Latest / Concerned Clergy Podcast / Concerned Clergy Podcast July 22, 2026

Transcript

Concerned Clergy Podcast July 22, 2026 · Concerned Clergy Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_0: The following program is paid for by the Concerned Clergy.
0:03
SPEAKER_0: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the hosts and guests
0:07
SPEAKER_0: and do not necessarily
0:09
SPEAKER_0: reflect the views of Urban One Incorporated,
0:11
SPEAKER_0: Radio One, or any of its subsidiary companies.
0:16
SPEAKER_0: The Concerned Clergy invites you to their weekly town hall meeting on Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM.
0:26
SPEAKER_1: Well, we invite you to catch the replay,
0:29
SPEAKER_1: and that replay -- that's our Substack -- and that will replay on tomorrow.
0:34
SPEAKER_1: You can catch that on the Progressive Indiana Network.
0:37
SPEAKER_1: I want to also let everyone know that you can call into the radio station on tonight.
0:43
SPEAKER_1: That phone number is 317-480-1310.
0:45
SPEAKER_1: Once again, 317-480-1310.
0:52
SPEAKER_1: I'm Reverend Tony Alexander,
0:53
SPEAKER_1: and I'm glad to be joined by Pastor David W.
0:55
SPEAKER_1: Greene Sr., who's also the President of the Concerned Clergy.
0:58
SPEAKER_1: I want to say welcome to all of you on this excellent Wednesday evening.
1:04
SPEAKER_1: Good evening, Mr. President.
1:05
SPEAKER_1: How are you?
1:07
SPEAKER_2: Good evening, Reverend Alexander.
1:08
SPEAKER_2: It's good to be with you.
1:09
SPEAKER_2: Good to be back with our audience as well.
1:13
SPEAKER_2: We weren't able to make it last week, but I'm glad to be back with us.
1:17
SPEAKER_1: Yep.
1:18
SPEAKER_1: We weren't able to make it last week, but we're glad we're able to be here this week.
1:23
SPEAKER_1: All is well.
1:24
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, can you go ahead and open us up in prayer, please?
1:28
SPEAKER_2: Eternal God, our Father, we come before you once again as humble as we know how.
1:32
SPEAKER_2: Lord, we pray your blessings upon all of our listeners and participants on tonight.
1:37
SPEAKER_2: Lord, we continue to pray for our national leaders,
1:39
SPEAKER_2: our world leaders, our faith leaders, and our local leaders.
1:42
SPEAKER_2: Lord, God bless our conversation on the night and bring more glory to you.
1:46
SPEAKER_2: In Jesus' name, amen.
1:48
SPEAKER_1: Amen.
1:49
SPEAKER_1: Well, we invite you to be part of our conversation on tonight.
1:52
SPEAKER_1: You can comment on the Facebook page of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis.
1:57
SPEAKER_1: You can also call into the radio station -- that is Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM,
2:04
SPEAKER_1: Indy's Inspiration Station.
2:07
SPEAKER_1: That number is 317-480-1310.
2:11
SPEAKER_1: But more tonight, we've got a couple of things that we're going to lay out.
2:16
SPEAKER_1: We're going to at least begin our conversations with,
2:18
SPEAKER_1: but we invite you,
2:19
SPEAKER_1: if you have something else you want to talk about,
2:21
SPEAKER_1: feel free to call in or comment on our Facebook page as well.
2:26
SPEAKER_1: Once again, the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis.
2:29
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, I will start with...
2:31
SPEAKER_1: Last week,
2:33
SPEAKER_1: I think it was actually on Wednesday,
2:35
SPEAKER_1: may have been Tuesday,
2:36
SPEAKER_1: is when Governor Braun announced that he was putting an end to DEI here in Indiana,
2:46
SPEAKER_1: or more specifically,
2:49
SPEAKER_1: the DBE program --
2:52
SPEAKER_1: the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program --
2:55
SPEAKER_1: in the state of Indiana,
2:57
SPEAKER_1: which meant that there would be no goals.
3:01
SPEAKER_1: Which -- the goals were not already being met.
3:04
SPEAKER_1: Also that there will be no tracking, because we did not get a disparity study
3:10
SPEAKER_1: to even help us monitor or determine where we need to be.
3:15
SPEAKER_1: And there's not going to be any effort.
3:18
SPEAKER_1: And what we've heard for years, Mr. President, is good faith effort.
3:23
SPEAKER_1: They're not going to have good effort.
3:25
SPEAKER_1: They ain't going to have faith effort.
3:27
SPEAKER_1: They ain't going to have no effort.
3:29
SPEAKER_1: Excuse me, English teachers.
3:35
SPEAKER_2: You're correct,
3:36
SPEAKER_2: Reverend Alexander,
3:37
SPEAKER_2: given that they were already doing disparity studies and were woefully behind,
3:42
SPEAKER_2: and were content to be woefully behind.
3:45
SPEAKER_2: This was certainly an egregious act.
3:49
SPEAKER_2: The Baptist Ministers Alliance, along with the Concerned Clergy, did issue a public statement,
3:53
SPEAKER_2: you know,
3:54
SPEAKER_2: calling this action out because we felt like it was such an overreach and
4:01
SPEAKER_2: so egregious that it merited a response.
4:06
SPEAKER_2: I'm a firm believer that equal opportunity is not discrimination.
4:11
SPEAKER_2: You know,
4:12
SPEAKER_2: opening doors for qualified people
4:14
SPEAKER_2: who historically found those doors closed is not favoritism.
4:18
SPEAKER_2: It's what we call fairness.
4:20
SPEAKER_2: And we're not going to be a better state by limiting opportunities.
4:24
SPEAKER_2: I'm afraid a lot of younger people will pursue other options and leave our state.
4:29
SPEAKER_2: I'm talking about talented people.
4:32
SPEAKER_2: And we have to keep in mind that it wasn't that long ago with George Floyd
4:36
SPEAKER_2: that everybody was saying, hey, we need to do these things and put people in place.
4:42
SPEAKER_2: And they acknowledged that discrimination had gone on, that there were disparity issues.
4:48
SPEAKER_2: And so there was a huge focus on it.
4:51
SPEAKER_2: To wake up now and decide, well, wait a minute, this is illegal --
4:54
SPEAKER_2: what are you talking about?
4:56
SPEAKER_2: We went through this --
4:57
SPEAKER_2: the whole civil rights movement,
4:58
SPEAKER_2: the establishing of all these things -- the laws were all looked at.
5:03
SPEAKER_2: And by many organizations and institutions, government and non-government.
5:10
SPEAKER_2: When the George Floyd thing took place, people owned that.
5:15
SPEAKER_2: Now we wake up and we want to say, let's undo all of that, turn it upside down.
5:20
SPEAKER_2: And it really goes back to the president because he's that way.
5:23
SPEAKER_2: We're just going to flip the whole thing and make it like it was wrong,
5:28
SPEAKER_2: it was illegal,
5:29
SPEAKER_2: and then try to lead people to believe that they have a more fair process.
5:34
SPEAKER_2: When, as you stated,
5:35
SPEAKER_2: wait a minute,
5:36
SPEAKER_2: we weren't even operating fairly
5:38
SPEAKER_2: with what we had before,
5:40
SPEAKER_2: and we're certainly not going to be operating fairly going forward.
5:44
SPEAKER_2: I mean, it just allows the big companies...
5:49
SPEAKER_2: And let's really be clear.
6:16
SPEAKER_1: When we talk about what opportunities were actually out there and what opportunities
6:23
SPEAKER_1: that small businesses really had --
6:28
SPEAKER_1: in a lot of cases, they were crumbs.
6:31
SPEAKER_1: In a lot of cases,
6:32
SPEAKER_1: they were asked to do work for less than even the dollar amount that some
6:38
SPEAKER_1: of their Caucasian counterparts were.
6:41
SPEAKER_1: And they were accepting a lot of work
6:45
SPEAKER_1: only just to get in the door thinking,
6:48
SPEAKER_1: if I get in and if I perform, then I'll get an opportunity.
6:53
SPEAKER_1: And in a lot of cases,
6:55
SPEAKER_1: you didn't see that really happening when it came to any
6:59
SPEAKER_1: of our minority contractors.
7:03
SPEAKER_1: They would get used,
7:04
SPEAKER_1: and our truckers would tell you a lot of times,
7:06
SPEAKER_1: once they got to a certain dollar amount, then they didn't get any more business.
7:11
SPEAKER_1: It was all about meeting, quote-unquote, either a goal or a quota.
7:16
SPEAKER_1: Then after that, we were not going to allow you on our sites.
7:20
SPEAKER_1: So we know there's no fairness.
