Ralph Conner, Free at Last

On Saturday, March 13, Ralph Conner, The Heartland Institute’s local government relations manager since 2005, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 61.

I lost a friend and colleague, thousands of elected officials around the country lost a resource and trusted ally, and the world has lost a truly extraordinary individual. He left behind a loving family, friends too numerous to count, and a “think tank” without a unique voice on some of the most important issues of the day.

‘The Voice of God’

People who attended Heartland’s anniversary benefit dinners may recall the dramatic opening moments when the house lights dim, spotlights sweep the audience, and a booming disembodied voice welcomes guests and introduces members of Heartland’s Board of Directors. That voice, which Heartland staff came to call “the voice of God,” was Ralph, hiding Wizard-of-Oz-like behind a curtain at the back of the room.

That booming baritone was just one of many memorable attributes of a gifted and intensely committed man. Ralph’s sense of humor kept staff meetings lively and fun, and his bombastic laughter often filled the conference room and emanated from his office.

Ralph was a “people person” who made friends instantly and frequently. When staffing Heartland’s booth at meetings of elected officials he would sometimes shout “hey senator” or “hey commissioner” to the passing crowd, knowing someone would think he had been recognized from a past meeting and could be lured into making eye contact. It was all the introduction he needed, and soon Ralph would be deep in conversation with a new friend and Heartland’s Legislative Forum would have a new member.

A Renaissance Man

Ralph was a life-long learner and voracious reader who filled desk drawers, shelves, and file cabinets with colorfully annotated research on a wide range of public policy issues. His office was a perennial fire hazard, evidence of a Renaissance man at work.

A search of Heartland’s Web site reveals the breadth of his scholarship: scores of opinion essays and letters to the editor by Ralph on affirmative action, drug legalization, energy policy, environmentalism, free trade, gun control, immigration, privatization, subsidies for broadband, school reform, smoking bans, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, and taxpayers’ rights.

Ralph called himself “a libertarian, a patriot, a limited government proponent, a free-market capitalist, an ardent supporter of African Free Trade Agreements.” His views were the result of an intellectual odyssey that started on the left, swung to the right, and ended up with what he thought was the best of both ideologies.

Ralph was born and raised in Maywood, Illinois, an inner-ring suburb of Chicago. As a college student he was involved in the 1968 riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King and the tumultuous Democratic Convention in Chicago. He helped organize student support for Fred Hampton, a leader of the Black Panther Party (also a native of Maywood) who was killed by police in 1969.

In the 1970s Ralph moved from the Black Panther’s leftist Marxist-Leninist creed to Pan-Africanism, a movement to secure equal rights, self-government, independence, and unity for all African people. He moved to Atlanta, became active with the Atlanta Urban League, and met Roy Innis, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a prominent advocate of Pan-Africanism who would be a life-long friend and mentor. Innis introduced him to programs designed by Republicans to promote black entrepreneurship and economic self-sufficiency, an approach Ralph quickly deemed superior to the victimology and militancy of the black left. He became a Republican.

Libertarianism

Ralph never left the Republican party, but beginning in the 1980s he became an outspoken libertarian on issues ranging from the war on drugs to free trade and taxes to the Second Amendment. Working with CORE he battled the international ban on the use of DDT to fight malarial mosquitoes and opposed energy, environment, agriculture, and trade policies that raise energy costs and hurt the poor.

Along the way, Ralph developed an interest in the ideas of Henry George, a libertarian-leaning self-taught economist and political philosopher who died in 1897. Ralph completed courses offered by the Henry George School and incorporated George’s land-value tax idea into his unsuccessful campaign for Cook County Assessor in 2006. (He got 250,000 votes.)

During the past decade, Ralph’s attention focused on the racist origins of gun control laws in the U.S. He was the featured commentator in a fine film titled “No Guns for Negroes” produced by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and he assisted in the preparation of an amicus brief in the case of McDonald v. Chicago, now before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was a frequent commentator on the issue on television and radio and appeared in scores of newspapers.

At the time of his death, Ralph was working on a documentary film about black veterans of World War II. He traveled around the country and to Europe to interview veterans and their families and photograph historic sites.

Ralph and Heartland

I first met Ralph in the mid-1980s, shortly after The Heartland Institute was founded. From the beginning I couldn’t help but be impressed by such an outspoken, outgoing, and learned individual. In 1994 he worked for a year for Heartland as a community organizer for school vouchers, a thankless job due to opposition from teacher unions and the black political establishment and indifference by most of the state’s Republicans.

After a stint in the private sector working for an engineering firm on brownfield redevelopment, Ralph returned to Maywood in 2000 and was elected mayor in 2001. He served one term, until 2005, and then rejoined Heartland that year as public relations director. He shifted to government relations as Heartland grew, and then focused on local and county elected officials.

Ralph was a tireless worker for Heartland and its mission. He was probably Heartland’s best-known spokesperson among state and local elected officials, having talked to hundreds and perhaps thousands of them over the years. His thoughtful messages and distinctive way of delivering them made him an effective messenger and fantastic networker.

Ralph helped everyone at Heartland look at public policy issues through a lens colored by executive experience as the mayor of a city, first-hand experience of racism and police violence, and hands-on experience as a community organizer in the tough neighborhoods of Chicago. It was a background no one else at Heartland brought to bear on the organization’s work, and it made us a better organization.

In Memoriam

Ralph’s passing, apparently from a heart attack, was sudden and completely unexpected. It has imposed hardship on his family, which already endured many years of financial sacrifices so Ralph could pursue his twin careers of public service and issue advocacy.

The Heartland Institute is taking up a collection in Ralph Conner’s memory with funds going to his wife of 36 years, Arletha Conner, and possibly activities at The Heartland Institute to honor Ralph’s career and ideas. If you would like to contribute, propose activities, or just be kept informed of our efforts, please visit our Web site at www.heartland.org or call 312/377-4000 and ask to speak with Gwen Carver.

Joseph L. Bast (jbast@heartland.org) is president of The Heartland Institute.