An event long overdue
Originally published in The Northwest Indiana Times
The issue: South Holland’s first African-American trustee
Our opinion: Other communities should follow South Holland’s example and throw the doors of public service open to minority residents.
Government doesn’t always represent the people, as any woman or minority can attest.
The United States, one of the most diverse nations on earth, counts 41 blacks and 49 women among the 435 in the House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate fares even worse, with just six women and one African-American among its 100 members.
And to look at the makeup of elected boards in a number of south suburbs and northwest Indiana communities, one would think the area was all but devoid of people of color. All-white boards preside in such racially mixed communities as Lansing and Calumet City, where the number of African-Americans has doubled and tripled since 1980.
The South Holland Village Board was another prime example — until Monday night.
For the better part of a century, the village had been run by white men, many of them direct descendants of the Dutch settlers who had established the community in the late 1800s.
Even as African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians began to account for a growing percentage of the population, the board looked pretty much the same as it had in 1894, when the village was incorporated. It was not until 1991 that the village elected a woman to the Village Board.
The contrast became particularly stark during the 1980s, when South Holland and neighboring communities saw a rapid increase in minority residents.
In 1980, blacks comprised just 5 percent of all South Holland residents, numbering only 120 out of a total population of 24,977, according to U.S Census figures.
The picture had changed dramatically by 1990, when the number of black residents had jumped to 2,564 out of 22,105, about 11.6 percent of the total and an increase of more than 2,000 percent in 10 years.
Meanwhile, numerous whites fled South Holland and other suburbs in fear: of their new neighbors, of an anticipated drop in property values, of the unknown. They did not stay around long enough to learn that change brings opportunities to build bridges and strengthen communities.
It is that opportunity that makes the appointment of Arthur Bennett Sr., the village’s first African-American trustee, a welcome and overdue event.
Bennett put it best when he talked about his place on the Village Board and in South Holland’s history.
“If people will try to understand that I’m a person and that their concerns are my concerns, I think we’ll get along fine,” he said.
“This is America, and you have to grow. Let’s meet, let’s talk about it, let’s enrich each other. I’m eager to learn from them and I’m eager for them to learn from me.”
Bennett’s appointment marks an acknowledgment on the part of South Holland’s ruling elite that racial change can be embraced rather than resisted, that minorities have much to contribute to a community, and that a village’s diversity can be its strength.
Let us hope other communities will soon come to that realization as well.
© 1995 Lee Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
The issue: South Holland’s first African-American trustee
Our opinion: Other communities should follow South Holland’s example and throw the doors of public service open to minority residents.
Government doesn’t always represent the people, as any woman or minority can attest.
The United States, one of the most diverse nations on earth, counts 41 blacks and 49 women among the 435 in the House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate fares even worse, with just six women and one African-American among its 100 members.
And to look at the makeup of elected boards in a number of south suburbs and northwest Indiana communities, one would think the area was all but devoid of people of color. All-white boards preside in such racially mixed communities as Lansing and Calumet City, where the number of African-Americans has doubled and tripled since 1980.
The South Holland Village Board was another prime example — until Monday night.
For the better part of a century, the village had been run by white men, many of them direct descendants of the Dutch settlers who had established the community in the late 1800s.
Even as African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians began to account for a growing percentage of the population, the board looked pretty much the same as it had in 1894, when the village was incorporated. It was not until 1991 that the village elected a woman to the Village Board.
The contrast became particularly stark during the 1980s, when South Holland and neighboring communities saw a rapid increase in minority residents.
In 1980, blacks comprised just 5 percent of all South Holland residents, numbering only 120 out of a total population of 24,977, according to U.S Census figures.
The picture had changed dramatically by 1990, when the number of black residents had jumped to 2,564 out of 22,105, about 11.6 percent of the total and an increase of more than 2,000 percent in 10 years.
Meanwhile, numerous whites fled South Holland and other suburbs in fear: of their new neighbors, of an anticipated drop in property values, of the unknown. They did not stay around long enough to learn that change brings opportunities to build bridges and strengthen communities.
It is that opportunity that makes the appointment of Arthur Bennett Sr., the village’s first African-American trustee, a welcome and overdue event.
Bennett put it best when he talked about his place on the Village Board and in South Holland’s history.
“If people will try to understand that I’m a person and that their concerns are my concerns, I think we’ll get along fine,” he said.
“This is America, and you have to grow. Let’s meet, let’s talk about it, let’s enrich each other. I’m eager to learn from them and I’m eager for them to learn from me.”
Bennett’s appointment marks an acknowledgment on the part of South Holland’s ruling elite that racial change can be embraced rather than resisted, that minorities have much to contribute to a community, and that a village’s diversity can be its strength.
Let us hope other communities will soon come to that realization as well.
© 1995 Lee Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.