Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 8-12-16 Online Edition

Editorials/Column
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
(USPS 202-140)
2207 21st Avenue, Tampa Florida 33605 • (813) 248-1921 Published Every Tuesday and Friday By
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHING Co., Member of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
How The West Was Lost
y heart goes out to the
residents of West Tampa and Tampa Heights. One neighborhood is trying desperately to have any say in the re-development of the area they've known all of their lives while the other is trying to keep from being wiped off the map completely by highway
expansion.
Both of them are in a battle
against a formidable opponent that, depending on which side of the equation you are on, often goes by the name of "progress." And, the way things are looking now, each of these communities appears to be losing badly.
The sad thing about the mess their contending with is that it's not entirely their fault. The only thing they're guilty of is having misguided faith in the public servants they be- lieved they could trust.
Over the years they've been mislead by elected officials who either came into office after the plans for major re-construction were already made, didn't have the clout to
stop what was happening or simply kept their mouths shut after having their palms greased during back room ne- gotiations. Regardless of the how or why though, the bot- tom line is, the fight that the individuals from these neigh- borhoods are now in was over before it started.
What we're witnessing did- n't just pop into someone's mind overnight. The idea of gentrifying these communities was probably hatched inside of a city planner's office three decades ago. The people who set it all in motion just didn't bother to tell those who were going to be displaced.
Of course, there were signs of what was to become of all the areas within a two mile cir- cumference of downtown. The acquiring of property and the mysterious burning down of homes along the western end of Palm Avenue back in the early 1990s, the opening of the YMCA on Palm, newly con- structed Victorian styled houses on South Jefferson, ru- mors of the demises of Central
Park, Tampa Park and North Blvd Homes, costly apartment complexes built in Ybor City and the building of a state-of- the-art magnet high school on North Boulevard were all har- bingers of what was coming.
With the blueprints already drawn up and the architects al- ready paid, the only people who these politicians and de- velopers are catering to now are those who they expect to move in after the entire project is complete. To them, the peo- ple who live there now are an afterthought because they're not expected to be around.
Not to sound like a pessimist (if that's even possible at this point), but I really don't see any way of stopping this run- away train. This kind of so- called "urban renewal" has affected Black communities in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Louisville, Portland and a host of other cities across the country. Tampa, unfortunately, is just the latest domino to fall during a trend that continuously bur- dens the poor with the cost of maintaining the comfort of the wealthy.
And while it may be a shame to us, to them it's only business as usual.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can TEXT C.B., II, at (+18133080849).
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
BETTY DAWKINS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR HAROLD ADAMS, CIRCULATION MANAGER TOYNETTA COBB, PRODUCTION MANAGER LAVORA EDWARDS, CLASSIFIED MANAGER
Subscriptions-$44.00-6 Months Both Editions: $87.00-Per Year Both Editions.
Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
Tony Dungy: The Humble Hero
Say It And They Will Believe It
Have you ever been told by someone that he or she sup- ports you in an endeavor, only to find out later, that your so-called friend actually attempted to make sure you
didn’t succeed? Then turn around and criticize you? Well, this is exactly what Donald Trump and too many of the Re- publican Congressional representatives are doing to the American public, and have done for the past eight years.
Looking at the issue of the economy and jobs for Ameri- cans as a single subject, examples of Trumpist-Republican “double speak” are numerous.
Trump’s use of more than 1,000 guest worker Visas con- tradicts his ‘jobs for Americans’ rhetoric. Since 2008 and the Stimulus Act, the Republicans in Congress have ob- structed practically every effort made to revive the economy by the Obama Administration, including the Stimulus Act.
In fact, one source states the Republicans have managed to refuse “to allow votes on anything that seriously would help the economy, instead passing only tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations . . . and cut spending on essential things like maintaining our infrastructure and scientific re- search, and cutting regulations that protect people and the environment from being harmed by corporations seeking profit.”
Among the legislation Republicans blocked or filibus- tered were those that would hire extra teachers, raise mini- mum wage, give equal pay to women, end tax breaks for sending jobs out of the country, stop special tax breaks for millionaire corporations (especially oil companies), and ex- tend unemployment benefits.
We hope the American voters wake up soon and realize how they have been scammed by Republicans. The future of America is at stake.
nd there he stood on the stage of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. . . not Don Shula. . not Vince Lombardi. . not Bud Grant, nor Tom Landry, but tall, meek Tony Dungy,
looking for all the world like an African-American version of a lean and understated movie star Jimmy Stewart. With his big brown eyes reminding us of Bambi caught in the head- lights, the man who raised the Tampa Bay Bucs off the laugh- ing stock floor of the NFL basement and later led the Indianapolis Colts to an astounding Super-Bowl win over a team they were never supposed to beat, stood before a pres- tigious Canton, Ohio crowd and praised God, his family, and his football profession for taking him to the top of an NFL Mount Everest.
And what does it mean to be a hero? Don’t ask Tony Dungy. Maybe, his wife might tell you . . . if Tony’s not around to flash a painful look of self-humility. But others may say a hero is any ordinary man or woman set upon by coincidence (beyond accident) to do extraordinary things . . . an individ- ual not self-made, but seemingly God-gifted who wakes up one morning to find they have stumbled onto a path of mira- cle.
Biblical David was such a hero. So were Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Though he would never place himself among such prominence, yet in every facet of every way, Tony Dungy in his uniquely understated, “never-say-die” demeanor has been and continues to be every inch the hero whose dye these men and women were cast.
So, we at the Sentinel stand in salute to Tony Dungy, “The Humble Hero” whose spirit of community service, personal brotherhood and professional faith reminds us of the words of poet Rudyard Kipling who writes, “Regard all men, but none too much, and always keep the common touch.”
A
M
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2016