Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 8-18-17

FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017
Racial Incidents Reflect Past Civil Rights Battles
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
George Santayana
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
During the last two years, it seems that racism continuously raises its ugly head. In- cidents such as Dylann Roof killing 9 peo- ple in Charleston, South Carolina to James Alex Fields, Jr., who is being charged with second-degree murder for driving his car into a crowd of counter protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017. Ms. Heather Heyer died during the incident.
The Sentinel reached out to members of the community and posed the question: “In light of the recent incidents of racism, do you feel that we are going to have to repeat the Civil Rights battles fought in the 1960s?”
Here are their responses.
Mrs. Ann Porter, former President of the Hillsbo-
rough County
Branch NAACP
Billy Wheeler said, “In truth, the battles fought
in the 1960s
have never
ceased. So
rather than
‘repeating’
them, we must
continue the
fight with re-
newed energy.
Too often we
become side-
tracked from
our shared objectives by petty squabbles over differences in political associations, religious affiliations, educational levels, age demographics, sexual preferences, and personal allegiances and such.”
“In order to jump this hurdle, all con- scious people of color (and like-minded friends) must organize, remain inclusive, and use forward-thinking methods to ef- fect change and maintain progress. Luta continua! - The struggle continues.”
Attorney Arthenia Joyner, who participated in
sit-ins and
demonstra-
Ross Anderson said, “The answer is yes! Everything
that we fought
for in the
1960s, we are fighting for now: afford- able housing, affordable health care, ed- ucation, and jobs.
“We have
been reactive
instead of
being proac-
tive. This younger generation doesn’t un- derstand or realize the sacrifice our ancestors made for us and if they don’t wake up we will repeat history, but with a different outcome, which will NOT be fa- vorable for us.”
Mrs. Chloe Coney said, “Yes be- cause racism,
prejudice, and
the superior
Dr. Samuel Wright said, “No! Racism is alive and well in America but, we never will deal with that crap again!”
BILLY WHEELER
ROSS ANDERSON
Ralph Smith, “Unfortunately it ap- pears that our
country is mov-
ing backwards
when it comes
to race rela-
tions. While I
am encouraged
to see so many
white faces join
the struggle for
equality, I am
also disap-
pointed and
saddened to see the throngs of people come out in mass, with weapons and bat- tle ware to support White Supremacy.
“And a lot of this has come about be- cause they believe that they’ve received the green light from the White House and the likes of President Donald Trump and Steve Bannon.
“Then to add insult to injury, we’ve learned that the Attorney General has di- rected his staff to look for ways of closing the cracks in the doors that allowed some of our children to receive a college educa- tion. But, I have to believe that even in the short run that we will lose some of our equal justice fights, in the long run, good will prevail over evil.”
James Ransom said, “YES! There is still a need
for us and all
men and
DR. SAMUEL WRIGHT
said, “It looks like we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves and go back to work. It looks like we’re going backwards and history will re- peat itself.
MRS. ANN PORTER
tions during
the 1960s said,
“We have
never stopped
fighting the
battle against
racism since
Black people
were first
brought to
America. We
fought vigorously during the 1960s. It has taken many forms including environ- mental injustice, economic injustice, ed- ucational injustice, etc.
“Now, we’re back to blatant ‘in your face’ racism as reflected by the white su- premacists and the K.K.K. during the events in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend.
“This continuing assault of racism was emboldened by the 45th occupant of the White House during his campaign for president and has ignited the flames of bigotry in America.”
Ms. Tonya Lewis said, “I’m an early
1970s boomer.
We’ve heard
spirit have
never died. I
saw it when I
integrated the
school system
in 1963, and
again for 8
years when I
worked for
Congress-
woman
Kathy Castor with Affordable Health Care, better known as Obamacare, and most recently, the Confederate statute! We must continue to fight for freedom and justice especially under this Admin- istration!”
Ricky Williams said, “Yes, however, they should be
fought in the
style of Mar-
“And this is encouraged by our new President (Donald Trump), who has a different philosophy of America and what it stands for. It’s unfortunate that we’ve elected someone who has let America down.”
Pete Edwards said, “No question as in my opinion
Tampa Bay area
is another Char-
MRS. CHLOE CONEY
ATTORNEY ARTHENIA JOYNER
RALPH SMITH
lottesville waiting to happen. The real question is why so many local leaders are in denial about toxicity of racism in all aspects of bay area living.”
tin Luther King, Jr., who won the battle for Civil Rights without all of the vio- lence. I believe that violence will only hurt our cause.”
women of
goodwill to
fight against
racial hatred,
discrimina-
tion, bigotry,
and exclusion.
While we are
seeing emerge
is embedded
racism invited to rise by a segment of vot- ers who elected a president who seeks to “take their country back.”
“It’s 2017 (not 1960). However, African Americans (Black people) are still at the forefront of experiencing the most racially motivated police stops. A recent report by Center for Policing Equity found that police are more likely to use force like tasers, dogs, pepper spray and physical force against Black people in making arrests...
“The National Academy of Sciences stated that, after conviction, Blacks are more likely to receive longer sentences. Over 65 percent of prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent offenses are Black...
“There are too many other reasons and not enough ink print as to why the struggle must continue. We must fight and fight we will.”
PETE EDWARDS Bishop Michelle Patty said, “Yes,
JAMES RANSOM
and it is evident with what hap- pened in Char- lottesville. The only things missing were the dogs and the water hoses.
“This is why
we need to be
vigilant about
what is going
on and take our
blinders off. Even with the issue of this Confederate statue, it is the underlying hatred that is bigger than the monument.
“We cannot give in to intimidation. It is very important for us to register and vote so that we don’t have people in office that don’t speak to our best interest.”
about racism
from our el-
ders and were
taught in
school. As I’ve
grown to ex-
perience the
ignorance of
racism, it’s not
a good feeling
or place. There is a level of heightened alert and awareness we are facing before our eyes that is evident.
“This is the wrong era for racism. This is a different generation. You have to protect yourself. It’s sad to see what many people have fought and died for centuries, only to go backwards because of selfish bureaucracy.”
RICKY WILLIAMS Danny Green said, “It’s 2017 and
BISHOP MICHELLE PATTY
MRS. TONYA LEWIS
nothing has re- ally changed from the 1960s. The younger generation doesn’t have a problem with racism. It’s the older genera- tion.
“We see
more now that
we have video
tapes and more news coverage. We need to learn how to live together and love each other. People are not born being a racist, most people are taught by the older gen- eration.”
DANNY GREEN
B