Third Community Wide Town Meeting for the GTR
Jun. 14, 2007
The Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project is committed to getting the public to read, understand and discuss the findings of their 500+ page report. On Sunday, June 10th, the 3rd Town meeting was held at the Central Library on Church St. Section III of the report was covered which deals with police, city response and media's reporting the story.
The Fourth Town meeting will be held Sunday, September 9th at 4:00 p.m. at the Central Library. This effort is being jointly sponsored by Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project, the Greensboro Public Library and the Beloved Community Center. For more information go to: www.grcrp.org or wwwgreensborotrc.org or call 336/230-001
I would like to share my comments from July of 2006 about the report.
Lessons for the Living
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Remarks on the TRC Report T. Dianne Bellamy Small. City Council Member
In response to The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, I hope that we will not dismiss it or ignore it. To quote the words of our 16th president:
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom --Abraham Lincoln
As we try to figure out what is meant by truth and reconciliation I refer to someone who long ago said, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own disgust.”
Any tragedy in a community is going to touch the lives of many people whether they want it to or not. And how that community responses to a tragedy, injustice, or celebration demonstrates the people’s willingness or unwillingness to deal with the situation. No one can deny that November 3rd, 1979 happened but we can not be stuck in time either.
What are the life’s lessons we have learned if any from what that tragedy has made us face. Are race and class relations better today in Greensboro? Have we made a dent in institutional racist practices in government, private sector, human interaction? Are we aware enough and have the desire as a community to not have the November 3rds, February 1s, Dec 1s, 1955s or the May 1954’s or even the November 22, 1963s happen again?
Sankofa means you must return to your past in order to know where you are going in your future. And if you use your past as a guide, you should not have to keep revisiting it.
The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report has done an exhausting reexamination of the past so now we must go forward not ignoring what happened but doing as Lincoln said, dedicating ourselves to the great task remaining before us, to NOT let anything like this happen again. We must realize that the solution is complex and needs many players for that to be so.
To the recommendations made by the commission, we should thank them for their hard work and conscientious thought to this process. There are many injustices that have happened in this country that have never been atoned for by the government that had a hand in them. That does not make it right, but it is real. To the extent that 26 years after Nov. 3rd that even this discussion is being held publicly indicates that there is acknowledgement of this tragedy in Greensboro.
There is indeed more that needs to be done in there area of institutional reform in terms of race, sex, economics, education, housing and employment. But we can not deny that progress since 1979 has been made.
The Voting Rights Act Reauthorization was passed in the US House of Representatives last week. Our own State Representative Alma Adams, an African American woman, led the charge for an increase in the minimum wage in NC and it passed last week. Greensboro has had District City Council representation for 25 years.
We have had an African American woman as Mayor Pro Tem., NCBEMO celebrated its 25th anniversary here in Greensboro on Oct. 14th one of its early members was the first District 1 City Council representative, the Honorable Earl Jones. Guilford County had its first African American County Manager, Mr. Willie Best, who served with honor and distinction. White students, like Joey Cheek, have proudly represented his alma mater a historically black school, Dudley High School. Greensboro is a magnet for diversity of all kinds.
If we do not cut any more funding to Human Relations and the Commission on the Status of Women and allow that entity more freedom to function as a barometer on race, class and sex issues, we will be stronger in our positions on justice and equality for this city. I would like to see the city of Greensboro conduct a complete cultural audit so that we can improve own internal and external process of dealing with discriminatory issues and serving the public.
We still struggle with the disproportional gap of who is poor, uneducated, and sick and incarcerated not only in Greensboro but in the nation and world. It is obvious not only are children being left behind but that people of color are too as we saw in the Katrina disaster of last year. We have leadership that believes that they have the right to dictate the quality of life of the disabled and the poor. And there continues to be a lack of respect of leadership that is not white in this community or that does not think like the majority.
Our police department has had a long history of racism and other alleged discriminating practices both internally and externally dating back to before and even how the first African Americans were hired, to how the first women were treated, to the investigation we are dealing with presently. When I think about what we are dealing with in the police department today, I think of a cancer.
I hope that the current city administration will put in place the kind of safeguards that will once and for all put our department above reproach and make it one of the best law enforcement agencies in the country. And I personally want to see this happen since I know what they are capable of both good and bad.
With the wealth of resources, we have in this community and the abundance of diverse religions, intellect, races, ages, economic power, willingness to making Greensboro a better place, there is no reason the citizens can not be more engaged in the destiny of our community. But all people must feel empowered to engage the process for freedom and that we do not have broadly enough yet. King said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” In recent months, we have seen too much foolish behavior on the part of our governmental leadership.
If we fear the truth in whatever version we get it, we fear learning from our mistakes and progress. Yes, it is a struggle to deal with our fears, but it will be more of a struggle not to face them and deal with them. Greensboro is a great city but it can be greater or it can repeat its mistakes of the past by not dealing with the present. We may not care for the messenger, but the message is clear we still have a long way to go towards healing in Greensboro.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr. said. And as I have seen our silence across the greater community to injustice, racism and intolerance is deafening, harmful and dangerous to what we think we have achieved.
There are many voices speaking to us from this report many alive and some dead.
Are we too deaf to hear them, too blind to see and too afraid to change or to share power for the greater good of our community?
As is said, the truth will set you free. Are we ready or will we waiting another 30 years for another tragedy to scar us for a life time. Lest we forget, we need to take what we can from this report and strive not to let injustice be a threat to the very justice for us all, we proclaim to have.
There is a belief in this city that if we ignore or hide the truth from the public that a different
reality will be realized. The is a behavior in this city that if any one tries too hard to stand for
truth, equity or justice, they will be discredited or neutralized. There is an attitude in this
city that some who play along to get along will be safe from harness of the practices of
prejudice and racism. But there must be a thought out call to action to stop these beliefs,
behaviors and attitudes from continuing in the 21st century and in the future of Greensboro.
Time is critical and a plan with wise leadership is needed now.
Truth, reconciliation, healing are all a part of the growth of a just community, strength of a state and the liberty of a nation.
Thank you.
Revised 12/03/06
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