CARLTON FLETCHER: Loosening the grip of the ‘good ole boys’

What a fool believes he sees, the wise man has the power to reason away.

— The Doobie Brothers

Albany is a city in flux. Its demographics shifted long ago, but its management and power base have been slow to follow.

Now, however, many of the community’s true leaders are younger, more vibrant and open to new ideas. Yes, they are getting blowback from the old guard, but anyone who finds that surprising is not an astute observer of human nature.

There are, sadly, individuals in this city who are followers of the mindset that making America — and Albany by association — great again means returning to a time when a ruling group considered itself superior to others outside that group, and the “others” were wise enough to keep to “their place.” Thankfully, people who think this way are few and their ranks growing thinner each day, but they have been emboldened by leaders whose words and actions appear to mirror their thoughts.

Then there are opposite groups that ran Albany for years and even decades — our own good ole boy networks — that are fighting the uphill battle of trying to hold on to their flagging power in an attempt to assure that their members continue to reap the benefits of laws that were written to assure that they and their ilk were taken care of first, let the outsiders enjoy what trickle-down leaked outside their sphere of influence.

Now, however, this rising new group with new ideas is growing stronger with each success it backs, a group that has seen beyond the politics of the now two conflicting good old boy networks — one black, the other white — and are looking at how to make improvements that lift the traditionally downtrodden rather than relegate them to a station traditionally approved by the ruling group. This new group is not exactly pure in its pursuits — as some of its special-interest-benefiting actions show — but it relies much less on the politics and economics of race and more on policies that embrace a greater good.

There is, as can be expected, conflict as old-school leaders with old-school ideas — and many of these would-be leaders are younger themselves but have embraced old policies of divisiveness in an effort to benefit themselves and others who think like they do — try to hold on to the base of power that has always allowed them to “take care of their own.” But if you watch closely, even as some of these pursuers of self-interest fight — and usually loudly because that’s what’s always worked for people who think like they do — to hold onto the things that they see slipping away, you can sense winds of change swirling around the process in the centers of local government.

(This new vs. old, incidentally, is not now nor has it ever been about age. It’s about ideology. Some of the people who’ve dug in their heels to hold back momentum that’s growing are young people who’ve bought into the indoctrination of hatred and divisiveness that those who influenced them — parents, politicians, rabblerousers — passed on to them, and some of the most forward-thinking leaders in this community are more seasoned but believe that progression, not complacency, is the sign of a vibrant community.)

Even with the obvious seismic shift away from the old-boy networks, there are no assurances that Albany 10 years from now won’t be the same Albany that has struggled through poverty and racial antipathy for the past five decades or so. Sometimes the people working hard to bring about positive change get tired of the struggle, and sometimes they’re called to other pursuits. And no one should underestimate the influence that people with money and who are owed favors can wield. So no battle for the soul of a community is ever completely won.

It should be noted, though, that there is enough evidence to proclaim that Albany is on the threshold of reinventing itself in a way that could be beneficial to the many moreso than the few. And unless you happen to be among the factions that have long held onto the power in this fractured community, that should offer, if nothing else, a sense of promise.

Staff Photo