Blacks in Americus Seek Their Clergy and Elected Official's Help

July 2009

During these hard economic times, Blacks in Americus seek active help from their pastors and elected officials. The elected officials are: City councilpersons, Eddie Rhea Walker, Eloise Paschal, and Lorenzo Johnson; County Commissioners Al Hurley and Andrea Pearlette Brooks. If there ever was a time for these two distinct groups, both with large followers, to become active in the best interest of their members and constituents, the time is now. Other community leaders as the local NAACP President Matt Wright cannot and should not be the sole organization advancing justice, fairness in employment, nondiscriminatory education system and even more for our young people. Solutions to today's economic problems must be a collaboration of individuals with large numbers of Black followers. If preachers, elected officials, and community organizations fail to unite, we will squander a great opportunity to help stop the flood of young people leaving to find jobs. Even more alarming, if we fail to take positive action now, Sumter County will become a retirement community sooner than you think.

Being unemployed is having a ripple affect that causes less spending on essential and non-essential family needs. And as ministers need their members to be employed in order to keep their ministries viable, that viable should produce a fierce urgency to help revitalize the Black community economically. Our Black elected officials too can become more involved in bringing jobs for our young adults in Sumter County. For starters, our Black officials can keep our community updated on what is happening in their respective government positions. Our Black citizens, clergy, and elected officials can advance our cause if we discuss the problems with unemployment, the local crisis in education, the hospital situation, and other issues that need to be dealt with as an organized Black citizenry.

This economic disaster that is affecting all Americans might be a blessing in disguise. With a unified community voice, never again should we allow the first Black school superintendent with a student population that is over 73% Black and 18.5% Caucasian, be fired because of racist school board members. Never again should the Black community tolerate the closing of a local hospital that served a large Black population to reopen with many of the same Blacks and Whites in leadership who are responsible for losing the hospital in the first place. And never again, with a unified voice, should we be silent while a blatant local court system discriminate against Blacks from Municipal Court on up to Superior Court.

We are hopeful that our local preachers and elected officials will respond to the Black community's call for help. This newspaper made a similar call in the past for our leaders to sit down and plan strategically to save our community. The Americus Sumter Observer Newspaper along with the NAACP will continue to oversee and advance Blacks' causes in Sumter County. And with a strong voice from our ministers, elected officials, and other community leaders, we can caucus and partner to improve the conditions of our people.