ward 4 and Ward 7 were majority white residents and the votes of those wards were mostly "no" to the 9.5 mill tax levy. So to him this was an act of racism, because there are currently more black students in the Youngstown public school system than whites.

First of all, it is appalling to me that someone would cite racism as the reason why a school levy was voted down. Considering the circumstances surrounding the levy, the more educated reason would be the additional tax burden proposed in light of a school system ill-equipped to manage its finances.

When property taxes are increased due to a school levy, your tax share goes higher based upon the value of your property. It is possible that the levy was too high of an increase for many of the city’s citizens to handle, considering the sluggish economy and rising energy costs. Many of the residents of the two wards accused of racism, as well as in other wards in the city, are older people with fixed incomes and children who have already finished school. So they cannot afford the extra taxation, especially when they do not benefit from it.

In the letter, the writer repeatedly refers to white people as "European-Americans." This is the first I've heard of this, and I'm white. I don't have a problem with being described as white, nor do any other white people I know. The biggest problem with racism is that people continually perpetuate it by placing identifying labels on one group or the other. Yet people continue to make an emphasis even on sub-divisions of race, such as “Italian-American” or “Irish-American.” This is 2007. It is time to let it go. Why can't Blacks, Whites, Hispanics and Asians just be "Americans?”

At one point, the writer makes a reference to an article by the local Catholic bishop, paraphrasing his statements. Where the bishop wrote "Racism may be evident in societal situations, institutional settings, and culturally," the writer of last Sunday’s letter to The Vindicator interpreted this to mean that “institutional racism equates to blacks and Hispanics not getting promotions, cultural racism equates to European-Americans being the norm by which other cultures are judged.” Since the current superintendent of the city school system is a black female and there are other blacks in key positions in the school system, what is the point?

I hope I have shown that blaming the failing of a tax levy on racism is a weak and ridiculous argument. Not only does a suggestion like this further strain the relationship between blacks and whites in the city, it also keeps the embers of racism alive in this country.

MIKE SCOTT

Canfield