KC spent $100,000 to counter NAACP advisory. But are African Americans any safer here?
The decision to spend $100,000 to bring the 50th annual Miss Black America pageant to Kansas City one year after the NAACP issued an advisory warning black people about the dangers of traveling in Missouri was a well-intentioned attempt to be inclusive.
But the city’s direct answer to the advisory is a short-term fix to long-standing problems. The pomp and pageantry of this weekend’s event won’t resolve the ongoing issues that compelled the civil rights group to issue the travel advisory, the first of its kind in the nation.
Several instances of discrimination and racist attacks in the state during the past few years prompted the travel warning. The questionable treatment this year of black patrons at an Independence Applebee’s and at Cool Crest Family Fun Center and Tomfooleries in Kansas City didn’t help.
Mayor Pro Tem Scott Wagner pushed to fund the pageant founded in 1968 by Philadelphia businessman J. Morris Anderson. Wagner said the pageant was the perfect opportunity for young, talented African Americans and others to experience the city.
The local 12th Street Heritage Development Corporation, an African-American-led nonprofit, helped organize the event. Funding came from the city’s tourism budget.
But the issues that spurred the NAACP’s ire are still prevalent, said Rod Chapel, president of the Missouri NAACP State Conference. He said the rise of hate crimes in the state, a Senate bill that made it harder to sue for discrimination in private employment, racial profiling statistics that show patterns of biased policing and lax attitudes about conviction integrity units show Missouri is not making sufficient progress when it comes to civil rights.
“It’s nice that we have a beauty pageant come to town,” Chapel said. “I hope that they are safe while they are here and that they don’t have any issues and enjoy some Kansas City barbecue. But that doesn’t do anything to distract from the rest of the issues.”
Anderson, the pageant’s founder, said earlier this week that the city’s support was a blessing. It’s only the third time in the pageant’s 50-year history that a city has hosted the multi-day event, which concludes Saturday.
“Kansas City is the real deal,” he said.
Anderson is spot on. Kansas City has the potential to be a great city for all. But as is still the case across Missouri, minorities sometimes feel excluded and targeted here.
It’s somewhat ironic that 23 contestants from all over the world are ecstatic to be in a city that balked at a request from a prominent group of clergy and community leaders to rename The Paseo in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.
But as Mayor Sly James said at the time the NAACP advisory was issued, Kansas City is wrestling with the same historic inequities that cities and states across the United States have struggled to overcome. Justice, equality and fairness, James said, are fundamental to our future as a community.
“We don’t run from the challenges we face in Kansas City, but we welcome the world to be a part of our constant effort to build a more just, tolerant and loving city,” he said.
The travel warning was a setback for Kansas City and Missouri. But having Miss Black America in town was a positive step toward changing the city’s reputation. And local leaders deserve some credit for that. But the pageant was only a start.
This story was originally published August 17, 2018 at 5:47 PM.