When it comes to downtown Raleigh Mayor Meeker has his own version of political correctness – it could be called “urban correctness.” The Mayor and two of his allies on the City Council, Russ Stephenson and Thomas Crowder, have very definite – and rigid – views about what they do and don’t want downtown and the City is promulgating rules to enforce their ideas on everything from outdoor cafes to street performers. (News and Observer; 10-19-06). City officials are describing the new regulations with high-sounding rhetoric about people needing permits to use public property and making “sure everyone is treated equally.” But the bottom line is simple: The only diversity the Mayor and his allies want downtown is the diversity they approve of.

For instance, the owner of a café was cited for violating a city ordinance because he used ‘planter boxes’ as partitions around his outdoor café. And the News & Observer was told it can’t use its own newspaper racks (presumably the same racks it’s been using for years without causing heartburn). It has to use racks installed by the government that meet the Mayor’s specifications, instead.

These, of course, are small things. But they say something about a larger thing: 1) The rigidness of the Meeker-Crowder-Stephenson ideology and 2) how far Mayor Meeker and his allies are willing to go to force ‘urban correctness’ into neighborhoods – whether it’s wanted or not..

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