Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-SUNDAY. JANUARY 19. 19*2
Final of a two-part series marking the sth anniversary
1987 marches: Dim memories or permanent affects?
By Kristin Jeffries
Kara Sproles
Staff Write™
When civil rights marchers and
their opponents fell by the county’s
wayside five years ago, all was not
said and done.
Though the smoke had cleared,
many say the battle scars remain.
Wounds were left behind - some that
are yet to heal.
But since then, Atlanta’s prosperity
has climbed northward. Forsyth
County has been teased with a taste of
big city life.
The newer residents have brought
new ideas and attitudes.
New industries have even recruit
ed a large number of black workers
inside the county lines.
For the most part, people who
fought on each side of the war half a
decade ago and those caught in the
middle of the battlefield agree on one
thing: racism isn’t something easily
found today in Forsyth County.
But no one involved in any way can
pretend the two Brotherhood
marches and the ripple waves of vio
lence and rebellion they sparked nev
er occurred.
Has anything changed?
At one time after the marches the
Rev. Hosea Williams, now a DeKalb
County commissioner, wished to es
tablish a black community in Forsyth
County. This did not occur. But have
the numbers changed since the
marches five years ago?
The 1980 census stated one black
person lived in the county. The 1990
census places that number at 14. How
ever, since the 1930 census the num
ber has ranged between one and 47.
Today the county ranks 157th out of all
Georgia counties in black population.
Minorities other than blacks make up
2.57 of the county’s population.
Many leaders have been asked what
the county has done to encourage a
black influx to the county.
“We are accommodating, but solici
tous we are not,” said Phill Bettis,
chairman of the Cumming/Forsyth
County Public Relations Committee
which made up half of the biracial
committee which met for 10 months
after the marches.
Leaders agree it must be a natural
and not forced progression.
Williams and Bill Sawyer, execu
tive vice-president of the Cumming-
Forsyth County Chamber of Com
merce, estimate between 250 and 300
blacks work in the county.
“In 1987 you couldn’t even find
one,” said Williams.
However, many in the county be
lieve the 1987 marches set the county
back in its attitudes.
How deep is the scar?
Bettis estimates the marches set the
county back three to five years be
cause the tactics of the black leader
ship were not always in the spirit of
cooperation but in the form of de
mands.
“I would say those who were mildly
against the blacks became even more
inflammatory;” said James Harris, a
past member of the biracial commit
tee and director of the Vocational
Education Department at Forsyth
Central High School. “Those who
were tolerant lost their faith in
integration.”
“It is a bad memory for most folks.
There is still a mild resentment for
what went on,” said Bettis.
Many also think the marches still
affect the way other counties look at
the residents of Forsyth County.
“We’ve got a reputation that is going
to be with us forever,” said Commis
sion Chairman Michael Bennett
“I guess they will always be saying
things. We expect that as community
leaders,” said Cumming Mayor H.
Ford Gravitt
“I do see that there is more aware
ness outside of the county than I expe
rienced before,” said school board
member Catherine Amos who took
part in the infamous Oprah Winfrey
Show filmed in Forsyth County.
She believes that while the reputa
tion of the county no longer causes
confrontation, the children of the
county still see a difference in the way
they are treated when they take part
in competitions.
However, Bettis is more hopeful
about the affects.
“It has run its course - we are a
footnote in history,” he said.
Growth changes reputation
One thing that may have dimin
ished the adverse affects of the march
is the growth the county has seen in
the last five years.
The county has “become much
more tolerant” as result of the march
and the changing population, said
Sheriff Wesley Walraven. “We’re no
longer isolated ...” he said.
“We have had such a change in pop
ulation it is not a burning issue,”
agreed Bettis.
Although the marches may have
limited growth a little bit, with two
major companies turning away from
relocating to the county, Sawyer is
pleased with the recovery and reputa
tion of the county.
“The county has continued to grow
and prosper...” Sawyer said. “Which
proves that this county is an open, civ
il rights-honoring county.”
