Why won’t Congressman Joe Morelle talk to black people?
Specifically, why won’t Congressman Joe Morelle meet with a group of black Rochester Democrats who have raised questions about his conduct and invited him to meet with them?
And why won’t he apologize to a black Monroe County legislator who believes, probably accurately, that he tried to get her fired from her job?
Talking to people comes with the turf if you’re a politician, or a kind person, and an elected official ought to take every opportunity to meet with and learn from any and all of his constituents.
Especially if they are the ones who gave him his power.
And that’s the irony here. There’s no way Joe Morelle gets elected to Congress without the solid support of black Democrats in the city of Rochester. The same is true of his flunkies in the county executive and county clerk offices. The Monroe County Morelle kingdom exists because black Rochester Democrats vote it into power.
That’s not an opinion, that’s math.
If black city Democrats stay home on Election Day, Monroe becomes a Republican county and Joe Morelle becomes an out-of-work, bitter, old man drinking coffee and telling war stories all day at iSquare.
So where’s the gratitude? And where’s the respect?
And where’s the simple get-together to hear feelings, shake hands and bury the hatchet?
Certainly, the context is adversarial. Joe Morelle commands a mostly white faction of local Democrats and Mayor Lovely Warren leads a mostly black faction of local Democrats. He’s out of Irondequoit and she’s out of the Nineteenth Ward, and never the twain shall meet. The Morelle lackeys in the county legislature – who are all white – have refused to work with the Warren group – which is all people of color. That has built a cooperative and respectful working relationship between Republican and Warren legislators, but further poisoned the waters between Democrat factions.
Also roiling things are recent electoral successes for Morelle candidates at the expense of Warren candidates, and some concerns about who will be the party chairman going forward, and some legal problems that may be on the horizon for the mayor.
In short: There is bad blood.
But bad blood is part and parcel of human relations, and decent people know how to work around it and how to rebuild relationships of friendship and trust.
And step one is by talking and listening.
Which a variety of black Rochester leaders say their congressman won’t do.
It’s worth noting that it truly is a variety of black Rochester leaders. There’s Mikey the protester, Howard the school activist, Ernest the county legislator, and pastors of some of the black congregations whose history and size ought to make you want to sit up and pay attention. It’s not a bunch of cranks. It’s a cross section of a community which – like every community – deserves to be paid attention to by its congressman.
And on that topic, how is it true representation if a congressman is at war with the mayor who represents more than a quarter of his entire district?
And, given the issues of the day and the sensitivities of his party, how is it that a Democrat congressman is at war with a black, female mayor who represents the vast majority of the people of color in his district?
These are valid questions and they address a real problem. Your congressman is supposed to be your ally, not your enemy. And for a significant number of black people in the 25thDistrict of New York, their congressman is their enemy.
And that angers them, particularly given that they know that their votes put him in office in the first place.
Personally, I’m a Republican, and in my fantasyland, a Republican represents this district.
But we don’t live in fantasyland, we live in America. And in America, the politicians are supposed to serve you, not slight you.
And so I ask again: Why won’t Congressman Joe Morelle talk to black people?
And why won’t he call a woman whose job he endangered and apologize to her?
Even if the individuals involved can’t be persuaded or won over, it is still courteous and respectful to meet with them, hear them, and express your friendship for them. If agreement on this issue can’t be achieved, at least a foundation of openness can be established that might serve on future issues.
It is the strong man who can talk to anybody, even his opponents. It is the weak man who runs and hides.
You might say: I’m not a black Democrat from the city, so why do I care about this?
Here’s the answer: If Joe Morelle doesn’t give a damn about the people who put him in office, how much do you think he cares about you?