Newtown remains overlooked and neglected by city, county leadership

The word “racism” is commonly defined as: “Prejudice, discrimination or antagonism by an individual community or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.”

Since the end of the Civil War, our nation’s progress toward overcoming economic racism has been brutally slow. Over the eight generations since the end of the Civil War, incomes and economic opportunities for Black families have lagged far behind most every other demographic group in America. Today, much of the Black community remains mired in poverty.

Black wealth is typically headlined by high-profile celebrities and athletes with rags-to-riches storylines. While these success stories are important, such rarefied gains distort the economic realities of many Black communities.

And make no mistake about this: In Sarasota – the land of art, culture, philanthropy and second homes that cost millions of dollars – the economic data for Black residents is stark. As documented in the April 2021 City of Sarasota Newtown Redevelopment Plan, the per capita income in North Sarasota’s Newtown community is $13,019 (compared to $36,000 countywide).

Dear reader, try living on $13,000 per year, per person, in your household.

Of the 7,376 residents who live in Newtown, 67.4% are Black; for comparison purposes, the Black population in all of Sarasota County is 4.7%. And, sadly, it may not be simple coincidence that Sarasota’s segregated Black residents must strive to survive on roughly one-third of the income of the greater community.

While hard-working Newtown residents work mightily to overcome the ongoing realities of economic racism, our local governments do not act like partners; in fact, they act more like adversaries.

For example, Sarasota County does not participate in funding the Black business district tax increment redevelopment plan. Sarasota County does, however, fully fund the primarily white tax increment financing districts. Clearly, supporting the one district that is obviously in need – the one district populated by mostly Black residents – is not a true priority for Sarasota County.

But in reality the gatekeepers of our region have always been quite clear regarding their priorities.

While nearby Newtown stagnates, the Bayfront redevelopment is being financed with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars from city and county coffers.

While aging buildings in Newtown fall into disrepair because of a lack of residential access to capital, the Bobby Jones Golf Course has been renovated and reopened at a cost of $20 million.

While millions in federal funds are being disbursed locally as part of the ongoing recovery from the COVID pandemic, few of the dollars have been targeted for Newtown; beyond, that is, a focus on poverty-concentrating, low-income housing that no other neighborhood will accept.

While local developers have been gifted massive new zoning densities by the Sarasota City Commission – which will dramatically increase the values of their downtown properties – there is no money dedicated to fund a single, economic development staffer to help Newtown with the heavy lift of revitalizing its local economy.

In fact, it’s been proposed that Newtown’s small economic development fund should be raided to build a kayak ramp in Martin Luther King Jr. Park for the enjoyment of those residents outside Newtown who can actually afford a kayak.

It is yet another outrageous example of how Newtown continues to be neglected and marginalized.

So many people in our “great” community of Sarasota are adept at knowing how to say the right thing. But it is now time for them to prove they are equally adept at knowing how to do the right thing. They can do so by starting the long-overdue work that’s necessary to level the economic playing field for the citizens of Newtown.

Jetson Grimes is the chairman and founder of the Greater Newtown Redevelopment Corporation in Sarasota.