Howard County’s Woke Racism Problem

A few days ago, the Howard County Times reported on a press conference that was held by a few community organizations. The named groups were: NAACP Howard County, Council of Elders of Howard County, and Howard County African American Community Roundtable.

These groups who are mainly focused on the welfare of the African American community were gathered to demand an apology from Councilmember Deb Jung, who a few days prior had an interaction with a group of young men who were alleged to have engaged in illegal drag-racing activities around the county.

One of these young men happens to be black. Furthermore, he also happens to be associated with a group called Howard Progressive Project PAC, an entity with an expressed interest in dismantling regulations that protect school quality on behalf of Howard Hughes Corporation.

The group and Howard Hughes Corporation also back Councilmember Deb Jung’s opponent who is closely tied to County Executive Calvin Ball. So much so that the County Executive created a special role and kept him on payroll until it was time to launch a challenge.

We know Howard Hughes backs her opponent because his large campaign signs are all over Howard Hughes property all around the county.

Back to the Howard County Times article. The article specifies two key points to help shape the framing of the story. 1) It indicates that the main organizations who were gathered are black organizations, and 2) one of the five or six people in the altercation was “biracial.”

The framing of the article worked.

The press conference and the article kicked-off one of the most appalling smears campaigns against Councilmember Deb Jung by alleging racism.

By my count this is the third attempt at smearing Councilmember Jung using false allegations by the same group.

In 2019, Councilmember Opel Jones, who has been a rubber stamp for developers and the County Executive made such an accusation when a concern was raised about his ability to chair quasi-judicial hearings. This concern was proved correct as he was responsible for decimating due process afforded to community input in the Erickson Development hearing.

Soon after, he alleged that Councilmember Jung tried to “silence” him by muting him in a Webex hearing, which was of course a boldfaced-lie since councilmembers cannot be muted by other councilmembers.

And now this.

Predictably, Howard County’s woke-mob has latched on to help advance this smear.

Those of us who are appalled by this cynical and grotesque behavior should ask: what drives a group of people to ignore the contradictions in the facts of an event and continue to push such a narrative?

John McWhorter, in his book “Woke Racism” calls this “The New Religion.” Howard County has a Woke Racism problem.

It is this Woke Racism that has the President of the Maryland NAACP running to the defense of an indicted State’s Attorney in Baltimore City, while Mr. Kieth Davis Jr. continues to rot in jail.

It is this Woke Racism that leads people to ignore the fact that Howard County Executive Calvin Ball smears undocumented immigrants by calling them rapists and hardened criminals to justify maintaining the ICE contract.

It is this Woke Racism that leads people to ignore the fact that this County Executive approved tens of millions in subsidy to the Carroll Family, a family of descendants of slave owners who to this day receive taxpayers dollars.

It is this Woke Racism that leads people to ignore the fact that this County Executive resisted funding the Body Camera Program and was only forced to do so after hundreds of hours of community activism.

Incidentally, the President of the Howard County NAACP emphatically declined to participate in this community effort to bring body cameras.

It is this Woke Racism that leads people to ignore the fact that this County Executive pushes for performative efforts like the racial equity task force, while handing over millions of dollars to Howard Hughes Corporation, thereby creating significant inequities that hurt black people. 

It is this Woke Racism that leads Councilmembers Jones and Rigby to push for an extremely performative county resolution bill that was ill-timed (perhaps intentionally so) and pushed for amendments that would classify “Asians” as “White.” Of course when it helps their narrative asians are white, and when it does not they are people of color.

It is this Woke Racism that leads people to ignore the fact that former County Executive Ken Ulman led a bunch of insiders including black insiders in an attempt to highjack the Columbia Association Board elections using Howard Hughes dollars by using diversity and equity as hot button issues to advance candidates who would vote to give away public land to Howard Hughes’ private gain.

It is this Woke Racism that led many black insiders and politicians including then Councilmember Calvin Ball and former County Executive Ken Ulman to give cover to a racist sheriff for three election cycles - TEN YEARS. They were elected together, they were endorsed together and they were in the same party together. For years.

This list goes on.

Woke Racism is pernicious and poses a danger for black people for two reasons.

First, it exploits black pain and it is predatory. Using race and racism to advance corporate welfare, which takes away from black families who would thrive from high quality schools and public infrastructure is criminal. Howard County’s schools are overcrowded. Class sizes keep going up. We lack funding to counselors. We keep building trailers to support capacity, which are not safe from potential threats.

Second, it erodes public trust. Howard County’s Woke Racism problem has led many to call anyone and everyone that holds a thought that is different from them as a “racist.” Insiders form groups in the name of racial equity, call others racist in the name of standing up for black people, and the first encounter with a black person with whom they don’t agree, he/she will face their Woke Racism wrath.

This is not sustainable. Someone will need to do something and it will have to be black people and other people of color who know that this continued practice will ultimately hurt our community.

I have met only a handful of white people who are willing to confront it and I do not blame others for fearing this wrath. 

If we are going to build a community that is equitable and free of a corrupt power-structure, we need to confront this scourge of Woke Racism with as much vigor as we confront racism.