Blacks Fear They Are Losing Their Voice

Former state Sen. Gloria Tanner looks at the future of politics in Denver and the state House of Representatives and sees few folks who look like her.

Elbra Wedgeworth is no longer on the Denver City Council. Sharon Bailey is no longer on the Denver school board. And Rosemary Marshall will leave her House seat next year because of term limits.

These developments worry black leaders like Tanner. They say such losses threaten to muffle black voices in the political and policy debates in City Hall and state government.

Who, they ask, will address low graduation rates, access to health care and the reasons why so many blacks are behind bars?

So last week they hosted a forum of 130 Front Range leaders at the University of Denver to discuss the state of the state for blacks in politics, education, health care, the criminal justice system, economic development and housing.

The intent of the initial Colorado Black Roundtable Retreat was not to point fingers at the white establishment, but to energize the black community to develop its own solutions to pressing issues, said former state Sen. Regis Groff.

"The black community still has issues uniquely its own," he said. "You would think by now the issues that we're raising would not be issues any longer for the community, but here we are still dealing with grave disparities."

The situation arises at a time when Denver no longer has a cohesive black community, said Tanner, the first black woman to serve in the state Senate, a seat she held for 17 years.

"We're losing ground. The public schools are not graduating our children. Blacks still face disparities in housing and health care," she said.

"I can't imagine the city of Denver without diversity on the council and in state government.

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