7:22
SPEAKER_1: And what you talked about --
7:25
SPEAKER_1: what we've gone on,
7:27
SPEAKER_1: what we've seen historically, what we've gone through historically -- let's remember.
7:33
SPEAKER_1: We've had these studies every five years from various entities,
7:37
SPEAKER_1: whether it be the state of Indiana,
7:39
SPEAKER_1: whether it be the city of Indianapolis, whether it be one of these minority groups.
7:44
SPEAKER_1: Every single study has said that there was some disadvantage when it came to minorities
7:53
SPEAKER_1: getting business and contracts, et cetera.
7:56
SPEAKER_1: All it takes is for President Trump to say, hey, it's not fair.
8:00
SPEAKER_1: And then everybody says we're going to scrap the system.
8:02
SPEAKER_1: No data.
8:03
SPEAKER_1: We're not even going to do a disparity study even more to check out the data.
8:09
SPEAKER_1: We're going to say, because here I am, I declare that it's unfair.
8:15
SPEAKER_1: Everyone else has to say it's unfair too and disregard all the data that we've had
8:20
SPEAKER_1: for many years.
8:22
SPEAKER_2: Exactly.
8:23
SPEAKER_2: But it speaks to who the governor is.
8:26
SPEAKER_2: When he came into office, the things he's done
8:30
SPEAKER_2: towards any predominantly Black institution --
8:32
SPEAKER_2: whether it's Martin University,
8:34
SPEAKER_2: you know, Indiana Black Expo -- renaming the -- it's not the Black Health Fair anymore.
8:41
SPEAKER_2: There's so many things that have gone on that it is clear from his actions
8:46
SPEAKER_2: that he has no respect or regard for minorities.
8:50
SPEAKER_2: That's just blatant, you know.
8:54
SPEAKER_2: He has numerous acts of racism
8:58
SPEAKER_2: that he continues to display.
9:00
SPEAKER_2: And the sad part of this --
9:02
SPEAKER_2: one day he's receiving an award from Indiana Black Expo,
9:05
SPEAKER_2: the next day he's signaling to his base.
9:10
SPEAKER_2: Here's what I think of that.
9:11
SPEAKER_2: Here's what I'm going to do.
9:13
SPEAKER_2: And we as people must wake up and say -- we can't be more blatant and obvious
9:19
SPEAKER_2: than what it is, what he's doing and how he feels.
9:24
SPEAKER_2: There's no way this is going to bring about more business opportunities
9:29
SPEAKER_2: for Black-owned businesses or women-owned businesses.
9:34
SPEAKER_2: If somebody,
9:35
SPEAKER_2: when they're trying to sell that --
9:36
SPEAKER_2: that's ridiculous.
9:38
SPEAKER_2: Because if I'm a white male and I have a large company,
9:42
SPEAKER_2: now I don't have to talk to you and deal with you -- why would I?
9:46
SPEAKER_2: My profit margin says there's no reason for me to do that.
9:50
SPEAKER_2: I'm not going to do that.
9:52
SPEAKER_2: You know, that's the reason -- the thing you just talked about.
9:55
SPEAKER_2: When we did have to talk to these other companies,
9:57
SPEAKER_2: we only used them for whatever the contract required.
10:02
SPEAKER_2: There was no one working on having a relationship,
10:06
SPEAKER_2: expanding the network with these minority companies.
10:09
SPEAKER_2: It was like,
10:10
SPEAKER_2: if I need to do X amount of dollars with them so I can get the business,
10:15
SPEAKER_2: that's all I'm doing -- then I'm going somewhere else.
10:18
SPEAKER_2: And I agree with El Amin.
10:21
SPEAKER_2: It is blatant.
10:22
SPEAKER_2: It is obvious.
10:24
SPEAKER_2: And we need to call it what it is, not run from it -- say, okay, this is where the governor is.
10:32
SPEAKER_2: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.
10:35
SPEAKER_2: Don't try to make it something else.
10:37
SPEAKER_2: We should not be running around --
10:39
SPEAKER_2: and a few, you know, minorities will try to do this -- to act like, well, it ain't that bad.
10:44
SPEAKER_2: It is that bad.
10:45
SPEAKER_2: It's egregious.
10:48
SPEAKER_2: It's offensive.
10:50
SPEAKER_2: It's degrading.
10:52
SPEAKER_2: And we shouldn't be trying to mask that by trying to promote it like,
10:57
SPEAKER_2: okay, something great and good is going to come out of it.
11:00
SPEAKER_2: Not for Black and Brown businesses, not for even women-owned businesses.
11:05
SPEAKER_2: You know, there might be a couple of exceptions for a little while.
11:09
SPEAKER_2: They won't last long before somebody takes them over.
11:13
SPEAKER_2: When somebody white decides they want that business --
11:16
SPEAKER_2: they want all of it -- they'll be able to get it.
11:19
SPEAKER_1: Well, you know, Mr. President,
11:20
SPEAKER_1: what I believe is --
11:22
SPEAKER_1: and if you'd like to be part of the conversation, feel free to call in: 317-480-1310.
11:28
SPEAKER_1: One thing that,
11:29
SPEAKER_1: you know,
11:30
SPEAKER_1: you mentioned --
11:30
SPEAKER_1: IBE, for instance --
11:32
SPEAKER_1: Indiana Black Expo --
11:35
SPEAKER_1: understanding what this governor has already done since he's been in office
11:40
SPEAKER_1: from day one.
11:41
SPEAKER_1: The governor's reception -- quote-unquote -- yeah, we can receive you, Mr.
11:45
SPEAKER_1: Governor.
11:46
SPEAKER_1: However, you're going to have to listen to what we have to say.
11:51
SPEAKER_1: We've seen what you did from day one in getting rid of DEI.
11:55
SPEAKER_1: We've seen what you're doing to our universities.
11:58
SPEAKER_1: We've seen what you're doing as far as,
12:00
SPEAKER_1: you know, some of the food programs -- taking things away from our children.
12:04
SPEAKER_1: Instead of just giving somebody, okay, quote-unquote, a warm reception --
12:06
SPEAKER_1: this could have been an opportunity to lay out,
12:11
SPEAKER_1: okay, here are some things we want to see from you.
12:14
SPEAKER_1: Now, understanding that wouldn't have changed what he did when he did it.
12:18
SPEAKER_1: But at least you're coming and showing that we're not just going to pretend
12:25
SPEAKER_1: that we don't see what you're doing.
12:27
SPEAKER_1: Not only are we going to take this opportunity to welcome you to Indiana Black Expo,
12:33
SPEAKER_1: but we're also going to ask you to take this opportunity to hear from
12:37
SPEAKER_1: the constituents that are the ones that support Indiana Black Expo as well.
12:44
SPEAKER_2: Your suggestion is a lot better than what we received.
12:48
SPEAKER_2: I mean, to talk about -- they're going to monitor this -- there's no way they can monitor it.
12:52
SPEAKER_2: The data is not there.
12:53
SPEAKER_2: One, they don't have money to do disparity studies because that's thousands of dollars.
12:58
SPEAKER_2: Two,
12:59
the state's not going to be collecting the data because they don't want
13:03
to get busted for this stuff.
13:06
SPEAKER_2: You have to go on what we already have.
13:07
SPEAKER_2: What we already have is data that points out that Black businesses,
13:13
SPEAKER_2: women-owned businesses --
13:15
SPEAKER_2: Black businesses are worse off --
13:16
SPEAKER_2: not getting their fair share of opportunities in the state of Indiana.
13:22
SPEAKER_2: While we make up a good percentage of people in Indiana,
13:27
SPEAKER_2: we're not getting into any of that business.
13:28
SPEAKER_2: I mean, we literally know from the work that we've done through the Concerned Clergy
13:33
SPEAKER_2: that you led through the Economic Committee.
13:36
SPEAKER_2: I mean, IU built buildings and did stuff with less than 3% minority participation.
13:42
SPEAKER_2: You know, Purdue did stuff.
13:44
SPEAKER_2: I mean, our schools -- IUPUI --
13:48
SPEAKER_2: were doing major projects,
13:51
SPEAKER_2: and we were in single digits -- less than five.
13:58
SPEAKER_2: In our own backyards, this was going on.
14:01
SPEAKER_2: And this has been going on for years.
14:04
SPEAKER_2: We're not talking about a one-off situation.
14:07
SPEAKER_2: We're talking about things that we can say, well, this happened this year.
14:10
SPEAKER_2: Ball State did this this year.
14:12
SPEAKER_2: And the data is there, which they would admit back then --
14:16
SPEAKER_2: yeah, we need to do better.
14:19
SPEAKER_2: And the solution to doing better is we're going to cut the whole thing out.
14:24
SPEAKER_2: How's that going to end up with better?
