Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The next mayors of Indianapolis must have a plan to work with Black leadership to move the city forward.
Black people have been in Indianapolis for over 200 years, with nearly 150 years under de facto discriminatory regime.
And while certainly things have changed, Black Indianapolis in the 21st century finds itself on the wrong end of possibly every socioeconomic indicator available—from the highest unemployment rate to the lowest median income, from the highest murder rate to the most arrested, from the lowest homeownership rate to the highest poverty rate as of 2021.
Yet, there is so much opportunity within the Black community.
Surges in Black business growth, civic engagement and cultural expression have the potential to shape the image of the city not only in the Midwest but around the country.
Black leaders have been hard at work developing and adapting an agenda to meet the moment. Like four years ago, we have asked for a partner for our progress.
Politicians cannot develop a Black agenda for the community. But with the community, they can articulate how their work connects with or amplifies the work that Black leaders are already doing. They can and should state their plan.
The mayor of Indianapolis cannot save the Black community—no one is asking for that. But the mayor can be a partner for its progress.
A prerequisite for leading modern Indianapolis has to be that the mayor has a plan for how to work with Black leadership to move the city forward.
By extension, the leader of Indianapolis has to have authentic working relationships with the Black community to be a viable candidate before even seeking the office.
Black leaders are responsible for developing and adapting an agenda that is responsive to the Black community and for reaching out to the larger community where appropriate. The Black community is not monolithic, so there will always be multiple efforts underway.
But the mayor of Indianapolis is responsible for listening, engaging and understanding how the work of Black leadership works to overcome nearly 150 years of de facto racial discrimination, and how intentionality can be leveraged to support a community that has already given itself permission to empower itself.
A “one city” vision is merely a mantra if the history, economics and community psychology of the entire city isn’t understood, interrogated and wrestled with to uncover how we live in different cities in one town.
The mayor of Indianapolis needs to have a plan, some may call it a Black agenda, that connects with the specific challenges and opportunities presented by a socioeconomically and ideologically diverse group roughly the size of Fort Wayne.
By the time this article publishes, I suspect there will be more insight on which candidate is the best partner to move the Black community’s progress forward.
But I’m actually writing to the candidates in the 2027 mayor’s race and beyond.
We are past the time where simply putting Black people in television advertisements, being seen with Black people at events, showing up at our churches during the election year, or even putting Black staffers in outreach positions on campaign staffs replaces actual policy aimed at supporting the advancement of Black people.
For the city to reach its fullest capacity, there must be a redress of the inequities of the past and positive public policy aimed at the future.
To be learning the Black community—or other communities—while campaigning is quite simply to be unprepared.
To be unprepared is disqualifying.•
__________
Wolley is president and CEO of Black Onyx Management Inc. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
Click here for more Forefront columns.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Black agenda? What a pathetic, idiotic perspective on the world. Wolley, you are part of racist element that is destroying American society, especially our large cities.