July 5, 2010

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All Cincinnati Public School (CPS) construction sites are closed today for the observance of July 4, 2010 holiday.  The Cincinnati NAACP president drove to CPS construction sites and videotaped the chains on the gates. 

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The Cincinnati NACCP has requested for the past year and a half, that all construction job sites close to observe the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday.  The CPS school board responded to the request by stating that the construction must stay on schedule because tax-payer money was at stake. Seventy percent of the Cincinnati school district's student population is African American. However, the construction companies and the school board have chosen to take the day off today when the weather is beautiful, unlike the 20 degree temperatures in January. "Five of the Seven Cincinnati School Board Members are African American," says Christopher Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati NAACP.

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The decision to observe one holiday and not another is a symptom of disrespect toward the African American community. Poverty is the core issue and is directly linked to the lack of jobs. The Cincinnati NAACP membership and executive committee encourages the community to vote "NO" on all upcoming school levies. "CPS is allowing 98% of all construction contracts to be awarded to White men. The White men indicate that their companies will not observe the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday while they build schools in African American neighborhoods across Cincinnati where the children who will attend are 99% African American. African American men and women and CPS parents should be on every one of these job sites," says Christopher Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati NAACP.