14:25
SPEAKER_2: That's not going to end up with better.
14:28
SPEAKER_2: And, you know,
14:28
SPEAKER_2: people can have different opinions -- for the Republicans that are listening right now --
14:32
SPEAKER_2: but you can't have different facts.
14:34
SPEAKER_2: You're asking people to believe a charade when you say,
14:38
SPEAKER_2: okay, this is going to be better -- this MEI thing.
14:41
SPEAKER_2: No, it's not.
14:41
SPEAKER_2: And at the heart, they know it's not.
14:44
SPEAKER_1: Well, Mr. President,
14:45
SPEAKER_1: at least with DEI,
14:48
SPEAKER_1: you could have some goals and some percentages for what that meant.
14:54
SPEAKER_1: You know, whether it was 15, 8, 3, and 1.
14:57
SPEAKER_1: Okay, well, we have some metrics there.
14:59
SPEAKER_1: With MEI, we have nothing whatsoever.
15:04
SPEAKER_1: But we have a whole lot of you folks saying,
15:06
SPEAKER_1: oh, yeah, that makes sense -- when it makes absolutely no sense.
15:10
SPEAKER_1: And El Amin, you're right.
15:12
SPEAKER_1: It's very scandalous.
15:13
SPEAKER_1: If you want to be part of the conversation, call in: 317-480-1310.
15:15
SPEAKER_1: Let's go ahead and bring in Imhotep.
15:23
SPEAKER_3: Good evening.
15:24
SPEAKER_1: Good evening.
15:25
SPEAKER_3: Two of my most ardent gentlemen in the city.
15:31
SPEAKER_3: Thank you for taking my call.
15:32
SPEAKER_3: Praise the Lord.
15:34
SPEAKER_3: It's been a somber last couple of weeks with that announcement.
15:39
SPEAKER_3: And let's not forget --
15:40
SPEAKER_3: Rokita --
15:42
SPEAKER_3: Attorney General Todd Rokita --
15:46
SPEAKER_3: he is actually probably the catalyst behind the scenes in the governor's back,
15:53
SPEAKER_3: because he was the one who came out with the statement --
15:55
SPEAKER_3: he used legalese --
15:59
SPEAKER_3: "It's unconstitutional."
16:03
SPEAKER_3: So that goes back to the Supreme Court.
16:06
SPEAKER_3: Goes back to the book --
16:07
SPEAKER_3: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander --
16:09
SPEAKER_3: who highlights hundreds of precedents that the Supreme Court did to allow the police
16:14
SPEAKER_3: to do what they do.
16:16
SPEAKER_3: To allow a crack-cocaine differential back when they did.
16:21
SPEAKER_3: Supreme Court overturned affirmative action.
16:25
SPEAKER_3: Supreme Court allowed Trump and ICE to be able to target people because of their race.
16:32
SPEAKER_3: You can't do it on this end for hiring, but you can do it for stopping people.
16:37
SPEAKER_3: They're having a rally in Fishers.
16:40
SPEAKER_3: I read all those articles today.
16:41
SPEAKER_3: Oh, my goodness -- up there in Fishers.
16:43
SPEAKER_3: You've got counter-protests going on
16:47
SPEAKER_3: against what's going on because you do have a lot
16:50
SPEAKER_3: of immigrants in the Fishers community.
16:53
SPEAKER_3: And Greg Bovino --
16:54
SPEAKER_3: a person who was fired, by the way --
16:57
SPEAKER_3: is being paid by people to come up there and stir up trouble
17:00
SPEAKER_3: about moving immigrants out of Fishers.
17:03
SPEAKER_3: It's just crazy.
17:04
SPEAKER_3: I've been sitting up here coming past Riverside for the last couple of weeks
17:07
SPEAKER_3: where they were paving 30th and 29th Street.
17:10
SPEAKER_3: And so I've walked in this town since they built it.
17:13
SPEAKER_3: And I walked it a couple of days last week.
17:15
SPEAKER_3: And I just paid even more deep attention to the contractor -- who would be Meade.
17:21
SPEAKER_3: You're probably familiar with Meade.
17:23
SPEAKER_3: Contractor does a lot of road work along with Rich Riley and others.
17:26
SPEAKER_3: And then I looked at all the workers.
17:29
SPEAKER_3: And, okay, take away the machines -- because you've got to have a journeyman card for a machine.
17:33
SPEAKER_3: And we know how they treat us when it comes to getting skilled trades
17:35
SPEAKER_3: and journeyman cards for working machines.
17:37
SPEAKER_3: But I just think about the laborers -- the guy slinging the tar
17:43
SPEAKER_3: on the asphalt before the presser comes and lays the road --
17:49
SPEAKER_3: all white.
17:51
SPEAKER_3: I thought,
17:53
SPEAKER_3: you know,
17:53
SPEAKER_3: maybe it's changed,
17:54
SPEAKER_3: but I thought if you were doing work in a particular neighborhood,
18:01
SPEAKER_3: that a certain percentage of employees needed to be from that neighborhood,
18:04
SPEAKER_3: it needs to be minority -- something like that.
18:05
SPEAKER_3: Maybe you guys can clarify that.
18:07
SPEAKER_3: But not even one laborer --
18:08
SPEAKER_3: not even one guy slinging a rubber squeegee, slinging the tar -- was Black.
18:14
SPEAKER_3: Now, one --
18:16
SPEAKER_3: and they've done 30th,
18:18
SPEAKER_3: they've done it from the bridge, 29th,
18:20
SPEAKER_3: all the way down to the highway,
18:22
SPEAKER_3: and subsequently coming back on 30th Street,
18:26
SPEAKER_3: all the way back this way -- and I haven't seen one Black employee.
18:29
SPEAKER_3: That is very disturbing.
18:30
SPEAKER_3: I think -- Bob -- I think this is your district, Bob.
18:33
SPEAKER_3: So maybe,
18:34
SPEAKER_3: like you said,
18:34
SPEAKER_3: talking about disparate impact --
18:36
SPEAKER_3: and we can't monitor -- needs to be called to the carpet.
18:41
SPEAKER_3: Hey, we want to see who in this neighborhood you've hired.
18:45
SPEAKER_3: Okay, well, they don't have a journeyman card.
18:46
SPEAKER_3: Fine -- we're not talking about for a skilled position.
18:49
SPEAKER_3: We're talking about for a laborer.
18:51
SPEAKER_3: They can't sling a squeegee and sling tar?
18:54
SPEAKER_3: $21 an hour?
18:55
SPEAKER_3: Come on, now.
18:56
SPEAKER_3: It's really pathetic.
18:58
SPEAKER_3: And how can the majority claim to --
19:01
SPEAKER_3: how can white males --
19:03
SPEAKER_3: or white people, period --
19:04
SPEAKER_3: since they are the majority --
19:05
SPEAKER_3: but white males, I think, are only, what, 23% of America?
19:09
SPEAKER_3: But we'll say white people, period, since they're the majority.
19:11
SPEAKER_3: How can the majority claim to be discriminated against by the minority?
19:16
SPEAKER_3: That's the craziest thing you ever want to hear, Pastor.
19:18
SPEAKER_3: I'll leave you with it.
19:20
SPEAKER_3: Ben Franklin -- Ben Franklin started the city of Philadelphia, people.
19:25
SPEAKER_3: If you don't know Ben Franklin's history of Philadelphia, go look it up.
19:29
SPEAKER_3: Ben Franklin said --
19:30
SPEAKER_3: I'm sorry --
19:35
SPEAKER_3: he said it's the majority that should ensure that the rights of
19:40
SPEAKER_3: the minorities are upheld at all costs.
19:43
SPEAKER_3: Because remember how we were treated when we were the minorities?
19:47
SPEAKER_3: When we left England and came over here fleeing the King of George and stuff like that.
19:54
SPEAKER_3: They have forgotten all of that.
19:55
SPEAKER_3: They've forgotten any of that.
19:58
SPEAKER_3: We had a little period of time --
19:59
SPEAKER_3: well, they're getting rid of it.
20:01
SPEAKER_3: Let's be honest.
20:03
SPEAKER_3: A few jumped on.
20:04
SPEAKER_3: But other than that, that's about it.
20:07
SPEAKER_3: It is really sad.
20:08
SPEAKER_1: All right.
20:08
SPEAKER_1: Well, thanks, Imhotep.
20:10
SPEAKER_3: Appreciate you.
20:11
SPEAKER_3: Boycott.
20:11
SPEAKER_1: Well, I think we're beyond that.
20:13
SPEAKER_1: But thanks, Imhotep.
20:14
SPEAKER_1: There's a couple of things there.
