Our Word
City Manager Jeff Doherty does not believe there should be a Human Relations Commission in Carbondale that has the authority to subpoena witnesses and levy sanctions against city employees.
There's already a sound system in place at the state level that deals with such complaints, Doherty said.
But after a long discussion, the real reason the city does not want such a commission with power was revealed: fear.
Fear of what?
Doherty said he's afraid that a commission with such powers "will work to bring division and fear rather than positive relationships among all the people."
Surely we believe in a commission that will reveal the truth. Perhaps we're afraid the truth staring back at us will be vicious and painful or will validate rumblings of injustice in Carbondale and disturb our social fabric?
Or perhaps it will not. We hope the members of the commission never have to play tug-of-war with evil and hate. But if we don't believe evil and hate are pulling at the other end, then what are we afraid of?
"We can do better than this, and we should do better," William Norwood said at the June 18 City Council meeting after Doherty suggested forming a commission without formal authority.
We believe we must do better.
The SIU/Carbondale Race Relations Task Force, co-chaired by Norwood, recommended a commission that would have the authority to subpoena witnesses and levy sanctions against city employees, including Carbondale Police officers.
According to the city, a commission with sanctioning authority over the Carbondale Police Department would create a legal knot. Besides, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners already serves as an appellate body for complaints against the police. Doherty did recommend expanding the board's role so that complaints can be taken there directly, and we believe this is a sound idea.
While a Human Relations Commission cannot have legal authority over the police and firefighters, it can exercise power in other important factions where oversight is not currently exercised at the local level.
The Illinois Human Rights Commission, established by the Illinois Human Rights Act, investigates cases of discrimination in regards to employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, public accommodations and higher education. That act also allows for a commission to be established at the local level with the same authority.
Doherty does not believe such a commission at the local level is necessary. He believes the commission should serve more as a mediation body that generates dialogue and "works to bring people together to resolve differences real and perceived in a fashion that is going to have positive results."
The Daily Egyptian did originally support Doherty's plan, but we did so without investigation into what was within the city's legal powers. We believe that a forum for racial discussion should also be a function of the commission and that Doherty's intentions are good.
But that's not enough. Neither good intentions nor a Human Relations Commission without real power can solve the racial problems in Carbondale. For instance, if a person feels they were denied a housing contract based on discrimination, he or she is more likely to seek redress if a local body is present. By bringing these issues to the public's attention, it will help to alleviate some of the problems. Therefore, we respectfully disagree with Doherty's position that a Human Relations Commission is not needed.
The issue of discrimination in Carbondale is a matter much too grave and too important to let the shouts of racial injustice, echoed time and again from City Hall, fade into the foreground.
So what are we afraid of?
According to Doherty, there are people who "do not want to go down that road."
We believe it is the road that leads to liberty and truth, with fear as its only obstacle.
It's the same road that ran through the court chambers in 1954 when segregation was ruled unconstitutional and Oliver Brown's daughter was allowed to attend the all-white school in her neighborhood. It is the road laid in the halls of our nations schools when nine black children could not be barred from Little Rock Central High School. And it's the road that carried 200,000 people to Washington to live Dr. Martin Luther King's dream.
The road will not stop in Carbondale; we shall not be afraid.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
