The Rev. Earl Nance Jr. was 9 years old when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. came to town.
King was with two other civil rights leaders, the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth and the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy. They were speaking at Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church, where Nance鈥檚 uncle was the pastor.
Abernathy had the 狐狸视频 blues.
鈥淚鈥檓 as blue as I can be,鈥 he said in a 1963 speech that Nance kept on a cassette tape all these years later. 鈥淭here is something wrong in America today. There is something wrong in this nation today. And I know that if the wrong is ever to be made right that you and I must rise up and assume our duties and responsibilities in making that wrong right.鈥
A couple of years ago, a relative of Nance鈥檚 shared the recording with me and I wrote about it. These days, Nance is the chairman of an organization that will have an opportunity to do something about some of what was wrong in the nation then, and still persists today in many regards. America鈥檚 original sin, racism, continues to create massive divisions in wealth between Black and white Americans. The lack of opportunity for many Black people in 狐狸视频 can be seen in the diminishment of the neighborhoods in and around where Nance鈥檚 uncle used to preach, in north 狐狸视频.
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Nance is chairman of the , which will be voting soon on the decision made last week between city and county leaders about how to divvy up the $519 million that came from the lawsuit filed by 狐狸视频 and 狐狸视频 County over the NFL鈥檚 狐狸视频 Rams ditching the city for Los Angeles.
The biggest portion of that money 鈥 $250 million 鈥 will go to the city. Another $169 million will go to the county. Nance鈥檚 organization, which oversees The Dome at America鈥檚 Center where the Rams used to play, will receive $70 million. The Dome authority, which includes appointees from the city, county and state, has to approve the deal for the money to go out.
Nance wanted more money for ongoing maintenance at the outdated stadium connected to the city鈥檚 convention complex. But he responded to the deal with perspective that should guide city and county leaders as they decide what to do with the money: 鈥淚t鈥檚 better to have what we have than to not have it at all,鈥 he said.
Indeed, the money is a godsend for a city with many needs. That it comes at a time in which both the city and the county also have a bounty of federal funds 鈥 from President Joe Biden鈥檚 American Rescue Plan Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill 鈥 to spend on many of those needs, creates an opportunity.
Regular readers know that I have advocated for the money from the Rams settlement to be spent on some sort of long-term endowment to benefit the next generation of 狐狸视频ans, perhaps in funding for early childhood education or college tuition.
The prime beneficiary of those funds, if such a decision is made, particularly in the city, will be Black children living in relative poverty, the grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren of some of the folks who in 1963 might have heard King and his fellow civil rights leaders speak about assuming 鈥渙ur duties and responsibilities in making that wrong right.鈥
For historical reasons, ZIP code has for too long determined destiny in 狐狸视频. That was the conclusion of Jason Purnell鈥檚 2014 that found massive racial gaps in life expectancy and health outcomes based on which ZIP code a person in the 狐狸视频 region was born in.
Both 狐狸视频 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and 狐狸视频 County Executive Sam Page have used the phrase 鈥渇uture generations鈥 when talking about how the settlement money might be spent. And Greater 狐狸视频, the region鈥檚 leading business group, has even touched the third rail of 狐狸视频 politics, by talking about transcending 鈥渏urisdictional boundaries鈥 in determining how to invest the funds.
The money was divided by jurisdiction so a deal could be struck, and the settlement could be finalized. But it doesn鈥檛 have to remain that way. Not all of it anyway. There is opportunity here to spend on a better future for 狐狸视频 that starts by remembering the mistakes of the past. Nance鈥檚 words ring true. It is better to have what we have than to not have it at all.