20:17
SPEAKER_1: And I'll start with,
20:18
SPEAKER_1: you know,
20:20
SPEAKER_1: Imhotep asked about --
20:20
SPEAKER_1: you know --
20:23
SPEAKER_1: where if you're in a certain neighborhood,
20:25
SPEAKER_1: should there be certain minorities in there?
20:25
SPEAKER_1: It really gets --
20:26
SPEAKER_1: it's a little bit more --
20:28
SPEAKER_1: if you get into the weeds,
20:30
SPEAKER_1: it depends on if it's a state contract,
20:32
SPEAKER_1: if there's any federal dollars, if it's a city contract.
20:37
SPEAKER_1: If you --
20:37
SPEAKER_1: you know --
20:38
SPEAKER_1: used to be, anyway --
20:38
SPEAKER_1: if it's city,
20:39
SPEAKER_1: then you've got your XBE, where you have the 15, 8, 3, and 1 percentages.
20:45
SPEAKER_1: If you're state, then you -- well -- you have DBE.
20:49
SPEAKER_1: If you have federal dollars, then the rules kind of go out the window.
20:52
SPEAKER_1: So there's so much there, Imhotep -- that you have to break down and understand
20:58
SPEAKER_1: when it just comes to the basic contract.
21:00
SPEAKER_1: What kind of contract is this?
21:02
SPEAKER_1: Who's going to do it?
21:03
SPEAKER_1: And then when you're looking at Meade --
21:06
SPEAKER_1: Meade isn't really even an Indianapolis contractor.
21:09
SPEAKER_1: I mean, they may have an Indianapolis office, but they're really from Chicago.
21:12
SPEAKER_1: They're doing a lot of work here now.
21:15
SPEAKER_1: And what you see is absolutely true because you're not seeing a lot of local folks.
21:20
SPEAKER_1: You're seeing a lot of folks that are coming from other areas.
21:23
SPEAKER_1: And you're seeing that not just on your highway jobs,
21:26
SPEAKER_1: but pretty much in all of your major projects that are out there.
21:31
SPEAKER_1: And then the last thing I'm going to say here before we go to break is -- right now
21:36
SPEAKER_1: we're beyond monitoring.
21:39
SPEAKER_1: There's nothing to monitor right now.
21:42
SPEAKER_1: What we've got to do is we've got to galvanize.
21:44
SPEAKER_1: We've got to come with a strategy.
21:46
SPEAKER_1: We've got all these different groups or silos that our president talks about,
21:51
SPEAKER_1: Pastor Greene -- all these different silos.
21:53
SPEAKER_1: We've got to say there's no need for a silo anymore.
21:56
SPEAKER_1: We've got to come together.
21:58
SPEAKER_1: All these different presidents of organizations,
22:00
SPEAKER_1: some of the folks that are holding up their arms -- need to come together and say,
22:04
SPEAKER_1: here's the strategy we need to come up with.
22:07
SPEAKER_1: That's going to help us all.
22:09
SPEAKER_1: We've got to go to break.
22:10
SPEAKER_1: If you want to be part of the conversation, you can call in: 317-480-1310.
22:16
SPEAKER_1: When we come back from our break, we've got El Amin.
22:18
SPEAKER_1: We'll bring him on.
22:19
SPEAKER_1: But once again, 317-480-1310.
22:21
SPEAKER_1: You're listening to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show on Praise
22:24
SPEAKER_1: AM 1310, 95.1 FM, Indy's Inspiration Station.
22:33
SPEAKER_1: Welcome back to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show.
22:36
SPEAKER_1: I'm Reverend Tony Alexander,
22:37
SPEAKER_1: and we have our president, Pastor David W. Greene Sr., joining us as well.
22:41
SPEAKER_1: We have you.
22:42
SPEAKER_1: If you'd like to be part of the conversation, you can call in to the radio station.
22:46
SPEAKER_1: That number is 317-480-1310.
22:49
SPEAKER_1: And yes, you can also comment on our Facebook page.
22:53
SPEAKER_1: Gerrelian, feel free to do that as well.
22:57
SPEAKER_1: And once again, we invite you to either comment there or once again, feel free to call in.
23:03
SPEAKER_1: We also have a comment there from Ryan in regards to how charter schools are taking over Indy.
23:11
SPEAKER_1: And Ryan, you just hold on a little bit.
23:13
SPEAKER_1: We're going to try to discuss that a little bit as well on this evening.
23:18
SPEAKER_1: But once again, feel free to call in: 317-480-1310.
23:22
SPEAKER_1: We have El Amin, who's on the line with us.
23:26
SPEAKER_1: Good evening.
23:28
SPEAKER_4: Good evening, brother.
23:29
SPEAKER_1: Good to hear from you.
23:32
SPEAKER_4: Same here, same here.
23:33
SPEAKER_4: Hey, I just have a -- I'm kind of -- I don't know who has the answer.
23:43
SPEAKER_4: Seems to me there was always two schools of thought.
23:48
SPEAKER_4: One was the Farrakhan way, I guess, if you will, and the other is the Martin Luther King way.
23:56
SPEAKER_4: And when it comes to education now?
24:04
SPEAKER_4: Employment?
24:05
SPEAKER_4: You know?
24:06
SPEAKER_4: I don't have an answer.
24:09
SPEAKER_4: I just know one thing my grandfather always said in the pulpit -- rest his soul.
24:13
SPEAKER_4: He used to always say Black folks would still be slaves if it wasn't for some good white folks.
24:22
SPEAKER_4: I just wonder where they at.
24:24
SPEAKER_1: I'll tell you my answer offline.
24:27
SPEAKER_1: Thank you.
24:27
SPEAKER_1: All right.
24:28
SPEAKER_1: Well, thank you for listening and for your phone call.
24:31
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, you want to kind of address that?
24:36
SPEAKER_2: I really don't have a good solution for it.
24:39
SPEAKER_2: I do believe this.
24:40
SPEAKER_2: I believe that we have been too complacent as a people here in Indiana.
24:47
SPEAKER_2: I think that
24:50
SPEAKER_2: we are going to have to figure out -- are we going to allow these subtle messages
24:57
SPEAKER_2: and no action to be the solution to what's happening?
25:03
SPEAKER_2: How much more can we continue to take?
25:05
SPEAKER_2: I mean, if we quote-unquote continue to advocate and monitor -- well, what you waiting on?
25:14
SPEAKER_2: And when would it start and what would it look like?
25:16
SPEAKER_2: Because I believe there are things that need to be happening right now.
25:21
SPEAKER_2: We have to be able to say,
25:24
SPEAKER_2: we're going to address this because it's an egregious act by leadership.
25:31
SPEAKER_2: And we have to call it out for what it is.
25:33
SPEAKER_2: And we've got to call out the people who are going to cover it up, that are going
25:37
SPEAKER_2: to be like, oh, let's try to mask this.
25:40
SPEAKER_2: Because they're not doing it without some people who should be offended saying it's okay.
25:48
SPEAKER_2: And we should all be saying this is egregious.
25:51
SPEAKER_2: We're offended.
25:52
SPEAKER_2: This can't continue.
25:53
SPEAKER_2: So women-owned companies should be joining with Black-owned companies
25:59
SPEAKER_2: and Latino-owned companies saying, hey, we're together on this.
26:03
SPEAKER_2: We can't continue to see --
26:04
SPEAKER_2: this is not going to make for a better Indiana.
26:09
SPEAKER_2: I just don't see young entrepreneurs saying, let me stay in Indiana and I might have a chance.
26:16
SPEAKER_2: If I'm a woman, if I'm Black -- why would you do that?
26:22
SPEAKER_2: There's a market here, even though we're paying taxes, that you can't participate in.
26:27
SPEAKER_2: These business deals are being made without you.
26:29
SPEAKER_2: You won't even know about them until you see them going on.
26:32
SPEAKER_2: You're not going to be at the table.
26:34
SPEAKER_2: There's no reason for you to be at the table.
26:37
SPEAKER_1: And that's a key point that we really miss -- okay,
26:40
SPEAKER_1: our tax dollars are going to a lot of these projects,
26:45
SPEAKER_1: but yet you're saying that we can't participate in being able to benefit as well
26:51
SPEAKER_1: from our entrepreneurship.
26:53
SPEAKER_1: You know,
26:54
SPEAKER_1: in addition to that --
26:55
SPEAKER_1: but it even goes beyond just a quote-unquote minority company,
26:59
SPEAKER_1: you know, woman-owned company or anything else.
27:02
SPEAKER_1: And traditionally,
27:04
SPEAKER_1: and I know this from experience,
27:06
SPEAKER_1: the smaller companies are dealing with other smaller companies.
27:10
SPEAKER_1: And you could ask anybody from a large scale --
27:13
SPEAKER_1: they'll tell you that America really is run by small businesses.
