By Deedee Wright

This letter is in response to the Sunday, June 11, editorial,  “Time to bury the hatchet..  Words have consequences and the way this editorial was framed is really not true. I found them to be almost inflammatory at best.

First, Councilman Hardin is my friend and I would also like to think that Mayor Alexander is a friend as well. (I want to put that out there.) When Mr. Hardin speaks at Council I feel that he is speaking out of a concern for our city as a whole and not just for the African-American community.

As African- Americans we have learned to listen with a third ear.  When he responds to comments they are always taken as his being negatively critical.  Good English and careful thoughts by African-Americans are often taken as hostile or angry.

Mr. Hardin did not “storm” out of the meeting; he asked to be excused and a motion was made and seconded and he calmly walked through the audience, even shaking the hands of several people who greeted and thanked him on his way out. Why should Mr. Hardin be held to a higher standard when there have been other council members who asked to be excused and have done the same thing?

Language, if not used properly, can cause people to think one way and not the way things really happened. An example is saying that public comments are “akin to theatric performances.” That is a bit insulting. If one was not there or didn’t watch the live streaming you would have to rely on an editorial to tell you what occurred.

The editorial did not mention that when council took a break the microphones were open. One councilman and the city manager thought that a citizen’s comments were funny or enough of a show to make disparaging comments, unaware people viewing online heard them. Maybe that’s why the Salisbury Post would think that they were in a theater.  I guess that when people speak truth, in the view of this editorial it becomes “toxic politics.”

Someone once said that we may not like the sound of the alarm clock, but that is not its purpose, the purpose it to wake you up.  And I am sure that there may be many who don’t like the sound, but at least get up and get on with the business of this city.

The “performance” was the mayor waving the email from the city’s website and saying that the city periodically trolls workers’, email. I know this may be done but to publicly state such is sad. This is a warning to staff that you better be careful what you write in those emails.  If emails are being sent there should be a “return receipt” attached to the email and you would know if that person opened the email. A problem solved.

Finally, I would like to say that we should work to make Salisbury a better city with purpose and not by trying to prove our worth through money and material things. I have found that it is not what happens to you, but how you respond, and what has happened, in the last several weeks shows that our responses lack substance and moral clarity.

Deedee Wright lives in Salisbury.

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