He said no company has questioned
him about the marches sine 1990.
Long-time resident, past high
i ■ J <
school principal and school superin
tendent, Clarence Lambert agrees
that the people who have moved in
have made a difference. However, he
does not underestimate those who
have lived here for some time.
“People in Forsyth County are a lot
more liberal than they get credit for,”
Lambert said.
However, if marches were to hap
pen again, Lambert speculated that
"probably you would still have a few
people riding around in pick up
trucks giving them a problem.”
Civil rights leader speaks out
“I came up here to try to get people
to respect me and love me as a brother
American,” said Hosea Williams, one
Now More Than Ever.
HAVE THE FORSYTH TO MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW
AND THE MONEY WILL BE RIGHT HERE WAITING.
We have the knowledge. We have the
resourcefulness. We have
the money to make
loans now, when other
lenders won’t or can’t.
No excuses for why not,
straight talk on
“How to” and about
“How much” from a
local pro that knows
Forsyth real estate
upside and down. Far
off strangers in fancy
bank highrises are no
match for hometown
professionals on your
side. See for yourself.
of the main leaders of the 1987
marches.
He claims the racism found right
outside Atlanta is as bad as that in
South Africa. Of Forsyth County he
said he "would be afraid to move here
alone.”
Yet, his opinion of Forsyth County
is not all negative.
“We proved that by and large the
white people in Forsyth County are
not near as racist and brutal as they
have been accused,” he said. ‘The
majority of the people that beat us up
that day were imported in from sur
rounding counties.”
Since the marches Williams said he
has been well received by churches
and restaurants in the county.
The marches in 1987 did not only
have an affect on Forsyth County, but
served as a catalyst of synthesis for
black leadership.
At the time of the marches, Wil
liams said the nation’s black leader
ship was “one of great weakness” and
the events re-unified the individuals
in the name of a common cause.
“We (the civil rights leaders) had
been divided since Martin Luther
King died, so Forsyth County brought
us back together.”
Protest leader reflects
Ironically, Nationalist leader Rich
ard Barrett said the 1987 marches did
much for the establishment of that
- Bt <«* m
9 m■i ■■ J
Sig Jg
Past President of The Forsyth Area Board of Realtors, former
President and Board Member of The Cumming-Forsyth
County Chamber of Commerce. Licensed Real Estate Broker
and long time Fbrsyth County Home Developer. Gail Taylor
returns to Fairfield to head the company's aggressive
mortgage loan activities In Cumming and Forsyth County.
a Partnership uith Decatur Federal Saiings
308 Tribble Gap Road, just north of the Courthouse Square.
Call 889-3704 in Cumming or 681-1037 in Atlanta
Residence: 887-1370
movement in current culture.
“Forsyth County will always be to
Nationalism what Bethlehem is to
Christianity,” said Barrett.
The movement in Forsyth County in
1987 brought new terms and ideas to
the forefront, said Barrett Terms like
“nationalism,” “pro-majority.”
From now on it is the pro-majority
forces who are properly called civil
rights activists, he said.
“On a personal note, certainly the
careers of David Duke and Richard
Barrett were launched in Forsyth
County,” he said.
The 1987 marches freed white For
syth County from the fear of another
invasion, he said.
You waited for the right time. Smart.
You waited for the lowest interest
rates. Sharp, very sharp.
You waited long enough.
Now call Gail Taylor
and let her tell you just
how much Fairfield
believes in Forsyth. It’s
time for a Grand Home,
Cumming. A special
Home, Cumming, well
worth the wait. Yours.
• Customized Loan Strategies
• Competitive Rates
• Forsyth Real Estate Expertise
• Hometown One-on-One Action
• Personal Attention From
Someone You Know
Staff writers Kristin Jeffries, left and
Kara Sproles collaborated in writing
this two-part series which began in
the Wednesday, Jan. 15 edition of
The Forsyth County News.