27:18
SPEAKER_1: You know,
27:19
SPEAKER_1: while we might have the Microsofts and you might have all the big AIs --
27:22
SPEAKER_1: Googles and Amazons and all these folks that are now
27:26
SPEAKER_1: doing a lot of great work --
27:28
SPEAKER_1: the backbone of this country really comes down to,
27:32
SPEAKER_1: you know,
27:33
SPEAKER_1: the mom and pop shops and their network.
27:40
SPEAKER_1: You know, they're dealing with people in our rural areas.
27:43
SPEAKER_1: You've got one, two, three, four, five folks --
27:45
SPEAKER_1: they're dealing with other folks in their rural area.
27:49
SPEAKER_1: Well, now what you're pretty much saying is we're going to get rid of all of that.
27:54
SPEAKER_1: You know,
27:54
SPEAKER_1: we're going to let that pretty much dry up, and then we're going to force you
28:01
SPEAKER_1: into having to do something else, and we're going to take away all those opportunities.
28:07
SPEAKER_1: And it's going to affect not just the one business entrepreneur,
28:12
SPEAKER_1: but then all the ones they spend money with in their communities --
28:16
SPEAKER_1: how they're giving jobs to their family members.
28:20
SPEAKER_1: You see, Donald Trump says it's okay for him to give jobs to his family members.
28:26
SPEAKER_1: But he doesn't want you to start your business and be able to give jobs to your family members.
28:32
SPEAKER_1: That's a big difference.
28:34
SPEAKER_1: And we need to recognize that as well.
28:37
SPEAKER_2: And the sad part of it is Governor Braun ran as a small business guy.
28:44
SPEAKER_2: He's going to elevate and promote small businesses.
28:47
SPEAKER_2: He didn't say, well, it's only certain small businesses.
28:50
SPEAKER_2: He didn't say you had to be white-owned.
28:52
SPEAKER_2: You know, he didn't run on that platform.
28:55
SPEAKER_2: He didn't say that.
28:57
SPEAKER_2: But his actions have now said,
28:58
SPEAKER_2: oh, yeah -- if you've got to be a white-owned business, that's who I'm for.
29:02
SPEAKER_2: I'm not for Black-owned businesses, women-owned businesses.
29:07
SPEAKER_2: I'm not for minority-owned businesses.
29:09
SPEAKER_2: He didn't say that.
29:10
SPEAKER_2: And we're a big part of, quote-unquote, small businesses.
29:14
SPEAKER_2: And how do you get big if you never even get the first contract?
29:18
SPEAKER_2: And so he's limiting -- well, you ain't even going to become big.
29:22
SPEAKER_2: We're going to make it hard for you to become a big company.
29:25
SPEAKER_2: And so that stuff has to be called out in this day and age.
29:28
SPEAKER_2: I think the season is shifting.
29:36
SPEAKER_2: You know, I've reached out to the Indy Chamber to say, okay, Indy Chamber -- where are you at?
29:40
SPEAKER_2: Because they should -- you know -- a number of their businesses are small businesses.
29:45
SPEAKER_2: And they need to be on record on where they are regarding this.
29:48
SPEAKER_2: If you're the Indy Chamber and you're supposed
29:51
SPEAKER_2: to be representing businesses, you can't just represent just the large businesses.
29:56
SPEAKER_2: If you are -- say that -- then all the small businesses can get out.
30:02
SPEAKER_1: Well, El Amin has an interesting comment there.
30:04
SPEAKER_1: El Amin went from the phone to the chat.
30:07
SPEAKER_1: Taking the penny out of circulation might be a sign to move us out of circulation.
30:12
SPEAKER_2: Oh, it could be.
30:13
SPEAKER_2: Exactly.
30:14
The goal is to make it more difficult -- pretty much move you more into
30:18
the prison system, et cetera.
30:19
SPEAKER_2: And this ties into education.
30:21
SPEAKER_2: All this goes together.
30:23
SPEAKER_2: Like, where are you going to end up at?
30:25
SPEAKER_1: But I do want to say this because El Amin also brought up a point, Mr. President --
30:31
SPEAKER_1: and I want to lift up the point -- because he mentioned something his grandfather said.
30:37
SPEAKER_1: A lot of our struggle --
30:39
SPEAKER_1: if you will --
30:39
SPEAKER_1: if I can kind of paraphrase --
30:41
SPEAKER_1: you had some Caucasians there that were there --
30:45
SPEAKER_1: and I'm going to use the term "assist" -- that were there to help the cause.
30:52
SPEAKER_1: And I think we still have some of those folks.
30:56
SPEAKER_1: Like the No Kings rallies --
30:57
SPEAKER_1: I think you saw a lot of folks that could come together for a common cause and say,
31:02
SPEAKER_1: you know what, we're going to stand together for this cause.
31:06
SPEAKER_1: And I think even when we're talking about minority business enterprise,
31:10
SPEAKER_1: that's another cause we can all stand together with.
31:15
SPEAKER_1: And just another reason why we should --
31:17
SPEAKER_1: because let's be real --
31:19
SPEAKER_1: in all this DEI stuff going away, it's going to affect women as well.
31:25
SPEAKER_1: All the voting rights that are being attacked is going to affect women as well.
31:31
SPEAKER_1: And you need to understand that if your husband's going to be able to vote
31:38
SPEAKER_1: at the same time and you won't be able to vote --
31:42
SPEAKER_1: you should revisit -- okay, wait a minute, which side am I going to support?
31:47
SPEAKER_1: I ain't saying leave your husband, but what I am saying is vote for somebody else.
31:52
SPEAKER_1: You really need to consider that.
31:54
SPEAKER_1: So let's go ahead.
31:55
SPEAKER_1: We'll go to our other break for the hour.
31:58
SPEAKER_1: When we come back, we do want to talk about IPS.
32:02
SPEAKER_1: You know,
32:02
SPEAKER_1: they're now under a different governance structure and they're looking for a director
32:07
SPEAKER_1: to lead that structure.
32:10
SPEAKER_1: And we've got some candidates.
32:12
SPEAKER_1: We're going to kind of talk about them.
32:13
SPEAKER_1: And we also had a comment earlier in regards to what's happening in Indianapolis
32:18
SPEAKER_1: in regards to charter schools and really the structure of Indianapolis education.
32:22
SPEAKER_1: If you'd like to be part of the conversation, you can call in: 317-480-1310.
32:27
SPEAKER_1: 317-480-1310.
32:31
SPEAKER_1: You're listening to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show on Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM,
32:36
SPEAKER_1: Indy's Inspiration Station.
32:43
SPEAKER_1: Welcome back to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show.
32:45
SPEAKER_1: I'm Reverend Tony Alexander,
32:47
SPEAKER_1: and I'm joined by President Pastor David W.
32:50
SPEAKER_1: Greene Sr. We invite you to be part of the conversation.
32:53
SPEAKER_1: Feel free to call into the studio: 317-480-1310.
32:56
SPEAKER_1: And you can also comment on the Facebook page -- the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis.
33:02
SPEAKER_1: Early on, we had a comment on our Facebook feed there from Ryan saying --
33:07
SPEAKER_1: Ryan said that the charter schools are taking over Indy in a bad way
33:12
SPEAKER_1: and people don't understand how terrible they really are.
33:15
SPEAKER_1: And he went on to share about how it's terrible how there's corruption
33:20
SPEAKER_1: and how Indiana schools are treated.
33:22
SPEAKER_1: And just before our break --
33:23
SPEAKER_1: literally right before our break --
33:25
SPEAKER_1: we talked about that when we came back
33:27
SPEAKER_1: we would be speaking right on the search for the new executive director for
33:35
SPEAKER_1: the new entity that's been put in place to lead IPS and charter schools.
33:40
SPEAKER_1: And Mr. President,
33:41
SPEAKER_1: we have breaking news -- there's been an announcement over our commercial break.
33:45
SPEAKER_1: You want to go ahead and share that?
33:47
SPEAKER_2: Yeah.
33:48
SPEAKER_2: IPS has actually hired -- I think it's correct -- Rausch.
33:52
SPEAKER_2: He's a charter school leader to be in charge -- to be the IPEC director.
33:59
SPEAKER_2: So we have somebody with a charter school background,
34:00
SPEAKER_2: which was to be expected by most of us who have been following this --
34:05
SPEAKER_2: that that was the plan.
34:10
SPEAKER_2: MindTrust actually announced it before the mayor announced it.
34:12
SPEAKER_2: So that's what we're going to have for the city of Indianapolis --
34:15
SPEAKER_2: MindTrust announced it.
34:20
SPEAKER_2: So that's an indication of where we're going, what's up.
34:22
SPEAKER_2: And so I have to agree that there's going to be a plethora of charter schools evolving.
