@stlouisamerican
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
@stlouisamerican
St. Louis American See special edition
The
CAC Audited AUGUST 19 – 25, 2021
Serving, empowering and advocating for equity in St. Louis since 1928
stlamerican.com
Noose found hanging at Benton Park residence Black contractor, Asian American homeowner targeted
Vol. 93 No. 21 COMPLIMENTARY
Councilwomen face criticism for opposing mask mandate
They announce $50 million project to address health disparities By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American As a contentious debate rages on in St. Louis County over masks and vaccinations, Council Chair Rita Heard Days and Councilwoman Shalonda Webb announced a proposal to use $50 million in COVIDn Black North 19 relief funds County leaders to address health and residents disparities in North grew louder in St. Louis County their criticism of exacerbated by the pandemic. the two joining
their Republican council members in voting to strike down St. Louis County Executive Sam Page’s alreadyin-place mask mandate.
Photo courtesy of Julia Ho
A Black contractor found a noose hanging from a tree on Julia Ho’s property Aug. 5 in Benton Park. Ho had hired the contractor to rehab the Lemp Avenue residence so she could move into the home. By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American To most white Americans, the noose is but a shameful symbol abandoned along with America’s racist roots. For Black people, the noose is used as a regular reminder that they face death because of their race. There is certainly no shortage of incidents involving nooses in 2021 alone: eight nooses were found in an Amazon warehouse under construction in northern Connecticut; a Black electrician found a noose hanging in his workspace in Long Island; a Black family near Los Angeles discovered a noose hanging from a tree in their backyard; and a woman in Huntsville, Alabama, has suffered through a string of racist attacks on her home, including finding a stuffed animal monkey with a noose around its
neck on Valentine’s Day. And now, add to the list a Black contractor who on Aug. 5 found a noose hanging from a tree branch in the backyard of the Benton Park house she’d been hired to rehab in the 2800 block of Lemp Avenue in St. Louis. The property’s owner, Julia Ho, said she bought the residence several years ago and in recent months began construction so that she could eventually move into it. She currently resides in Dutchtown and said she’s previously experienced racist harassment as an Asian American — particularly in the last two years. Ho’s contractor did not want to be identified for safety reasons, but Ho confirmed she is a longtime resident of Benton Park, where her construction company is registered.
n “I think it’s probably quite commonplace, the ideas that led to a noose being hung in one of our neighbor’s yards.” — Inez Bordeaux
See NOOSE, A6
Mayor Jones enacts city’s pandemic aid spending plan By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American
By Sylvester Brown Jr. The St. Louis American
See MOTHER, A7
See MANDATE, A6
Vetoes $33 million at center of debate
A grieving mother’s plea to the unvaccinated
“Girl, we gonna beat this thing. We gonna beat it!” Kimberle Jones, 59, couldn’t refuse her daughter’s request to sing a song. She admits she’s no singer but when her daughter, Erica Thompson, 37, who had just tested positive for COVID-19, asked that she sing Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” she couldn’t say no. “I just wanted to cheer her up because I honestly thought my daughter was going to beat that virus. I really did.” Unfortunately, Thompson, the mother of three boys, didn’t beat the deadly virus. In April, the New York Times quoted experts who said, “For each person who dies of COVID-19, there are at least nine newly bereaved” individuals left behind. On July 4, Jones joined the ranks of the almost six million
The two held a media conference Tuesday as voices of Black North County leaders and residents grew louder in their criticism of the two joining their Republican council members in voting to strike down St. Louis County Executive Sam Page’s already-in-place mask mandate. They later did the same in opposition to Councilwoman Lisa Clancy’s proposed ordinance for a mask mandate. Their proposal outlined using $50 million in federal relief funds (about 25% of the money the county has received so far) to improve COVID-19 vaccination and health services in North County, according to several local outlets. This includes constructing
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Kimberle Jones admires a portrait of her late daughter, Erica Thompson. The unvaccinated Thompson fell victim to COVID-19 on the Fourth of July and her mother is urging people, especially African Americans, to get vaccinated.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones on Monday enacted a spending plan for the first $135 million dollars of the $498 million in federal money the city will receive in the next two years through the American Rescue Plan Act. She also vetoed approximately $33 million in line-item allocations from the final package that she argues violate U.S. Treasury laws. Those items were at the center of a month-long standoff between Jones and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, who added the $33 million North St. Louis economic development plan to the pandemic aid spending bill. It began after a 12-hour meeting in mid-July in which the Board of Aldermen hammered out the details and gave preliminary approval of the bill, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment would have then typically voted to approve the bill. However, Jones and Comptroller Darlene Green refused to second Reed’s motion for See JONES, A7