I was sitting on my front porch, laptop on lap, Sunday aftenoon as I began to write my bi-weekly column for the N&R.
As I took in the bucolic neighborhood scene observed from my familiar perch, I tried to visualize 11-3-79 occuring on Cypress Street. (Not a stretch, Signe and Jim Waller’s abode, which was one of the main gathering places for the CWP in 1979, is just five doors down.)
As some CWP members set up their loud speakers on the street in front of my house other members fan out down Percy St. and Fifth Avenue handing out leaflets announcing a “Death to the Klan” rally and march. I find out later that both are lawful assemblies because the city issued permits for them to occur here… but no one thought to inform me and my neighbors of it. But someone knew about it because there are four TV camera crews filming everything.  Strangely though, there is not a policeman anywhere in sight.
As the rally begins to get louder and more vehement in order to fire up those in attendance (none of which were my neighbors), I notice a caravan of cars and trucks driving slowly down the street with the occupants yelling some nasty things at my neighbors who have come out merely as curiosity seekers. Pretty soon, some of the CWP people begin hitting one of the cars with a stick and the caravan halts…
Everything that happens after that is a horrifying blurr that is replayed over and over on my TV later that night and for years to come. The footage clearly shows that the police didn’t arrive until long after the carnage had ended.
Somebody down at city hall owes me and my neighbors an apology for allowing this to happen…. 27 years later, we are still waiting.
So I ended my column like this…
If everyone will leave the Communists, Klan, and Nazis out of it for a minute, you’ll find an undeniable truth has emerged from the work of the Commission. Clearly crying out for some serious reconciliation is the fact that ordinary Greensboro citizens, your neighbors and mine, were terrorized and traumatized due to bad decisions, or indecisions, on the part of official Greensboro back in 1979. For Morningside residents, the anguish caused by those events and their distrust of law enforcement continues to this day.
For that, an apology is certainly owed.
Related: An excellent discussion of this subject has erupted over at the N&R’s Letter’s Blog. Even though the conversation is testy at times… it is all good. Or, as Cone points out in one of the 30-odd comments to the letter so far, “…I think this conversation, wherever it may go, is the TRC process at work.” He’s right.
6 Comments
Well stated and I believe a take that many people have not thought about. Now that Morningside is no longer or changed why should we apologize? The simple minded thinkers may say.
Good article in today’s paper. Yet I disagree that apologies “cost nothing”. An apology should cost something. They should be felt and acknowledged. If one is truly sorry for what happened, remorse and embarrassment are just two of the payments. An apology should cost something otherwise; it is like any other thing that is “free”. You get what you pay for.
Great observation, but now, as in 1979, a police presence was welcomed in places such as Aycock, Irving Park, etc. In the 70’s, in places like Morningside Homes, or at the site of any public demonstration, particularly by groups like the CWP, a police presence was not welcomed and typically such was chastised by demonstrators as the government attempting to intimidate the participants and threaten their free speech. I remember that time distinctly, nobody wanted the “fuzz” around. I haven’t yet reached a point in the T&R report that recognizes this item. Reading continues…..
@ RH - if the clash between the CWP and klan occured out of the blue — in a random location in greensboro on a random day — then this would be a completely different story. it would be a story of the GPD’s reaction time to the scene of a violent crime and no one could hold them responsible for the outcome on any level.
as it was, the CWP applied for and received a permit from the city to march, which included supplying the GPD with their exact march route — from the starting point of carver and everritt to every street corner they planned to turn down the rest of the day.
the role and responsibility of the police is to serve and protect. they can’t pick and choose to do so depending on the mood of residents or the times in general. and when they’ve been officially engaged (by granting a march permit), they should be held accountable to do their jobs to the best of their ability. unfortunately for *everyone* they didn’t even show up.
Sean, I agree; no argument here, especially with the police charge to “protect and serve” and the cost to everyone upon their failure in this case. I’m still interested in seeing how this plays out as I read the report. Pressure did exist upon police departments at that time from protest participants, etc. who would claim police intimidation (often justified, I’m sure). I’m interested in seeing how it may be considered here. I’ll get back as the report reading continues to unfold.
Mebane,
My point was that an apology doesn’t cost any money. Are you saying that money should be part and parcel of an apology?
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[...] Completely blind to the negative, residual effects of 11/3/79 on other people within their own community — voices who have been pressed silent over the years and up through this loud and conflicting debate of priviledged people on computers — people valiantly press on: [...]