Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, June 9, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-JUNE 8,20ll
The historic Waynesboro Ice Plant, which had been unused
for decades, was reopened as a multipurpose facility. Former
Mayor Jesse Stone had spearheaded the effort, obtaining
Department of Transportation grants of more than $1 million.
Shots were fired at Waynesboro police officers who were
trying to break up a fight near the Wardlow Building on
Seventh Street early Tuesday morning. A graduation party
was underway when an uninvited crowd gathered near the
building. Attempts to disperse the crowd resulted at shots
being fired at Sgt. Mark Cates.
Burke County cattleman Steve Blackburn was named as
president of the Georgia Cattleman’s Association. In the
full-time position, Blackburn will be the chief spokesman
for the state’s more than 20,000 cattle producers in political
and marketing arenas.
25 YEARS AGO-JUNE 13,1996
The purchase of land adjoining the Burke County middle
and high schools paved the way for a new primary and
elementary school. The Burke County Board of Education
purchased the 52 acre site from John Thomas Chance for
$400,000, according to board chairman Johnny Jenkins.
Superior Court Judge Bettianne Childers Hart, who had
been appointed by Gov. Zell Miller in September, 1995, was
running for re-election in the July 9 non-partisan primary.
Pete Willis, 81, resigned from the Burke County Board of
Elections and Registrars after 20 years of service. He served
as chairman for 12 years.
50 YEARS AGO-JUNE 9,1971
Lisa Dolin of Waynesboro won a $1200 scholarship from
the Sperry & Hutchinson Foundation to attend Washington
University in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the salutatorian
of the 1971 WHS graduating class.
The Waynesboro City Council voted to prohibit the opera
tion of any “self-service vending machine gas pumps” in the
city. Councilman Leon Mims said there were dangers of fire
and explosions with unsupervised pump operations.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. McKinney, Jr. of Waynesboro both
received their degrees from Valdosta State College. Mr. McK
inney was awarded a BS degree in Business Administration
while Mrs. McKinney received a BS in Education
70 YEARS AGO-JUNE 14,1951
E. Moss Robertson was chosen to be pastor of the First
Baptist Church of Waynesboro. The Atlanta native had served
as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army in the Middle East and Europe
during the war.
Dr. R.C. Bailie took office as the new commander of the
American Legion. He was installed by the retiring commander
Cal Johnson.
T.C. Jenkins of Midville found the first cotton bloom of the
season. He said there were no signs of boll weevil on his 100
acre farm which was planted on April 9.
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ht State Ciliftm
9
P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Telephone: (706) 554-2111 • Fax: (706) 526-4779
Published every Wednesday by The True Citizen, Inc.
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zen, P.O. Box 948, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
Roy F. Chalker Roy F. Chalker Jr.
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tising Manager/Printing Assistant; Diana Royal, Feature
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ITHEflER
twW
Don Lively
Believe it or not, I have bad
days.
If you've read me for a while
you know that I normally write
humorous little stories that
hopefully put a smile on your
face for a little while.
But I have my times when I
don't feel humorous at all.
It's usually when I'm going
through some sort of diffi
culty that I become aware of
something that I believe comes
directly from God with the in
tention of getting my attention.
How, you might ask, does
the Lord let me know that He's
aware of my sadness or confu
sion?
Well, I'll tell you.
Signs.
Personally, I don't think that
we should ask God to send us
signs. I believe that we should
rely on Him all day, every day
so that we don't need to ask for
signs. That being said, I believe
God definitely does send us
signs to reassure us that He's
there.
It's happened to me on nu
merous occasions.
Years ago, when I was still
working as a street cop Out
West, for reasons that I don't
now remember I was having
a very bad day. Or, more ac
curately, a very bad night since
I worked the evening shift.
During those times, it wasn't
unusual, during slow hours, for
me to go park my patrol car in
a dark park for a few minutes
of prayer time. I'm certain that
my sergeant would not have
approved but during those mo
ments he was outranked.
I had a certain star formation
that I would gaze at as I prayed.
On this particular night, I went
to the park and got out of my
car only to look up at a totally
cloud-covered sky. I was dis
couraged but, because I knew
generally where my constella
tion hung in the galaxy, I looked
that direction. I immediately
noticed that there was one tiny
hole in the cloud cover. And
there, in that little opening were
my prayer stars.
If that ain't a sign from God,
grits ain't groceries.
More recently I had been in
Texas visiting my children and
grandchildren. Being a father
and a grandfather brings me
much joy but also its own set of
anxieties. Though the visit had
been very good overall, there
SIGNS
were some family issues that
were of great concern to me.
I think of myself as a fixer but
the issues had not been resolved
by the time I had to head home.
So I started the long drive back
with a burdened mind and a
heavy heart.
