Eric Holcomb under fire after declining interview with black newspaper

Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb came under fire Friday after a prominent black newspaper accused him of snubbing the minority community.

The Indianapolis Recorder published a column Friday taking to task  the Republican candidate for governor for declining interview requests over a period of two weeks ahead of the 11,000-circulation newspaper's special Nov. 3 political issue. Holcomb's campaign cited scheduling conflicts.

"The fact that Holcomb and his staff don’t see or understand the importance of being available to the minority community says that there is either a lack of respect or a total disregard for this publication and the tens of thousands of people who read it on a weekly basis," Indianapolis Recorder President Shannon Williams wrote.

She concluded: "Shame on Eric Holcomb for snubbing the minority community."

Holcomb declined to comment through his campaign spokesman, Pete Seat.

Seat said in an email that the campaign had "nothing to add other than this post," followed by a link to a Sept. 6 Facebook post that features photos of Holcomb meeting with community leaders at an African-American Pastors Roundtable.

Holcomb did attend a gubernatorial forum co-hosted by the Recorder in September, but Williams characterized his participation as "incredibly dismissive."

"Only after we continued to push them, only after we worked behind the scenes with Holcomb’s surrogates to stress the importance of his participation, and only after we were clear about our intention to let the community know he wasn’t willing to participate, did Holcomb and his people finally concede and agree to be an active participant," she wrote.

Aaron Williams, a friend of Holcomb's and senior marketing manager at Appirio, said any suggestion that Holcomb doesn't care about minorities "couldn't be farther from the truth."

"When the state party was selecting who would replace Governor Pence on the ballot," Williams said, "Eric was the only candidate that had a letter of support from minorities specifically because of his long proven track record of working with the minority community,"

Williams noted that Holcomb has spoken at many black churches during the campaign.

Most recently, Holcomb spoke Sunday at New Life Worship Center, a predominantly black church on the city's west side.

"We must make sure there is room at the table and be open to dialogue from all walks," Holcomb told the congregation.

"Please know today and in the many days to come, I will not seek to be a stranger or a pest, but somewhere constructively in between," he said.

Holcomb's refusal to sit down for an interview with the 121-year-old Recorder deeply concerned many black leaders, bringing swift condemnation from Democrats, the NAACP and a half dozen black pastors.

"The Indianapolis Recorder newspaper has been one of the cornerstones in the black community for decades," Stephen J. Clay, senior pastor at Messiah Missionary Baptist Church and a Democratic city-county councilman, said at a news conference publicized by the Indiana Democratic Party. "Its value is second only to the black church in our community. Eric Holcomb’s unavailability is an insult and carries with it the aroma of disrespect to our community."

He called Holcomb's treatment of the newspaper "just one more log on the bonfire of political self-destructive practices of the Republican Party."

Holcomb's perceived snub only exacerbates concerns many in the African-American community have about Republicans and the man at the top of their ticket, Donald Trump, said the Rev. Lionel Rush of Greater Anointing Fellowship Church of God in Christ.

Trump's tendency to refer to African-Americans as "the blacks" and his use of the word "ghetto" to describe struggling inner city areas demonstrate insensitivity to the black community, he said.

"If you are going to come to us to ask us for our vote," Rush said, "you need to respect us."

Indy NAACP Executive Director Chrystal Ratcliffe said in an interview with IndyStar that Holcomb appears to be treating the city's black newspaper differently than other media outlets.

“I’m really kind of disheartened that that’s the way that he’s already treating people of color when he’s asking to be our next governor,” she said. “Why would he deny our African-American newspaper when he has interviewed with various other media? That’s just another slap in the face for the African-American community, for Holcomb to refuse to do a sit-down interview with them.”

"A politician is to serve the community — the entire community," said the Rev. David Greene, president of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis and senior pastor of Purpose of Life Ministries. "And if you won’t talk to the community, that’s a sign you’re not going to serve the entire community."