34:27
SPEAKER_2: And IPS is at a critical place as they're looking to do a referendum in November.
34:44
SPEAKER_2: Does it pass?
34:44
SPEAKER_2: What happens?
34:45
SPEAKER_2: There's a lot of questions.
34:47
SPEAKER_1: Well, here's what we'll find out, Mr. President.
34:51
SPEAKER_1: We'll just have to look at the actions -- and I believe the name is Karega Rausch.
34:56
SPEAKER_1: We'll just have to look at the actions of Mr. Rausch.
35:00
SPEAKER_1: You can see how hard he fights for the referendum.
35:03
SPEAKER_1: They are supposedly looking for $95 million on this referendum.
35:08
SPEAKER_1: You'll know how hard he's fighting for the referendum
35:14
SPEAKER_1: because whichever way it goes, the charters are going to get their money.
35:19
SPEAKER_1: That's for sure.
35:21
SPEAKER_1: But the question is, okay, how hard is he going to fight for the referendum?
35:27
SPEAKER_1: Because a hard-fought fight means at least you're really trying to save IPS in part
35:35
SPEAKER_1: of the process.
35:37
SPEAKER_1: If you're really,
35:37
SPEAKER_1: you know,
35:38
SPEAKER_1: kind of softballing it and
35:41
SPEAKER_1: swinging at every wild pitch throughout these last, what,
35:44
SPEAKER_1: couple of months or whatever we have left --
35:47
SPEAKER_1: then that shows you're not really serious about saving IPS and you're looking more
35:51
SPEAKER_1: at the dollars and how we can fund more charter schools.
35:55
SPEAKER_1: And in any effect,
35:56
SPEAKER_1: that really goes back to what Ryan says --
35:59
SPEAKER_1: that it's terrible how Indiana schools are being treated --
36:02
SPEAKER_1: because our children are being tossed around every single time we get
36:07
SPEAKER_1: a new superintendent.
36:09
SPEAKER_1: Every other couple of years
36:11
SPEAKER_1: we get a new strategic plan.
36:17
SPEAKER_1: Our children are getting tossed to and fro just like they're on the Titanic.
36:23
SPEAKER_1: And our education is really sinking right before our very eyes.
36:30
SPEAKER_2: That's a great way of saying it, because it really is going on.
36:34
SPEAKER_2: It's going to cause -- this whole process is detrimental to children.
36:40
SPEAKER_2: I mean, I think they're trying to accomplish multiple things.
36:45
SPEAKER_2: It's the destruction of the teachers union.
36:48
SPEAKER_2: When they get done with this, you won't have a teachers union.
36:51
SPEAKER_2: And the destruction of schools -- and ultimately communities --
36:56
SPEAKER_2: because all of that's going to get destroyed here.
36:58
SPEAKER_2: I mean, this very well could end up being like a takeover school.
37:01
SPEAKER_2: I mean, there's a lot of things out here.
37:04
SPEAKER_2: And you're right.
37:04
SPEAKER_2: Pay attention to how far -- I mean, you better be selling this referendum yesterday.
37:06
SPEAKER_2: That's a lot of money to ask people to say -- invest in IPS -- when,
37:10
SPEAKER_2: you know, you've got this, quote-unquote, new board that's in control.
37:15
SPEAKER_2: People know that the elected board doesn't mean anything.
37:20
SPEAKER_2: It's up to these seven people we have here now.
37:23
SPEAKER_2: And I don't know if they want to say, I trust them seven people with the money.
37:27
SPEAKER_2: There's a lot of issues in here.
37:32
SPEAKER_2: Are they going to get behind him and say,
37:35
SPEAKER_2: okay, yeah, I'm willing to give him $90 million and commit that?
37:37
SPEAKER_2: I don't know.
37:43
SPEAKER_1: Well, it's pretty obvious that a lot of the decisions on what
37:48
SPEAKER_1: the goal is moving forward have already been made.
37:52
SPEAKER_1: But the question is,
37:53
SPEAKER_1: will that be communicated to the public in a way in which
37:56
SPEAKER_1: the public can really trust what's being communicated?
38:00
SPEAKER_1: Let's go ahead and bring in our caller.
38:01
SPEAKER_1: We've got Joyce on the line.
38:03
SPEAKER_1: Joyce, are you there?
38:05
SPEAKER_5: Yeah, I'm here.
38:06
SPEAKER_5: Good evening.
38:07
SPEAKER_5: So I went to IPS, and,
38:09
SPEAKER_5: you know, I have family members that were principals and other things in IPS.
38:15
SPEAKER_5: But what I noticed was -- it was some little mayor that was trying to break down
38:23
SPEAKER_5: the school system.
38:24
SPEAKER_5: The one governor that was too good to live in the governor's mansion.
38:30
SPEAKER_5: Yeah, the one that was vice president.
38:32
SPEAKER_5: That's when our school system -- and then all these other schools --
38:39
SPEAKER_5: they haven't lived up to their contracts.
38:42
SPEAKER_5: So one would think we'd be on the larger side of checking their credentials.
38:51
SPEAKER_5: Maybe you don't understand what I'm saying.
38:53
SPEAKER_5: They get a contract, they take the money, and then they fail to uphold their contract.
39:02
SPEAKER_5: What happens in that case?
39:03
SPEAKER_5: Because there have been many of them schools -- you mentioned it -- outside of IPS.
39:09
SPEAKER_5: I'm all about IPS.
39:10
SPEAKER_5: Sorry for y'all's luck.
39:12
SPEAKER_1: No, we understand your point, Joyce.
39:13
SPEAKER_1: Joyce (00.39:14): They've got Herron.
39:15
SPEAKER_5: They've got so many good schools -- magnet schools.
39:20
SPEAKER_5: Magnet schools are not the same as what they push with these pop-up --
39:27
SPEAKER_5: ain't even in the city, don't know our situation, condition, community.
39:33
SPEAKER_5: Hey, I'll cut that off.
39:35
SPEAKER_1: All right.
39:36
SPEAKER_1: Thank you so much for your phone call, Joyce.
39:38
SPEAKER_5: You're welcome.
39:39
SPEAKER_5: Thanks for taking my call.
39:41
SPEAKER_5: Yeah.
39:42
SPEAKER_1: Joyce made a lot of good points, really.
39:44
SPEAKER_1: And for a lot of folks that don't understand the charter system,
39:47
SPEAKER_1: Joyce really nailed a couple of them.
39:52
SPEAKER_1: As far as looking at the people that are leading the schools --
39:55
SPEAKER_1: they're really not invested in the community.
39:58
SPEAKER_1: That's something we've talked about for a long time --
40:00
SPEAKER_1: you know --
40:02
SPEAKER_1: a lot of the board being led by folks that are out of state,
40:06
SPEAKER_1: not even really coming here to Indiana.
40:11
SPEAKER_1: And then when you look at -- okay --
40:13
SPEAKER_1: where is -- I think her other point, you know, was --
40:16
SPEAKER_1: where is some of the funding going, some of the money going.
40:21
SPEAKER_1: What we're seeing right now is that they're slowly taking money from IPS
40:26
SPEAKER_1: to feed charter schools.
40:29
SPEAKER_1: She also mentioned a lot of these charter schools are failing.
40:33
SPEAKER_1: That was another excellent point.
40:35
SPEAKER_1: They're failing.
40:37
SPEAKER_1: You may hear a blurb about it,
40:40
SPEAKER_1: but you don't see the effect that it has on those students and the families when all
40:45
SPEAKER_1: of these charter schools are failing --
40:47
SPEAKER_1: like some of the restaurants and department stores that we see that are going away
40:52
SPEAKER_1: as well.
40:54
SPEAKER_2: Well, yeah, I mean, she brought up some excellent points.
40:56
SPEAKER_2: And, you know,
40:57
SPEAKER_2: we've spent some time on our show and previous shows talking about the number
41:03
SPEAKER_2: of charter schools that don't make it -- it is phenomenal.
41:06
SPEAKER_2: And what happened to those kids?
41:08
SPEAKER_2: We're just moving kids around, disrupting families, you know, because somebody has a good idea.
41:16
SPEAKER_2: Not to say that every charter school is bad, because that's not a true statement.
41:20
SPEAKER_2: But if you're going to take public money,
41:22
SPEAKER_2: I think everybody should be held to the same standard.
41:26
SPEAKER_2: Everybody should be held to the same standard.
41:28
SPEAKER_2: You shouldn't just be able to get money but not have to play by the same rules.
41:33
SPEAKER_2: I mean, a lot of these charter schools -- they don't want special-needs children.
41:36
SPEAKER_2: Special-needs children end up in the public school because that costs more money --
41:41
SPEAKER_2: because it requires a different staffing level.
