There was a letter to the editor of the local paper on Monday that said I did not represent all of the people in District 1 because I am interested in causes that have specific emphasis on African Americans.  I was disappointed to see this since I have made every effort I know how to reach the entire constituency in this District and beyond.  I thought about Rodney King’s simplistic plea, “Can’t we all just get along?”  I find it frustrating when white folks can play a race card and it is treated as if that is their point of privilege. But if an African American speaks of race, he or she is playing “the race card”. Shirley Chisholm said, “Racism is so universal in this country, so widespread and deep seated, that it is invisible because it is so normal.”

 I am the District 1 Representative on the city council, who is an African American Woman, a southerner,  am a wife, mother, grandmother, graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, a singer and the list goes on. My point is, I am keenly aware of whom I am and I have made a conscious decision to be a servant leader for all the people I represent. My record and actions speak clearly; I have fought for issues in every area of my district. I have attended neighborhood meetings all over my district. I have engaged the help of the Neighborhood Congress staff to bridge relationships in my district. I have attended churches throughout my district. I have responded to requests in my district regardless of the caller. Sometimes citizens are not happy with the answer they get, but every effort is made to respond.

As I call on the wisdom of my ancestors, I think they said it best. Who we are and how we represent is key to being an American of African decent. “One ever feels his two-ness-an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” W. E. B. Du Bois

“Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.  Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is interesting how we respond to who says and does what, yet we want to pride ourselves on being “balanced and fair”. For example:  

·         A white woman can challenge the war and she is given a pass to go anywhere she wishes including setting up shop near the President’s ranch.

·         A white man can say he regrets not getting legal council before pleading guilty to something he did in a men’s bathroom yet we try to be accepting and understanding and if it had been politically expedient he would still be in office.

·         A black man can make a mis-statement on the campaign trail on his quest to become president and we ask can he read.

·         A black woman can have her reputation paraded by the media in front of the whole town, be asked by primarily white people to step down from her office on accusations that were never proven and if she refuses; she is a “rogue” or “talented leader”.

·         A white man can say to a black woman, who says she is a servant leader, that he has some grass at his house she can cut and she is expected to respond to his offensive “joke” with extreme dignity.  

A proud sister said it this way, “I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands. Zora Neale Hurston

Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for president said, “There is little place in the political scheme of things for an independent, creative personality, for a fighter. Anyone who takes that role must pay a price.”  She also said, “My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn't always discuss for reasons of political expediency.”  I know exactly what she meant.

When I ran for office in 2003, I made the commitment to serve all the people in District 1. I sought the assistance of white people in trying to bridge the gap in communication and representation. I asked folks to confront me with their issues and yet I feel that for the most part, folks have just stood back and decided I can not represent all of the people of this District. Some hid behind a petition for recall instead of talking to me. In looking at the performance of all our elected officials, some have done super jobs but no one is perfect. I know I have tried to give my best, what more can one ask? If you want to make issues out of mole hills, you will. Barbara Jordan tried to help us deal with this problem. She said, “"We the people" -- it is a very eloquent beginning. But when the Constitution of the United States was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that "We the people." I felt for many years that somehow George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in "We the People."” She said, “A spirit of harmony can only survive if each of us remembers, when bitterness and self-interest seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny. One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.”

·         If a white woman in office says she has concerns about women’s issues, we would accept that and she would be given an award.

·         If a white male in office says a budget is “voodoo”, we feel the affects of budget cuts to the poor, in social services and schools in our community and his insensitivity is never addressed.

·         If a black male in office, uses his perceived power in a vindictive way to make baseless assertions against another elected official, we say that is the way he is. And his performance and motives as an elected official are rarely questioned publicly.  

·         If other groups of people, who have been discriminated against and humiliated, fight for their dignity, honor and reparations, we say they ought to be glad we let them stay in this country or let them in this country. But recently, some finally acknowledged the inhuman treatments of the past and apologized.

·         If a black woman says she will represent all of the people in her district her ability to do that is questioned. If she were white and said she wanted to represent all the people it would be accepted and folks would readily help her with her quest.

From the founding of this country until the 60’s most of us were represented by primarily white males and we had to accept how they choose to lead and represent. But a new day has been here for the last 40 years that gives greater opportunity for the voices of many different people to be heard in elected office. And I believe given a fair chance all can be represented by those who are not the majority in this country. I do believe King’s dream can become a reality.

Greensboro has much to offer people that is why I have stayed here for 32 years and tried to work to make it a better place but it also has its ugly side. And this ugliness plays out in how the media picks and chooses what and how it will report things and portray people. It plays out in what our elected officials deem important and what we try to cover up in the hopes that it will simply go away. We struggle with those who have and want more and meeting the needs of the have nots. There was a protest 25 years ago to “save our city” when district representation was finally allowed to happen and recently it was questioned again. Without district representation, there would be even less representation for some areas of the city in an at large system, just look at the history.   There is discussion today as to whether we are ready for an African American woman as mayor. We had no problems with a white woman as mayor and she did a good job. Wow! Are we too afraid to be the sum of our parts?  

There are those who will say I am playing a whole hand of “race” cards. But I am not. Race is a factor in our lives as is all the other “isms” in our society. I am trying to play the game of the cards I have been dealt. And that means I sometimes have to deal with issues as they relate to a specific group.  As Fannie Lou Hammer said, “I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.” I never expected in the 21^st century to have to revisit the trials of the past. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” I wanted to believe as he did but dreams are still nightmares in this world. I find it more difficult to represent people who do not want me to represent them but I have tried.

My life has been greatly influence by white and black people and a whole rainbow of people in my life’s experiences. I am not a single issue person. I have tried to reach out to poor people, homeless people, victims of domestic violence, drug issues, people wanting quality of life equal to everyone else, children, youth and senior adults, people with jobs and the jobless and without regard to race.

As Shirley Chisholm said, “I am not anti-white, because I understand that white people, like black ones, are victims of a racist society. They are products of their time and place.” I want us to get beyond this. She goes on to say, “We Americans have a chance to become someday a nation in which all racial stocks and classes can exist in their own selfhoods, but meet on a basis of respect and equality and live together, socially, economically, and politically.  I feel the “two-ness” and I try to represent the whole. Fair and honest dialogue is the only way to put the cards away on both side and play with a new deck. Others before me have tried to express what we should do maybe it is time we listened.  I am here to serve the people, all the people in the best way I can and that is 100% of District 1.                                                                                  

TDBS 9/4/07