Thank you, Mayor Al Heggins for starting phase one of an informed discussion about Fame. “This is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.” May the spirit of engagement lean towards truth seekers not doctrine defenders.

From colonial times of John Punch through the current system of mass incarceration, the policy of racial discrimination pervades American history. Refusing to even discuss the possibility of resolution places people of that ilk firmly on the maliciously ignorant end of the truth spectrum.

Easily discoverable facts are readily available from both academic and government resources. The three-fifths of a person for enumeration firmly cemented African-Americans into a de facto caste system.

The 1790 Naturalization Act excluded free black men from citizenship. The 1862 Homestead Act was ultimately unavailable for people of color. The Social Security Act, though race-neutral, effectively shut out “domestic servants and farmers” — the majority of which were African-American. On their face the GI bills for education and home ownership we’re available to all.

In practice segregated schools and redlining curtailed black benefits. The “Lost Cause” movement continues to present a revisionist interpretation of chattel slavery, Jim Crow and current policy.

The demographics of the issue inevitably ensures the statue is relocated to a fitting site. Where that location is must be pertinent to an oppressive past. Whether that move is a soft landing, a hard landing or a crash depends on deliberative engagement.

Now is the time to focus on the legacy of racial inequity across systems of health, education, justice, housing and finance. By understanding the evolution of racism, the hood of hate is stripped away. The path forward is difficult but worth the effort. A vibrant growing Salisbury and, by extent, Rowan County lay in the balance.

— Michael Stringer

Cleveland