Chester business owner: DNC has ‘no true impact’ on communities
As Democratic National Committee crowds cheered and hurrahed in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Thursday, Mike Miller toiled in his Chester café, Open Mike’s, miles away from the hoopla in geography and in connect.
“I personally think the DNC has no true impact on the surrounding areas of Philadelphia because the candidates never make any stops to communities where voter turnout is low,” he said.
He recalled when President Barack Obama made a stop at Widener University in Chester during his first campaign.
“My daughters and I stood in the cold rain watching as he spoke,” Miller said. “I asked my daughters who, at the time, were 14 and 12, did they want to leave, but they refused.”
Their tenacity had an impact on him.
“For the first time, I saw the impact that a leader could have on the young and old, poor and well-off,” Miller said. “For the first time, my community felt that they were important.”
Time passed and he said politics turned “back to business as usual.”
He said he understood why conventions are staged in large metropolitan cities.
“Bring money to a community and they will shower you with votes,” Miller said. “A relationship is formed between candidate and community and I guess the machine keeps moving. I wish my community could feel that special again. I wish that we felt that our voices were actually heard.”
He said Chester is not alone or unique – that every state has cities bearing similar dynamics.
“The real problem that is faced today is equality within the system,” he said, suggesting that bringing an event the size of the DNC to a community like Chester would have invaluable and immediate impact.
“I also believe that when the conditions are viewed firsthand that candidates could really begin to understand how deep the divide is, not within races but socioeconomic status,” Miller said.
Race does play its role in a larger problematic construct affecting many, he said.
“Race is the smoke screen,” he said. “Race is the sleight of hand. The real problem is disparity, which although is more prevalent in African-American communities, it is not just African American problem. It touches white, Latin, seniors, mentally handicapped, physically handicapped and so on.”
He said injustice certainly happens in the African-American community but the handling of those injustices compounds the problem and most focus.
“Why?” Miller asked. “Is it because black people are black? I say it is because of where we fall on the socioeconomic garners the spectrum. The DNC means nothing here simply because it has made no impact financially or otherwise in the City of Chester.”