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OBSERVATIONS
October 15, 2020 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
50 years later, we're still struggling
with understanding racial conflicts
Heritage Center Director Todd Johnson caught me by surprised at the outset of last week's forum on racism in education when he read an editorial written by my father 50 years ago entitled "What Blacks Are Fussing About."
But as I listened, I realized why he had chosen to read it. So I choose to publish it here for sharing with a wider audience:
BY
TOM LASSITER in The Smithfield Herald of
March 24, 1970
Many whites say they cannot understand what the blacks are fussing about now. Whites ask: "Haven't we given them civil rights? Haven't we integrated them in public schools? What else do they want?"
If whites talked candidly with blacks about black aspirations or if whites listened attentively to what many blacks are saying, whites would understand the disappointments and disillusionments of blacks about "rights" and "integration."
Blacks don't want whites to "give" them anything. They insist that civil rights were theirs all the time, that whites only deprived them of their possessions.
Many blacks resent the course that school integration is taking, insisting that it is integration planned by whites only without expression of the black community's wishes.
Blacks are disturbed by the failure of blacks to receive top-level positions --- principal positions, for example --- in the school integration process.
Blacks feel they are systematically kept out of the decision-making processes. They feel that they should have more representation on public policy-making boards and committees.
One black leader put it this way the other day: "We don't want you whites doing things for us in government. We want to have a share in making the decisions that affect our lives."
There are other grievances expressed by blacks: Black residential areas are the last to receive street and other municipal improvements. Business and industry still practice racial discrimination in filling jobs. Blacks often receive unjust treatment from law enforcement personnel. The white demand for "law and order" is directed against black violence. Not many whites seem disturbed by violence committed by whites against blacks.
The white community cannot brush these black grievances aside and ignore them without inviting racial conflict that leaders of both races wish to avoid. Whites may believe that the blacks overstate their grievances and fail to recognize the gains made by blacks in recent years, but honesty compels acknowledgement that many black grievances have solid foundations.
What is urgently needed in Johnston County and elsewhere is a strong will among whites to examine black grievances and to work with the black community in solving racial problems peaceably.
Early voting started today across Johnston County
Campaign
signs alongside US 301 South in Smithfield remind us that
today's the day to start early voting here.The First Baptist Church Ministry Center is the place to do that in Smithfield. It's open for early voting six days a week through October 30.
To learn more about where to vote and who's on the ballot, visit the Johnston County Board of Elections website>
LOOKING FOR INFORMATION COMPARING CANDIDATES?
Here are some links to some factual voting guides available online:
The News & Observer>
Common Cause NC (nonpartisan)>
Candidates Connection (Triangle East Chamber)>
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