In addition, I had driven to
Texas at a certain time of the
spring hoping to see the blue
bonnets in bloom, something
I've never seen before. I'd
spent parts of two days driving
around and had not seen more
than a few small patches of the
brilliant wildflowers. When I
was about 50 miles away after
leaving, there was a traffic jam
on the interstate. By that time I
just wanted to hurry home but
traffic was at a standstill for
miles. I was not happy. When
I finally inched up to an exit
I took it and fired up my GPS
to find an alternate route. The
new course took me only two
miles to the east before it turned
north, me grumbling the entire
time. But, as soon as I turned
north, almost miraculously, I
was surrounded by the most
beautiful meadows full of blue
bonnets that I could have ever
imagined. Purplish-blue as far
as the eye could see with a few
red, and a few yellow Indian
paintbrushes that added to the
already spectacular vista.
I honestly think God was
telling me to slow down and to
calm down.
Which is exactly what I did.
Then there was last week.
I had one of those life-chang
ing moments that can leave a
fellow hollowed out for a while.
Thankfully, I had the next
day off so I spent the morn
ing and afternoon aimlessly
piddling around the wooded
enclave, covering little ground
and getting absolutely nothing
accomplished.
As I walked across my yard
over the same grounds that I've
been over thousands of times,
I glanced down and saw a tiny
little miracle.
A small quartz arrowhead
at least two or three thousand
years old.
It wasn't much bigger than
a quarter and was translucent.
Jackpot.
It was beautiful.
Somehow that little treasure
had been covered all the years
I've lived there but at that mo
ment, when I needed it most, it
became visible.
All in God's timing.
No, I never ask for signs.
I don't have to.
I just have to pay attention.
J Michael N. Searles
OKLAHOMA'S TROUBLED RACIAL PAST
The Tulsa Race Massacre
received a goodly amount
of attention and recognition
on the occasion of its 100th
anniversary. The horrendous
destruction of the Greenwood
area of Tulsa was the worst
incident of racial violence in
U.S. history. The violence oc
curred over an 18-hour period,
May 31—June 1,1921, when a
white mob attacked residents,
homes and businesses in a sec
tion of Tulsa known as “Black
Wall Street.” African American
dreams of making Oklahoma a
black homeland emerged be
fore Oklahoma became a state.
Some blacks believed Okla
homa could escape the racial
bias of the South since black
freedmen were able to own
land and make a living in the
unsettled parts of the Territory.
The opportunity to create
a haven for black folk living
under the burden of racism mi
grated from Georgia and South
Carolina in such numbers that
increasingly white landowners
feared the loss of black field
labor. From 1865 to 1920,
Oklahoma led the nation in
the number of all-black towns
with more than 50. Many of
the fifty towns such as Lin
coln, Cimarron City, Zion, and
Emanuel have disappeared off
the map, but thirteen still ex
ist with Boley and Langston
among the better known.
The difference between
the Greenwood Township in
Tulsa and Red Bird, one of the
remaining black towns, was
size and influence. Red Bird
was only 32 miles from Tulsa,
but by 1920, its population had
declined to 330. Greenwood
on the other hand, had a popu
lation of about 10,000 with
a thriving social, economic,
and cultural life. Greenwood
had 108 black businesses,
41 groceries, 30 cafes and
restaurants, 22 churches, and
15 physicians and attorneys.
Greenwood also had clothing
stores, funeral parlors, billiard
halls, hotels, barbershops,
hairdressers, shoemakers,
tailors, nightclubs, and two
movie theaters. However,
black prosperity generated
white resentment.
Statehood for Oklahoma in
1907 crushed the dreams of
African Americans. The state
legislature instituted racial seg
regation, commonly known as
Jim Crow laws, as its first order
of business. These laws segre
gated all rail travel and the pas
sage of voter registration rules
that practically disenfranchised
black people. Even with these
black restrictions, Greenwood
prospered.
But where resentment
abounds, it only takes a spark
to ignite a conflagration. That
spark occurred in downtown
Tulsa when a black boy stum
bles into an elevator and touch
es a white girl. Incendiary
racist newspaper articles led
to the burning and bombing of
Greenwood. The results left
10,000 black people homeless
and property damage amount
ing to more than $1.5 million
in real estate and $750,000
in personal property. If that
amount were calculated in cur
rent monetary values, it would
be $32.65 million.
The question facing the city
of Tulsa and state of Oklahoma
is, “What is the price of res
titution?” There have been a
number of recommendations,
but a final resolution is yet to
be reached. Before any action
is taken, some agreement must
be reached as to who bears
responsible for the destruction
of Greenwood. Some Tulsans
want to view Greenwood as a
natural disaster in which no one
could be blamed or be required
to provide restitution. For
nearly 100 years, the incident
was labeled the Tulsa Race Riot
and not until 2018 was it de
clared the Tulsa Race Massacre.
It was the riot designation
that allowed insurance compa
nies to deny the property claims
made by Greenwood residents.
Even without governmental
support, Greenwood’s black
residents began rebuilding. The
historic Vernon AME Church
is the only building standing
today which has a part of its
structure remaining from the
1921 Race Massacre. While
memorials have been estab
lished to recognize the legacy
of Black Wall Street, efforts
to discover unmarked graves
and arriving at proper restitu
tion and reparations continues.
Oklahoma’s troubled history is
a reflection of America and a
day of reckoning that few want
to face.