Rally for Unity and Security
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| The power of one can make a difference. |
Community activists and leaders gather in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park to speak out against racism.
from staff reports
The rally “From Divisiveness to Diversity: Unity and Security in our Community,” was organized by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County in response to the distribution of flyers denouncing African Americans with threats and epithets.
The flyers claimed to be a response to a racially charged incident at Bele Chere – an incident to which there are no known witnesses, no police record, and no knowledge by anyone other than the author(s) of the flyers. Speaking at the event, Asheville Police Chief Bill Hogan announced that no one in the APD had knowledge of such an incident – an alleged attack by young black men on several whites – having taken place.
MLK
Association chairwoman Oralene Simmons, the driving force behind the
rally, explained that not only was it important to make a strong public
statement against racism, but that the gathering should raise spirits
to seek ways of positively challenging racial hatred. “We can’t hate
those people who did this; we can only try to reach them, to understand
them, and to change their hearts and minds. I invite them to sit down
with us, around a table, over food, and talk. That’s how we change
things, by changing people’s hearts.”
Mayor Terry
Bellamy set the tone for the rally with a message of hope. “If we allow
a few people to divide this community, then something is wrong with our
community,” she said. “The best way to deal with events like this is to
come together, as neighbors speaking to neighbors.”
She noted the
presence of three other City Council members including Robin Cape, Jan
Davis, and Vice Mayor Holly Jones, as well as numerous other community
leaders. But she pointed out the irony of a lack of diversity among
those gathered. “I look out and see people from different
socio-economic backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds, different
religious affiliations all coming together to work together. But we’re
missing a generation: where are the people under thirty?”
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| Oralene Simmons |
She noted that a
lack of role models for young black students can be remedied by
improving hiring practices in public life. “But I’m an African American
woman who’s Mayor of Asheville. Yet I don’t see the next generation of
young people engaged and involved in changing our community. The
movements of the 1960s and ’70s and ’80s involved children in marches
and taking action. But today, where are they?”
Challenging
those present to become involved with youth, Bellamy noted that city
and county schools are seeking volunteer tutors. “The Mother Love
program at the YWCA needs volunteers. We need to educate and engage
young people. That’s how we combat racism.”
The Mayor
recalled her favorite quotation from Mahatma Gandhi: “Become the change
that you want to see.” She explained, “The power of one can make a
difference. When we change inside, we make change happen around us.”
She exhorted the public to “spark up for change; make this bigger than
one night. Become a mentor, a shining example. You can see the light of
a single candle in a dark room; what we must do is to bring all our
lights together to shine for equality and justice.”
No less eloquent
was County Commissioner David Gantt, who compared the flyers to recent
statements by Va. Senator George Allen and Hollywood star Mel Gibson,
disparaging, respectively, a young man of Indian heritage and Jews. “We
have a long history of injustice in this country, back to the time when
Asian-Americans were jailed during World War II, and Irish immigrants
were told ‘No Irish need apply.’ What’s going on today sometimes
reminds me of Germany in the 1930s; it creeps in, and before you even
realize it, it takes over.”
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| Minnie Jones |
Like Bellamy,
Gantt chose not to dwell on the flyers themselves but to put them in
the context of broader social issues. He compared the opportunities for
economic freedom, jobs, and education available to “children growing up
in Biltmore Forest or across Hendersonville Road in Shiloh. No-one can
believe that there’s no difference,” he said. “We not only have to keep
talking but we have to keep taking action. We have to be vigilant,
acknowledge hatred when we see it, and stand up for justice.”
Both Buncombe
County Sheriff Bobby Medford and Asheville Police Chief Bill Hogan also
addressed the crowd, vowing zero tolerance for racism and hate crimes.
Medford, in a Casablanca-like moment, asserted, “I didn’t realize there
were still people left who felt like this.” He placed his response in a
law-and-order context: “You can’t let one student interrupt a whole
school, and you can’t let one person disrupt a community.”
Hogan,
expressing the hope of building trust and mutual respect, called for
community leadership through “adult role models and mentors; we need to
address the school dropout rate; we need partnerships between
neighborhoods and citizens, with schools, local government, police,
faith communities.” He asked for help with recruitment “to create a
Police Department that truly reflects this community” and invited the
public to visit and attend the Citizens Police Academy to see the
quality and diversity of current recruits.
Parks Department
supervisor Butch Kisiah acknowledged that the City treats Bele Chere
and other festivals it sponsors differently than those like WestFest
and Goombay that are primarily sponsored by community organizations.
Admitting that “maybe Bele Chere contributed to this act,” he asserted
that “our mission is to provide recreation for our community, and we
strive to present a united message from a united community.” He asked
for more minority support and involvement. “One person can make a
difference. Participate. Volunteer. Help out.”
To underscore
the optimistic message that Simmons hoped to establish, Julia Nooe, Kim
Olsen, Willie Mae Brown, and Linda Smith lit candles for Love, Peace,
Unity, and Hope, and Jackie Simms read a powerful poem about racial
attitudes [see sidebar].
To close the
evening, Minnie Jones, who organized the WNC Community Health Services
program from its inception at Pisgah View Apartments, commented that
after 40 years in Asheville working for civil rights, “I am saddened
that these things are still happening in Asheville. I see us going
backwards. The children are our future. We must save our young people.”
Jones also noted
the controversy over billboards erected by the Republican Action Club
that have encouraged resentment over illegal immigration. In a pointed
remark aimed at City Council member Carl Mumpower, who helped pay for
the billboards, she said, “We need to vote for people who care for all
people. Some of our leaders have put up billboards that are ‘not nice’
to certain people It saddens me that one of our elected officials is
behind them. We need to look at our hiring practices; we need to hold
[elected officials] accountable.”
Reflecting the
tenor of the evening, though, she ended with a note of hope: “The
change,” she said, “has to come from us, the change has to come from
the heart.”
