Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

A new leadership
for a new time

The paradigm for black leadership in America has changed, and “The Covenant with Black America” has been the catalyst. In that book, scholars and community leaders have established a new set of priorities which are quite different from those of the Civil Rights Era.

The people have received this new agenda with great enthusiasm. In a few short weeks “The Covenant” has soared to the top of the New York Times Best Seller List. It appears that Tavis Smiley, the editor of “The Covenant,” will attain his goal — to sell one million books so that blacks across the country will all be on the same page.

“The Covenant” identifies 10 areas where blacks must emerge from the shadows of social dependency and develop the strategies for their own progress. Some of the areas are better health, educational achievement, housing, political action, better jobs and wealth building, environmental justice and computer literacy. Authors of the book’s various segments set forth proposed strategies for improvement.

The kind of progress “The Covenant” calls for requires hard work and dedication. The era of simply making demands on whites is over. Blacks must now make demands on themselves and rise to greater levels of competence and personal success. Exclusive reliance on the marches of the Civil Rights Era will no longer do the job.

Leaders who accept the new paradigm must establish new priorities. It is not enough to jump in front of high-octane issues because of the likelihood of extensive press coverage.

A case in point is the participation last week of Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in the Tallahassee, Florida protest over the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson in a juvenile boot camp. Without a doubt that was a horrific incident. But while Anderson was being brutally attacked by prison authorities, black youth in cities across the country were busy gunning down their neighbors.

From the perspective of the black community, which of the two is the more frightening danger? The fear of being beaten to death while imprisoned, or the fear of being struck by wanton gunfire in the cities? Everyone knows the answer.

It is duplicitous for prominent spokesmen to misdirect the attention of African Americans to the Anderson case when the crises in the community as set forth in “The Covenant” are looming. No one has the time and energy to focus on so many issues simultaneously. Real leaders will have to establish appropriate priorities.

The agenda of “The Covenant” will determine who will have the abilities to be the effective leaders for the future.

Beyond Mardi Gras

Before Katrina, the black population of New Orleans was almost 69 percent. The storm flooded many of the black precincts, such as the Lower Ninth Ward, causing a major black exodus from the city. Now, for the first time in 30 years, there is the possibility that a white candidate will be elected mayor.

The voter turnout in the April 20 election was only 21 percent in those precincts which were 75 to 100 percent black. By contrast, the turnout was 45 percent in those precincts which were only 25 percent black. A disproportionate number of blacks had to leave to seek refuge from the floods.

C. Ray Nagin, the black mayor, won the election with 38 percent of the vote. Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, who is white, came in second with 29 percent of the vote. Unless Nagin can broaden his base, Landrieu is likely to win the run-off on May 20.

Since people tend to vote for candidates who look like them, it is unlikely that Landrieu will be eager to restore the black precincts. Nagin once called New Orleans “Chocolate City.” Under Landrieu it will be, at best, café au lait.