41:43
SPEAKER_2: You shouldn't be able to do that.
41:44
SPEAKER_2: If you're taking public money,
41:46
SPEAKER_2: then you're going to have to take your fair share,
41:49
SPEAKER_2: quote-unquote, of special-needs children.
41:51
SPEAKER_2: You shouldn't be like, okay,
41:53
SPEAKER_2: we're going to leave children who need more resources in this system over here,
41:58
SPEAKER_2: even though we're going to take the money -- and we want the cream of the crop
42:01
SPEAKER_2: over here.
42:02
SPEAKER_2: And so we're going to look good,
42:04
SPEAKER_2: you know,
42:05
SPEAKER_2: because we took the cream of the crop --
42:06
SPEAKER_2: but we left these other students over here to be on their own with fewer resources
42:11
SPEAKER_2: when they needed more resources.
42:13
SPEAKER_2: That's the kind of stuff that irks me, Reverend Alexander.
42:17
SPEAKER_2: If you're going to --
42:18
SPEAKER_2: because the charter school says we're a public school too --
42:20
SPEAKER_2: well, operate like a public school then.
42:22
SPEAKER_1: Right.
42:24
SPEAKER_2: Be consistent about that.
42:25
SPEAKER_2: Be willing to be held to the same standard.
42:27
SPEAKER_2: Matter of fact, you should be going to work just as hard to get a referendum.
42:32
SPEAKER_2: Not sit back -- well, we're going to get the referendum regardless.
42:34
SPEAKER_2: We ain't got to do nothing.
42:36
SPEAKER_1: And they're not supporting -- well, they're not supporting it as far as the fight.
42:40
SPEAKER_1: You know, they're supporting the money, of course.
42:43
SPEAKER_1: But they're not out there lobbying for it.
42:47
SPEAKER_2: And they should be at that.
42:48
SPEAKER_2: There should be something that brings everybody to the table.
42:52
SPEAKER_2: Not just, okay, I can reap from the money.
42:55
SPEAKER_2: Most of the time
42:56
SPEAKER_2: you're in a position to get other money from MindTrust or their financial backers
43:02
SPEAKER_2: as well.
43:04
SPEAKER_2: You shouldn't be -- okay, but the public school -- they've got to jump through all the hoops.
43:08
SPEAKER_2: They've got to conduct all the meetings.
43:10
SPEAKER_2: They've got to go out and interface with the community.
43:12
SPEAKER_2: I'm sitting over here as a charter school --
43:15
SPEAKER_2: y'all get this through.
43:16
SPEAKER_2: Just cut me my check.
43:18
SPEAKER_2: Huh?
43:18
SPEAKER_2: How's that supposed to work?
43:20
SPEAKER_2: And how's that fair?
43:21
SPEAKER_2: You know, if you're going to claim you're a public school, then let's be all the way in.
43:28
SPEAKER_2: Let's have the same standard.
43:31
SPEAKER_2: Let's not be walking around --
43:32
SPEAKER_2: well, no, we want this student.
43:35
SPEAKER_2: We don't want this student.
43:37
SPEAKER_2: They shouldn't be able to do that.
43:38
SPEAKER_1: Well, there shouldn't be competition between schools, to be honest with you.
43:42
SPEAKER_1: I mean, there should not be competition between schools.
43:45
SPEAKER_1: All schools should be saying, hey,
43:48
SPEAKER_1: we want to share the load --
43:50
SPEAKER_1: you know --
43:51
SPEAKER_1: for being able to educate all of the students,
43:55
SPEAKER_1: be able to have all of the same resources -- equal resources.
44:00
SPEAKER_1: Because what also happens is if you've got,
44:03
SPEAKER_1: quote-unquote,
44:04
SPEAKER_1: you know,
44:04
SPEAKER_1: the cream of the crop -- or,
44:06
SPEAKER_1: you know -- everybody trying to get the best and the brightest resources --
44:10
SPEAKER_1: well, everybody can get the best and the brightest,
44:12
SPEAKER_1: but the ones that are
44:15
SPEAKER_1: going to school that may rate or grade with the best of the brightest --
44:19
SPEAKER_1: you're going to see them getting
44:20
SPEAKER_1: more resources,
44:22
SPEAKER_1: getting funded,
44:24
SPEAKER_1: extracurricular activities --
44:26
SPEAKER_1: you know --
44:26
SPEAKER_1: other activities to support what they're doing -- and taking away from,
44:30
SPEAKER_1: you know, some other children that could certainly use some of those resources also.
44:37
SPEAKER_2: That would make more sense than -- and it wouldn't be us versus them, right?
44:42
SPEAKER_2: Now we would be in it together saying, how do we help our children across the board?
44:46
SPEAKER_2: And we would share in that responsibility as opposed to...
44:51
SPEAKER_2: I still see this ending up in a very finger-pointing thing.
44:56
SPEAKER_2: I still think it's going to lead to gentrification of neighborhoods.
44:59
SPEAKER_2: I still think that they've got school sites that they've identified
45:03
SPEAKER_2: that will be closed because something else is going to come in here.
45:07
SPEAKER_2: This is a long-range thing.
45:09
SPEAKER_2: It's set in motion.
45:13
SPEAKER_2: And I don't believe they have hired, quote-unquote, a disruptor to the master plan.
45:19
SPEAKER_2: The person hired has to help execute the master plan,
45:24
SPEAKER_2: which will involve really the destruction of IPS.
45:29
SPEAKER_2: It will lead to gentrification of some neighborhoods.
45:32
SPEAKER_2: It will lead to a bunch of financial benefits for some
45:37
SPEAKER_2: while robbing and stealing from others.
45:41
SPEAKER_2: And then they don't want you to say that.
45:42
SPEAKER_2: When in reality, you're going to watch it.
45:44
SPEAKER_2: You're going to see it.
45:48
SPEAKER_1: So it's just been announced that the IPEC board here in Marion County, Indianapolis --
45:53
SPEAKER_1: they've already decided who the first executive director is.
45:58
SPEAKER_1: We had an interim --
46:01
SPEAKER_1: Michael O'Connor --
46:04
SPEAKER_1: but now we're going to have our first executive director --
46:06
SPEAKER_1: I think that's the title -- Karega Rausch.
46:10
SPEAKER_1: What the bio is that we have shared says that Rausch was the education
46:16
SPEAKER_1: and charter schools director for former Indianapolis mayors Bart Peterson
46:21
SPEAKER_1: and Greg Ballard before being the director of the local affiliate
46:26
SPEAKER_1: of school reform organization Stand for Children.
46:30
SPEAKER_1: Stand for Children, most folks understand, is really a leader in the charter school network.
46:38
SPEAKER_1: It also says there that Rausch also chaired the Indiana Charter Schools Board.
46:43
SPEAKER_1: He joined the National Association of Charter School Authorizers in 2014
46:49
SPEAKER_1: and has been president and CEO since 2020 of the National Association
46:55
SPEAKER_1: of Charter School Authorizers.
46:58
SPEAKER_1: So he's bleeding --
47:01
SPEAKER_1: his blood is in the charter system.
47:04
SPEAKER_1: So that'll give you,
47:05
SPEAKER_1: I would say,
47:06
SPEAKER_1: quite an indication of where he is probably looking to lead this organization.
47:13
SPEAKER_1: We've got a caller on the line.
47:14
SPEAKER_1: Let's go ahead and bring in our caller.
47:16
SPEAKER_1: We've got Guy.
47:17
SPEAKER_1: How you doing, Guy?
47:19
SPEAKER_6: Good evening, gentlemen.
47:21
SPEAKER_6: A couple of things.
47:34
SPEAKER_6: DEI -- it seems like although we've gotten the variety,
47:41
SPEAKER_6: so to speak,
47:42
SPEAKER_6: of those programs,
47:44
SPEAKER_6: the actual effect --
47:46
SPEAKER_6: the actual putting in place of people in those jobs -- seems to be lacking.
47:53
SPEAKER_6: It's interesting that
47:57
SPEAKER_6: Alexander Miles invented the elevator doors
48:03
SPEAKER_6: opening and closing automatically.
48:07
SPEAKER_6: It revolutionized the elevator, which is a part of so many buildings.
48:15
SPEAKER_6: And it's interesting that he made the invention,
48:18
SPEAKER_6: but
48:21
SPEAKER_6: some don't want to see the value of people of color on those kinds of jobs.
48:28
SPEAKER_6: The other thing I wanted to say was --
48:31
SPEAKER_6: in terms of the charters and public schools --
48:35
SPEAKER_6: to your knowledge,
48:35
SPEAKER_6: has there ever been actual data, facts --
48:39
SPEAKER_6: in terms of what the charter schools have put out in their product in terms
48:44
SPEAKER_6: of students and their performance as opposed to those in public schools?
