State Sen. Shirley Smith Takes On Ohio Gov John Kasich's All White Cabinet, Says He's Bad For Kids And Insensitive To Minorities, Gays And Lesbians
Ohio State Senator Shirley Smith (D-21) 
Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich
By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the Determiner Weekly.Com and
the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com
(www.determinerweekly.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
(The article below has quotes from State Sen. Shirley Smith (D-21), Susan Schnur, Doug Braun, Marcia McCoy and Griot Y-Von)
Democratic Ohio State Sen. Shirley Smith (D-21), who represents Cleveland and the 21st Senate District, fired off a letter this week to Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich that, among other scorching allegations, brands the recently elected governor a bad role model for Ohio's children because his 22 permanent cabinet positions thus far are all White People.
"Not one person of color has been appointed to be a member of the state's executive team," wrote the outspoken senator, who is Black. "As we prepare to celebrate Black history month, what lessons are we teaching Ohio's school children when they see that their governor's cabinet lacks diversity and I doubt that you want them to think that minorities do not deserve a place at the table in deciding Ohio's future."
Kasich, who took office this month after narrowly defeating one-term Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, did not comment prior to blog time, though his spokesperson said one is forthcoming.
Smith said also that the anti-multicultural posture taken by Kasich in ignoring minorities for policy making positions in the state's highest office of government defies history and teaches Ohio's children that exclusion is okay.
"To host a cabinet that does not include Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, Native- Americans, or any other racial identity is to turn a blind eye to the achievements of the past and the promising futures of our children," the literate senator from Cleveland wrote.
After mocking Ohio's 69th governor for publicly revealing that he did not know that Jan. 15 is the birthday of slain Civil Rights leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and accusing him of immorality and discrimination in office over the controversy, Smith's strongly worded letter goes on to accuse Kasich of insensitivity to women and the gay, lesbian and transgender communities.
"Your gubernatorial ticket represented gender equality, but you have only appointed five women to your cabinet," Smith's letter said. "Last week you also let expire an executive order that protects gay, lesbian and transgender public servants from being terminated solely on the basis of their sexuality and both of these issues are of concern to me and the public."
Activists from the gay lesbian and transgender communities, that say they will rally for Smith if Kasich harasses her for speaking out, are angry at the governor too.
"He is a rotten governor so we expect him to do rotten things," said Susan Schnur, a representative of the People's Fight Back Center in greater Cleveland who describes herself as a "proud lesbian."
The executive order at issue was introduced by Ohio Democratic Gov Dick Celeste in 1983 and continued in 1991 by Republican Gov. George Voinovich, a former Cleveland mayor in office when now Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes was the powerful president of Cleveland City Council. It was ditched by Republican Gov. Bob Taft when he took office in 1999, and Strickland reissued it upon taking office in 2007.
"There are about 60 thousand state employees and some are gay, lesbian and transgender," said Doug Braun, who sits on the board for Ask Cleveland, a political advocacy group for the gay, lesbian and transgender communities."I expected governor Kasich to let the executive order expire because that is what he promised when he was running for election."
The controversy that started in the Black community and has now transcended to other sectors of disenfranchised groups began when Kasich, in spite of being in Cleveland for another event, refused an invitation to attend a banquet sponsored by the Cleveland Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the local organization under the parent organization founded by King that is led by the Rev. E.T. Caviness, pastor of the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church in Cleveland. The governor would also not guarantee that a proclamation would be signed in time for the affair and slated a representative to attend whom the group later rejected because of the governor's slight and his all White cabinet.
"What a slap in the face," SCLC board member Marcia McCoy reportedly told the Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper (www.Cleveland.com) in a story on that matter that ran last week. And the Cleveland Chapter NAACP took pot shots at Kasich too, saying organizational officials would begin speaking to the governor if he is available to discuss the necessity for Blacks in his cabinet.
Not all people are upset at Kasich, at least not among his Republican buddies.
"What ever happen to being chosen because of the content of one's character rather than the color of one's skin," said Roz McAllister of Ohio Family Rights, who is Native -American. "I don't care if the cabinet members are pink if we have jobs in Ohio."
But Smith's letter to Kasich also addressed any suggestion that Blacks and other minorities are not as qualified as their White counterparts to help bring jobs to Ohio through cabinet level positions in Kasich's administration.
"It is difficult to believe that a cabinet that does not reflect the population of our state can adequately serve it," wrote Smith. "A recent survey of Fortune 500 companies conducted by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez showed that minorities represent 14.5 percent of directors on corporate boards."
Kasich does have a Black in an interim position in Michael B. Colbert as Director of the Ohio Department of Child and Family Services. And people are questioning that too.
"I guess Mr. Colbert is interim because the governor is saving that spot for a White person too," said Cleveland Community Activist Griot Y-Von.
State law allows the governor of Ohio to choose whom he or she wants for cabinet positions, and on boards and commissions, and without consideration of race, ethnicity or gender.
What true backlash Kasich's actions will bring to him , or to the Republican party, remains to be seen. It is clear though, that Ohio's Republican Party seeks to lure any interested voters that are not already on its side in an effort in 2012 to unseat Democratic president Barack Obama, the first Black president of the United States of America.
