Where do We Go from Here?
I’ve been a horrible follow-up blogger lately. I apologize. It’s been a pretty incredible time here in ole’ Sparkle City over the past month. The Pride parade was a huge success and, like last year, my family proudly marched with our friends and neighbors but at the same time, it was hard for me to watch people I had grown to respect take stances that I never imagined they’d take.
It’s left me questioning my political place in local politics and wondering things like…where will the local Democratic Party go from here? They already have incredible challenges to overcome but what happens when elected black democratic leaders and progressives disagree like we just did over the past weeks?
We need to have some serious discussions in this community—and not just the Democratic Party. We’ve sugar-coated race relations for long enough. The reality is…we sweep the hard issues under the rug. That is the southern way…did we learn nothing from “The Prince of Tides”? Enough. We need to discuss things like Linda Dogan’s comments about the Pride march if we expect to truly move forward on the issue. She obviously wants to discuss them. So let’s do it. There are gay people in the City of Spartanburg. They have good jobs and pay their taxes. Why should they not get a march if they ask?
For me, the Pride parade was about standing up for what is right. It was about teaching my children that no matter who they are they are still people with rights nonetheless. It was a personal choice I made to march. But, I am not in an elected capacity and my personal choices do not affect my entire City but for those that are and those who chose to isolate many of our law-abiding, taxpaying contributing members of the community…I believe they made a mistake and should answer. They are elected to make good decisions for our entire City’s population and they didn’t. They are not elected to isolate people and they did. They are not elected to tell people their lifestyles are wrong—they did. They are not elected to oppress citizens and they are certainly are not elected to squash the City’s economic development interests. Yet, they did.
We need to be discussing that. Because I’ve got questions.
How do you expect me to stand up for one oppressed minority and not another? How do you justify that? To divide the community in a way that literally pits black against pro-equal rights is the poorest form of leadership I’ve seen in my lifetime…and that is saying a lot considering I lived through the GW Bush era. As a woman, it is unimaginable to ever think I would get to a place in my life to believe that I have earned the right to oppress another.
It has truly been a disheartening experience for me to witness the stance of certain people. And for me, that also means an inspiring experience because I will turn lemons to lemonade somehow. That’s all we’ve got…is to look to the positive. Hence the reason I am all about us sitting down and discussing the issues.
Mayor Junie White took a stance and it took guts to do what he did. He catapulted the City of Spartanburg forward 10 years…at least…by having an understanding heart and using the simple swipe of a pen. He will go down in history for having the guts to lead our community forward. Leading is not easy and it is not something we see every day. Actually, we see it very rarely. Yet, all of us have just had the opportunity to witness it firsthand in our current Mayor.
It is important that all of our citizens prosper and that none are oppressed. It is important that those on the outside look at our community and see an open-minded, accepting community if we ever expect to prosper and create a true economic engine in Downtown Spartanburg. We need elected officials who are smart enough to realize just that.
So where do we go from here? Some serious community discussions about not only race relations but the socioeconomic issues plaguing us. It will do us all some good. Easy? No. Good? Yes. I hope people across the spectrum will support truly putting the issues out there and be committed to all of us working together to get through them…it will do Spartanburg good. We can’t move forward until we do.
t
SeedingSpartanburg.com
on 29 Jun 2010 at 8:15 am # Sylvie Galloway
You and I are on the same page on this. Interestingly enough today’s Miss Mom column will address this, except in a slightly different light.
We need voices like yours as well as people like yourself to take action, even if it is a small step like marching alongside friends and neighbors who happen to be a bit different from us.
on 29 Jun 2010 at 4:55 pm # Lauren
As I think I said before on your blog, you and I disagree on this subject.
Out of all the people I know, from friends and neighbors and other Pine Street parents to the people I work with and are involved in community groups with, the vast majority of them did not have good things to say about the proclamation nor the march. I think those members of council opposing Junie’s proclamation are just representing the views of the overwhelming majority of their constituents, which is what they should be doing.
on 29 Jun 2010 at 5:06 pm # tammy
Lauren,
People disagree with me everyday. It doesn’t stop me from plugging forward.
What’s done is done in regard to the march. Junie has committed his support of the LGBT community for the remainder of his mayoral term.
