In 2005 Khalid Bey ran a Democratic Party primary race challenging incumbent Tom Seals for the 4th Common Council District seat. He lost, but he says he learned a lot about issues in the community, and about how so many of them seem to linger. But he also learned about efforts by many people to deal with those issues, even when, at times, they seem insurmountable. “You know what the issues are,” he reflects now. “You know what people are attempting to do to improve their communities. Ultimately, to satisfy the situation, you have to find a middle ground.”
He says his life lessons have taught him to seek the middle ground in everything. Born here, he grew up in Central Village and on the city’s southside. He attended Virginia State University from 1990 to ’94, without getting a degree because he stopped playing sports and money became an issue. Coming back to town he gained stature as a rap artist, and landed a big, very big contract with SONY, although, he notes, it was marketability rather than music that cemented the deal.
After a decade of touring in pursuit of an entertainment career, including headlining a Billboard-BET conference in New York City and a couple of video shots on the black network, he left the music industry. In an attempt to reduce tensions in the local conflict between youth on the city’s east and south sides, he formed and produced a group called the Ruffians. Their potential was realized at a CD release party at a club on neutral turf. “We had people from every side of town,” he recalls, “and it was flawless. It even mended some old conflicts.”
That experience is an example of the perspective he wants to bring to the city’s legislative deliberations.
What kind of support are you finding for your campaign?
Friends, obviously, who stay abreast of social and political issues. People affiliated with the party, and even an elected official, suggest that this would be a good time to get back involved.
Has there been a response from the party leadership?
We definitely went and sat and talked with {party chair} Diane Dwyer a couple of times about my expressed interest in running for an at-large seat. There are protocols that we have to follow, and we have to figure out what we don’t know about the process so we can cross all the Ts and dot all the Is. I learned in the previous race that the system is more who you know.
You also learned last time that there are people who say they’re with you until there’s work to be done. Can you rally enough real workers to wage a successful campaign?
Yes. A small portion of the people who expressed interest have continually hung around, attending meetings and calling me to alert me to issues I should address or events I should attend. So far it’s been good. I hope the excitement they are feeling is continuous. That remains to be seen, but I’m actually confident in at least the core group that’s there now.
Does being native to the community emerge as a factor in a race like this?
I think it’s definitely a factor as it relates to a person’s ability to totally relate to the community. If I had to make observations on people who may not be native to Syracuse, the ties to the community are not as thorough as they could be. In politics, the object is to overcome those barriers, but it’s a tough marriage.
Is it more important to be native in the communities of color than in the Caucasian communities?
No. I think the same applies across the board.
When Sid Oglesby waged an at-large race, he observed that a candidate of color could win in Syracuse if they didn’t campaign on issues of color. Is that an irony, a contradiction, or just a pain in butt you have to face?
In some respects I think it’s true, but maybe not necessarily related to blatant racism or prejudice anymore. The city is segregated, so the issues may be more related to focus on your side of town as opposed to my side of town. What people ultimately attempt to do is make sure that their neck of the woods is included. It’s fair that if they were excluded, they would tend to vote for someone they feel is more sensitive to theirs.
What are your issues?
Crime. I think there’s been a lot of proposed solutions. There’s been suppression, and in a lot respects suppression works. But there are more core issues that relate to crime that need to be dealt with. There’s a need for innovation at this point. I’m not saying I have the definitive answer, but maybe some fresh eyes looking at it could provide some alternatives for how to deal with crime before it happens.
Another issue is economic stimulation. Obviously, on the poorer side of town is where it’s lacking. On Geddess Street some parts are lacking, but other parts are thriving. The potential to bring about balance there is great. The Salina Street corridor, which has suffered for years, contains the greatest concentrated average buying power in the county. Yet none of the money circulates in that community. What has to happen is providing opportunity for the less fortunate areas without neglecting the needs of the more affluent areas.
A lot of our issues as a community, the entire city, is more psychological than anything else. People have somehow become satisfied with momentary excitement, action in the moment. Then, day after, week after, the energy dies down. A perfect example is the national election with Barack Obama, which has lasted longer than other events. The concern is, can we get people as excited about local elections as they were about the national election.
There’s a need for creative culture. The brain drain is a big issue. So that would be a big issue for me also. Ultimately, the concern is for the general well being of the community. It’s a mindset.
So often, that mindset is articulated negatively. Where does that come from?
I think it comes from a lot of unhealed wounds. When you talk about the segregation in the city, there’s maybe not as much of a mix as you have in other cities, so there’s still a lot of cultural ignorance. One thing I’ve learned is that a lot of times prejudice is maybe not related to hate per se, more than it could be a sort of mental laziness. The tendency to group things instead of looking at things individually is probably a bigger part of the issue than actual prejudice.
