The St. Louis American, the city's long-running African American weekly newspaper, is taking Sen. Claire McCaskill to task for ignoring the black community. She talks a good talk, but when it comes time to meeting face-to-face, she's often been a no show.
Walle Amusa, who explains that he has been an organizer and volunteer in local, state and federal elections since 1976, began his op-ed by noting he requested a meeting with McCaskill in July 2017. Key players had signed up to take part in the discussion, including the NAACP and The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Yet, Amusa heard crickets from the senator.
"For five months, the McCaskill campaign ignored the request, he explained. "Then her campaign manager, David Kirby, played footsies, scheduling, cancelling, and finally refusing to respond to requests to confirm the meeting for the date and time that he suggested."
Amusa said the Missouri Democratic Party is "not immune" from racism, before renewing his request to meet with McCaskill.
As the highest elected official in the Missouri Democratic Party, McCaskill must lead in confronting the scourge of racism and white privilege in the state party. A recent letter circulated to counter state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr.’s demand for McCaskill to show up in black communities to address issues of concern to African Americans is a bad move. African Americans who support such a letter should check themselves before they wreck their political careers.
McCaskill is usually listed as one of the most vulnerable senators ahead of the midterm elections. Some media label her "the most vulnerable" senator. After all, Donald Trump won Missouri by 19 points in the 2016 presidential election.
Can she afford to ignore Amusa's request?