Ohio is a pivotal state where few Democrats and no Republicans have ever won the White House without first winning Ohio.
Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich
By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the Determiner Weekly.Com and
the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com
(www.determinerweekly.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
(The article below has quotes from State Sen. Shirley Smith (D-21), Susan Schnur, Doug Braun, Marcia McCoy and Griot Y-Von)
Democratic Ohio State Sen. Shirley Smith (D-21), who represents Cleveland and the 21st Senate District, fired off a letter this week to Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich that, among other scorching allegations, brands the recently elected governor a bad role model for Ohio's children because his 22 permanent cabinet positions thus far are all White People.
"Not one person of color has been appointed to be a member of the state's executive team," wrote the outspoken senator, who is Black. "As we prepare to celebrate Black history month, what lessons are we teaching Ohio's school children when they see that their governor's cabinet lacks diversity and I doubt that you want them to think that minorities do not deserve a place at the table in deciding Ohio's future."
Kasich, who took office this month after narrowly defeating one-term Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, did not comment prior to blog time, though his spokesperson said one is forthcoming.
Smith said also that the anti-multicultural posture taken by Kasich in ignoring minorities for policy making positions in the state's highest office of government defies history and teaches Ohio's children that exclusion is okay.
"To host a cabinet that does not include Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, Native- Americans, or any other racial identity is to turn a blind eye to the achievements of the past and the promising futures of our children," the literate senator from Cleveland wrote.
After mocking Ohio's 69th governor for publicly revealing that he did not know that Jan. 15 is the birthday of slain Civil Rights leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and accusing him of immorality and discrimination in office over the controversy, Smith's strongly worded letter goes on to accuse Kasich of insensitivity to women and the gay, lesbian and transgender communities.
"Your gubernatorial ticket represented gender equality, but you have only appointed five women to your cabinet," Smith's letter said. "Last week you also let expire an executive order that protects gay, lesbian and transgender public servants from being terminated solely on the basis of their sexuality and both of these issues are of concern to me and the public."
Activists from the gay lesbian and transgender communities, that say they will rally for Smith if Kasich harasses her for speaking out, are angry at the governor too.
"He is a rotten governor so we expect him to do rotten things," said Susan Schnur, a representative of the People's Fight Back Center in greater Cleveland who describes herself as a "proud lesbian."
The executive order at issue was introduced by Ohio Democratic Gov Dick Celeste in 1983 and continued in 1991 by Republican Gov. George Voinovich, a former Cleveland mayor in office when now Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes was the powerful president of Cleveland City Council. It was ditched by Republican Gov. Bob Taft when he took office in 1999, and Strickland reissued it upon taking office in 2007.
"There are about 60 thousand state employees and some are gay, lesbian and transgender," said Doug Braun, who sits on the board for Ask Cleveland, a political advocacy group for the gay, lesbian and transgender communities."I expected governor Kasich to let the executive order expire because that is what he promised when he was running for election."
The controversy that started in the Black community and has now transcended to other sectors of disenfranchised groups began when Kasich, in spite of being in Cleveland for another event, refused an invitation to attend a banquet sponsored by the Cleveland Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the local organization under the parent organization founded by King that is led by the Rev. E.T. Caviness, pastor of the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church in Cleveland. The governor would also not guarantee that a proclamation would be signed in time for the affair and slated a representative to attend whom the group later rejected because of the governor's slight and his all White cabinet.
"What a slap in the face," SCLC board member Marcia McCoy reportedly told the Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper (www.Cleveland.com) in a story on that matter that ran last week. And the Cleveland Chapter NAACP took pot shots at Kasich too, saying organizational officials would begin speaking to the governor if he is available to discuss the necessity for Blacks in his cabinet.
Not all people are upset at Kasich, at least not among his Republican buddies.
"What ever happen to being chosen because of the content of one's character rather than the color of one's skin," said Roz McAllister of Ohio Family Rights, who is Native -American. "I don't care if the cabinet members are pink if we have jobs in Ohio."
But Smith's letter to Kasich also addressed any suggestion that Blacks and other minorities are not as qualified as their White counterparts to help bring jobs to Ohio through cabinet level positions in Kasich's administration.
"It is difficult to believe that a cabinet that does not reflect the population of our state can adequately serve it," wrote Smith. "A recent survey of Fortune 500 companies conducted by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez showed that minorities represent 14.5 percent of directors on corporate boards."
Kasich does have a Black in an interim position in Michael B. Colbert as Director of the Ohio Department of Child and Family Services. And people are questioning that too.
"I guess Mr. Colbert is interim because the governor is saving that spot for a White person too," said Cleveland Community Activist Griot Y-Von.
State law allows the governor of Ohio to choose whom he or she wants for cabinet positions, and on boards and commissions, and without consideration of race, ethnicity or gender.
What true backlash Kasich's actions will bring to him , or to the Republican party, remains to be seen. It is clear though, that Ohio's Republican Party seeks to lure any interested voters that are not already on its side in an effort in 2012 to unseat Democratic president Barack Obama, the first Black president of the United States of America.
Ohio is a pivotal state where few Democrats and no Republicans have ever won the White House without first winning Ohio.
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