MO STATE SENATOR NASHEED RANTS AGAINST RACIAL BIAS IN FERGUSON

Today on MSNBC's "Now with Alex Wagner", African-American State Senator Jamilah Nasheed (D) St. Louis unleashed a tirade against the local government in Ferguson, MO. During her vehement interview, she indicated that she expected a movement will be initiated to recall Ferguson's Mayor.

Now, we strive to be fair and reasonable here, but State Senator Nasheed's reason for a recall seems to be, shall we say, not well thought out. But, she didn't stop with a unreasonable basis for recall. She also tore into local employers who, in her opinion, were not hiring young, local African-American's simply because of their undeserved/unjust criminal background.

According to State Senator Nasheed, a major reason for both the potential recall and the unwarranted/large number of local criminal convictions was due to the local government's representatives, including the police department who, in her opinion, don't reflect the ethnic make-up of the community.

This is an absolute fact, but these governmental officials were elected by eligible voters in Ferguson. If African-Americans do not run for office or if African-American candidates do not carry the majority of votes they won't be elected - period. So, who's really to blame for those elected to local offices in Ferguson? As State Senator Nasheed forcefully noted, Ferguson has a very high percentage of African-Americans compared to other ethnicities. Therefore, it's obviously the vast majority of eligible African-American voters who must be responsible for electing the current local government officials.

And, the State Senator's reason for wanting to recall the Ferguson Mayor is equally confusing. If she really means what she said, she's simply a racist and that label does not do her constituents any favors. I know she would bristle at being characterized as a racist since that's her main criticism for Ferguson's problems. But, when your main reason for recalling the duly-elected Mayor is because "not only is he not African-American, you have a Republican", well what would you honestly call her justification for recall?

Nasheed also railed against local hiring practices. Eligibility for a particular position/job must be considered lest we go down the very sad road depicted in the movie "Idiocracy". If eligible African-American workers do not apply for a job/position what are local employers supposed to do? They can either lower their standards or hire from those who do qualify. The residents must take responsibility for both those they elect and for those they locally educate in order to obtain the result Nasheed is demanding. The State Senator's demands cannot be justified simply based on an ethic majority.

Qualified, law-abiding African-American job candidates must have an equal opportunity for employment, to do otherwise is obviously racist. The employer, unless bound by racial quota considerations, should be free to employ the best candidate for the job/position regardless of race. However, the hiring decision can be subjective. For example, the job may require a high degree of security and hiring a repeatedly-convicted felon might not only be a very bad decision, it could be considered negligence.

State Senator Nasheed also proudly announced her intention to introduce legislation called "Ban the Box". This legislation would prohibit employers from asking on an application if the job seeker has misdemeanor or felony convictions. Apparently State Senator Nasheed is intending to also infringe on an employer's right to obtain an independent background report on a potential employee. I'm sure many local employers would absolutely obtain a background check if they were prohibited by law from asking for this information on an application.

This may be a situation where "unintended consequences" should have been considered by the lawmaker and/or her staff. It is very possible that a formal background check could highlight other negative information for an applicant, which might not have been revealed if only a job application was considered.

We would suggest that State Senator Nasheed tone down her rhetoric and absolutely think through future pronouncements or be seen as simply a "shoot from the hip radical" who's incapable of seeing the Big Picture. Obtaining the changes that the citizens of Ferguson are demanding will depend on initially adhering to our Election Laws and to nominate/elect candidates who they feel are most qualified to represent them. Attempting to force changes, which may or may not reflect the desires of the entire city's electorate, will only lead to anarchy.

If anarchy is the intention of the State Senator, we would again suggest that she think though the potential outcome and resulting consequences of such an approach. Solutions to the perceived injustice(s) are much more likely to be supported by the community if accomplished by a democratically-decided election rather than a "brute force" approach advocated by only a few radicals.