48:51
SPEAKER_6: To your knowledge, has there ever been data to that?
48:55
SPEAKER_1: Well, certainly.
48:56
SPEAKER_1: I mean, the IDOE --
48:58
SPEAKER_1: Indiana Department of Education --
49:00
SPEAKER_1: they, you know, annually would put out those statistics.
49:05
SPEAKER_1: Now, not all of the charter schools always had to report,
49:08
SPEAKER_1: but there is enough data that will support
49:12
SPEAKER_1: that charter schools are not performing any better than our public schools --
49:15
SPEAKER_1: and in many cases are performing worse.
49:19
SPEAKER_6: Why don't we make that public?
49:21
SPEAKER_6: It is public.
49:22
SPEAKER_6: Most people understand that.
49:24
SPEAKER_6: It is public.
49:26
SPEAKER_6: No, I mean -- on people's lips, like so many other things.
49:32
SPEAKER_1: Well, it's who's controlling the narrative.
49:35
SPEAKER_1: Let's be real.
49:36
SPEAKER_1: I mean, everything that we're looking at now comes down
49:39
SPEAKER_1: to literally almost who's controlling the narrative and how
49:44
SPEAKER_1: that narrative gets put out.
49:47
SPEAKER_1: I mean, you see Republicans -- and this is just my opinion,
49:50
SPEAKER_1: I'll let our president answer as well --
49:52
SPEAKER_1: it's like the Republicans are pretty much always on one accord,
49:56
SPEAKER_1: one message, no matter what it is.
49:59
SPEAKER_1: They're always going to be on one accord and one message -- good, bad, or indifferent.
50:04
SPEAKER_1: I'll say for the most part,
50:07
SPEAKER_1: we at least try to think based on what we know or what we think we know
50:12
SPEAKER_1: or what we heard or what we saw on some social media.
50:14
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, you got any thoughts on that?
50:16
SPEAKER_1: And thanks, Guy, for calling.
50:18
SPEAKER_1: Take care.
50:18
SPEAKER_2: Guy brings up what the real challenge is.
50:21
SPEAKER_2: The real challenge is having the resources to get that message out.
50:27
SPEAKER_2: The people who are lying usually have a lot of money.
50:30
SPEAKER_2: In this case, they have a lot of money.
50:32
SPEAKER_2: And so they only lift up the positive side to something -- or the schools that are doing well.
50:40
SPEAKER_2: They're not going to talk about the schools that closed.
50:44
SPEAKER_2: They're not going to bring that up when there is a number of them that closed.
50:47
SPEAKER_2: That's documented.
50:48
SPEAKER_2: That's public.
50:49
SPEAKER_2: But very few are going to talk about it.
50:53
SPEAKER_2: Very few media outlets are going to cover that.
50:59
SPEAKER_2: They're going to --
51:00
SPEAKER_2: the other side can pay to put out an article that's rosy and talks about
51:07
SPEAKER_2: how great things are
51:10
SPEAKER_2: and how they're going to turn it around.
51:10
SPEAKER_2: They're not going to talk about that.
51:12
SPEAKER_2: You know, even the mayor -- who has charter schools --
51:16
SPEAKER_2: he's never --
51:17
SPEAKER_2: that I've heard -- when he gave the state of the city --
51:20
SPEAKER_2: talked about how great the education system is and what his schools were doing.
51:24
SPEAKER_2: He never talks about that topic.
51:27
SPEAKER_2: That never comes up.
51:28
SPEAKER_2: Why is that?
51:29
SPEAKER_2: And you know if it was doing well, he's a mayor.
51:32
SPEAKER_2: He's a politician.
51:32
SPEAKER_2: He'd bring it up.
51:33
SPEAKER_2: But he never brings that up because he knows what the real data is.
51:39
SPEAKER_2: So there's nothing there to talk about -- other than to say the last time he won,
51:45
SPEAKER_2: hey, I'm going to focus on education.
51:47
SPEAKER_1: Here's what we're going to do.
51:50
SPEAKER_2: But he did not speak to -- I mean --
51:53
SPEAKER_2: in my term,
51:54
SPEAKER_2: for over eight years,
51:56
SPEAKER_2: in my charter schools,
51:57
SPEAKER_2: they're performing at this level in math and this level in English,
52:00
SPEAKER_2: and they're doing this.
52:01
SPEAKER_2: He did not share any of that.
52:03
SPEAKER_2: Why?
52:03
SPEAKER_2: Because he has nothing there to say, to speak about.
52:07
SPEAKER_1: And how many have closed?
52:09
SPEAKER_2: Exactly.
52:10
SPEAKER_2: He's not going to touch that.
52:11
SPEAKER_2: And so those things are out there.
52:14
SPEAKER_2: They are facts.
52:16
SPEAKER_2: Unfortunately, though, people are getting glossy stuff in the mail.
52:20
SPEAKER_2: We're getting ready to go back to school, right?
52:22
SPEAKER_2: So the charter school people --
52:24
SPEAKER_2: you know --
52:24
SPEAKER_2: if you've got MindTrust money behind you,
52:26
SPEAKER_2: you're sending out mailings in the neighborhood with glossies and talking
52:29
SPEAKER_2: about how great your school is, et cetera.
52:32
SPEAKER_2: You're not telling anything about the true performance of your school --
52:36
SPEAKER_2: where your school's challenges are.
52:39
SPEAKER_2: You ain't doing that.
52:40
SPEAKER_2: You're sending that parent a nice,
52:42
SPEAKER_2: glossy -- trying to get students into your school -- and making it sound good.
52:47
SPEAKER_2: You're going to lift up whatever you can lift up and word it however you need to word it.
52:51
SPEAKER_2: They may not lie, but they'll mislead you.
52:54
SPEAKER_2: And there you go.
52:56
SPEAKER_2: That's the nature of marketing.
52:57
SPEAKER_2: You do that when you've got money.
52:59
SPEAKER_2: Well, other schools --
53:01
SPEAKER_2: if you don't have the resources --
53:03
SPEAKER_2: you might have a great school, but you can't get your message out.
53:05
SPEAKER_2: You can't get your message out.
53:08
SPEAKER_2: And so, you know,
53:10
SPEAKER_2: they're not going to let
53:11
SPEAKER_2: Reverend Alexander and me on CNN right now to talk about this,
53:15
SPEAKER_2: because even though we'll be telling the truth,
53:19
SPEAKER_2: they're going to be like, uh-uh -- we ain't trying to have that.
53:22
SPEAKER_2: Now, the other side may pay to get somebody on the news and to spout things out,
53:28
SPEAKER_2: because that will be a piece of it.
53:31
SPEAKER_1: Well, it's a tech...
53:33
SPEAKER_1: Listen to this, Mr. President.
53:35
SPEAKER_1: So two topics we talked about on tonight.
53:38
SPEAKER_1: So for DEI,
53:39
SPEAKER_1: when it comes to Black businesses -- oh,
53:41
SPEAKER_1: you've got to be established,
53:42
SPEAKER_1: have all these many years before we can trust you -- or we can't.
53:46
SPEAKER_1: You know, all this stuff.
53:48
SPEAKER_1: But it's the flip when it comes to education.
53:50
SPEAKER_1: No -- we want you to come in and embrace this little charter school that just came in
53:54
SPEAKER_1: and gave us their quote-unquote plan last year.
53:57
SPEAKER_1: We want you to trust them with your children's education.
54:01
SPEAKER_2: On an idea.
54:04
SPEAKER_1: On an idea.
54:07
SPEAKER_1: That's where we're at right now.
54:09
SPEAKER_1: I know we've got some callers on the line that couldn't make it tonight,
54:12
SPEAKER_1: so hopefully we'll catch you next week.
54:14
SPEAKER_1: I see Reverend Phillips -- you're one of them.
54:16
SPEAKER_1: I owe you a phone call, so I'll try to catch you maybe tomorrow.
54:19
SPEAKER_1: The rest of you, thanks for calling in.
54:21
SPEAKER_1: Thanks for listening.
54:22
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, thank you.
54:24
SPEAKER_1: Good to have you back on tonight.
54:25
SPEAKER_2: Good to be back tonight.
54:27
SPEAKER_1: And everyone, keep praying, and we pray to be with you next week.
54:31
SPEAKER_1: Be blessed.
54:36
SPEAKER_0: You've been listening to the weekly town hall meeting brought to you by
54:39
SPEAKER_0: the Concerned Clergy in cooperation with Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM.
54:46
SPEAKER_0: The views and opinions expressed on the town hall meeting are not necessarily
54:49
SPEAKER_0: the views of Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM, Radio One, or its management.