I Opposed Greg Fischer For Louisville Mayor, But I'm Starting To WARM Up To Him BIG Time! Read More.

Mayor: Racial divisions need to change for city to thrive
Written by Dan Klepal

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Friday the city is equal but separate in its race relations, and that needs to change to make it a thriving and vibrant 21st century city.

In a luncheon speech at the University of Louisville, Fischer said the city has made huge strides since African Americans boycotted public transit, paid phone bills in pennies and picketed the Brown Theatre in order to force integration.

Still, he said, Louisville is a city divided.

“Louisville remains a city where whites live east of 9th Street and blacks live west of 9th Street,” Fischer told the audience at U of L’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts. “Louisville is a city divided by worship. … Whites have a mega church in the east and blacks have mega churches in the west.

“Louisville is a city divided by geography: few whites have ever eaten a chicken salad sandwich at Expressions of You coffeehouse at 18th and Ali, and few blacks have had a fish sandwich at Mike Linnig’s in the Cane Run area.”

Fischer’s remarks came at a luncheon sponsored by NETWORK – New Energy To Work Out Racial Kinks. It was the first in a year-long series of speeches examining progress made in race relations in the two decades since NETWORK was founded.

Fischer said the income gap between blacks and whites adds to the lingering segregation. He said median income for whites in Louisville is more than $20,000 higher than for blacks, which “adds another layer of complexity to our segregation patterns.”

“Louisville needs to integrate,” Fischer said. “Together we will rise or fall. We do have a choice. I say let’s choose to rise.”

Fischer credited busing in the 1970s with helping integrate the community. He said bus rides need to be shortened, but he doesn’t want to lose busing’s benefits.

“There are no longer angry whites protesting busing in the streets, … but there is an undertone … among some in the community that busing needs to end,” Fischer said. “To do so could very well lead to an even more isolated city. I know of no thriving, growing city in America that is not diverse and inclusive.” ...

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