You and your well-connected community friends should speak out if you’re so upset. I don’t recall seeing ONE influential person in this community sign their name to a letter in the paper thus far in opposition. If you have, please share them.
on 30 Jun 2010 at 12:38 am # tammy
And Sylvie…great piece on the Spark! Want to share with others:
http://www.spartanburgspark.com/blog/2010/06/29/miss-mom-doing-it-out-of-love/
on 30 Jun 2010 at 10:05 pm # Phillip
I don’t know where the community’s progressives go next other than to keep pushing forward to make Spartanburg a better place for all of our community’s citizens. I do know that race is not going away as an issue in the community, and it doesn’t take much for any issue in the city especially, and in at least one of the school districts, to become racialized. We are still dealing with the very,very long legacy not so much of slavery, but of a century after, a century of disfranchisement, segregation, and discrimination. And I don’t know what the answer is – dialogue helps but only if everybody wants to be in the dialogue.
I think the march on June 19 was as much a statement about Spartanburg’s future as an expression of support for the area’s LGBT community – it was certainly that, but I saw so many people there that are working to make Spartanburg a better place that it made me very happy.
Everybody always thinks they speak for or with the majority of their friends or community. Part of this, I think, is that many of us hang out with people who are a lot like us and so there’s a certain echo chamber effect going on. I also think some of it is a reflection of some level of gentility – people don’t like to argue, it just looks impolite. And as for me, I don’t really like to argue, especially if I feel like it’s going to get testy. I just keep my mouth shut unless I’m around people who I’m more comfortable disagreeing with. Now, if somebody says something factually incorrect, I will gently, politely dispute that, but it takes a lot for me to contradict an opinion.
Of course, the interesting thing to me about Lauren’s comment is that she makes reference not only to friends and neighbors but also fellow Pine Street parents. I suspect that most Pine Street parents live in either Council District 2 or 4, which are represented by the two council members who have been the most outspoken in their support for the mayor’s proclamation. And while I think council members have some obligation to represent the views of their districts, they also have brains of their own and have the right and responsibility to lead public opinion, not simply follow it.
Phillip
on 01 Jul 2010 at 7:44 am # Sylvie Galloway
Lauren,
Whether we want to admit it or not, a lot of the times a representative puts their own personal views ahead of their constituents. Of the three city council members who opposed the proclamation, and chose to make an issue of it, two had personal reservations but objected over supposed yet unfounded procedural grounds. The third made it very personal. The objections, especially the third one made the matter much larger then it should have been.
The mayor’s office does proclamations all the time for a variety of groups and causes. He stated he issued the one which made caused such a fray because a group asked him to. Something which occurs on a fairly regular basis. The proclamation had as much legal binding as Spartanburg Riding Lawn Mower day, or People Against Domestic Violence Day, Or Pentecostal Awareness Day. (if we have such days, but it’s quite possible) All they say is that the mayor recognizes the group and will put on the city calender a mention about them.
Tammy does make a good point. It is interesting the difference displayed publicly between the pros and the cons on the matter, and with those who remained silent.
on 01 Jul 2010 at 2:24 pm # Leah
Since this issue is still being discussed so much here, I would like to say a few words.
I grew up here with a great friend who was not only black but gay. If it matters -and it does not but it will to some here -I am a straight white female. Now does everybody have us pegged who need to label people to feel comfortable?
We were very close friends and I did not care IF he happened to be black or IF he happened to be gay. Where is this attitude?
Today someone wrote the paper about why not have a proclamation for Nazis or Atheists if we have one for gays. Excuse me? When did “gay” become a hate group and why not have a proclamation for atheists? Why is someone else being an atheist a problem for you sir or madam? If someone cannot parse the difference between sexual orientation and a group wanting to kill people, I don’t think anyone can fix that.
And atheists? Why is that anyone’s business unless you want to return to something like the inquisition. Yes, I saw the billboard where Christian activists -I assume- graffitted “UNDER GOD” on the “One nation, Indivisible.” Ok, so they are saying we are divided : by whether or not we believe in God. So, is this what “the majority” want?
But back to my gay/black friend. To be honest, I think i nsome ways things were more progressive back then in Spartanburg than now. For one thing, we had a lot more hippies than who were very open minded and no, let’s not bring up “the drugs” because a lot of non-hippies did those and still do. The open minded people moved away in droves -including me – but some became sick or ill or needed to take care of sick/ill parents so returned (including me) and find ourselves stranded in a suddenly much more narrow-minded environment than many years ago.
I hope it changes but it will only change when we can attract people who left this place to return -and it won’t happen with the mindset of some of the comments here. They are conservatives who wish to conserve a narrow way of life and everything that attracts: uneducated overly-religious people who are afraid of everything they themselves do not like or know about.