Chattanooga Has Always Been A Battleground Between Good And Evil - And Response

  • Thursday, February 26, 2015

From the thousands slain in nearby Chickamauga Battlefield during the Civil War… 

To the launching point of the Cherokee Indian’s Trail of Tears… 

To the lunch counter sit-ins led by Howard School students — the only high school student sit-ins in the nation — during the Civil Rights Movement… 

To Walter Cronkite calling the polluted Southern industrial town the “Dirtiest City in America…” 

Chattanooga has a long history of being at the crossroads of major social issues that play out on the national level. 

And, Chattanooga is still a battleground for good and evil… 

Where do we go from here? 

For those that live in Chattanooga, Tennessee, it may seem like the center of the universe. The city has certainly drawn national attention — from the beautiful outdoors to the high speed Internet. 

I often jokingly say if I could develop a marketing campaign for Chattanooga it would be: “Chattanooga: Beautiful on the Outside.”  (But, the Inside still needs some work…)

There is a certain unspoken underbelly of Chattanooga, Tennessee, that no amount of downtown revitalization or transplanted techies and hipsters can gloss over… And this has something, not everything, but something, to do with the fact that we have seen an unacceptable increase of poverty and violence in our city’s urban core while the few, elite 1 percent of Chattanoogans enjoy the increase of their property values and the decrease of their taxes because of who is in office and who has connections to the Mountain (although now facing the impending decline of its source of wealth and control of Chattanooga). 

It has been said… More than half of Chattanooga’s nonprofits will close their doors. Chattanooga’s old money will steadily decline as the “Old Guard” passes from the scene and the younger generations of the wealthy move away. The private foundations will have to reinvent themselves or they will eventually possibly dissolve. These things are already happening. 

Behind closed doors, Chattanooga’s wealthy elite, and those who follow them, are scrambling to scrape up the last bits of control they have over the city. The days of the Mountain ruling over the Valley are numbered. 

In his historic “I Have a Dream” speech (where he calls out the wealthiest companies and singles out Coca-Cola in particular), Dr. King said: “Let freedom ring from the top of Lookout Mountain in Tennessee” — a community with past challenges I’ve previously mentioned, but there is also a dark secretive history which includes KKK gatherings, including violent acts and hate crimes. Burning crosses… house bombs… Some of these atrocities continue. We must acknowledge and atone… but where do we begin? 

Today the meanness lurks, in a much more clever, even sneaky way. You have to scratch beneath the surface at times to see and feel the animosity, but it is there. It is here… 

I often joke and say that one day Walter Cronkite will rise from the dead only to declare Chattanooga, once again, “The Dirtiest City in America.” Only this time not for air pollution, but for mean-spirited and dirty politics and for racism and greediness, for turning our backs on our brothers and sisters from all walks of life, for not being the human beings we were born to be. 

The battleground is changing. 

Change is coming. But it’s not going to come through an elected official… And it’s not going to come through some new public initiative. We’ve heard enough “ideas.” We’ve sat through enough “community meetings.” We’ve been there, done that — and we see the same results every time. Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” 

Chattanooga, Tennessee has revitalized its riverfront, its downtown, and its buildings and infrastructure. Now it is time for Chattanooga, Tennessee to revitalize its people.
Chattanooga, Tennessee has been a battleground for good and evil.  But “We The People” can change that. 

From our past — The Civil War, The Trail of Tears, The Civil Rights Movement, the Environmental Racism — to our present — topping lists for high poverty, lack of affordable housing, lowest wages, high violence and gang violence — we are once again at the crossroads of major social issues that are playing out on a national level. 

Real change will only happen when The People become engaged. We’ve seen it already. From Ferguson and New York City to Palestine and Egypt to Hong Kong and Thailand, all around the world right now, The People are rising up and fighting for their lives, for their freedom, for their democracy. They are using their computers and their cell phones and their social media to lead global nonviolent revolutions. 

Change in Chattanooga, Tennessee is going to come through The People — from Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge to East Brainerd and Hixson to East Lake and Alton Park — and beyond. 

Change in Chattanooga, Tennessee is going to come through The People — All God’s Children — working together to stop the corruption and “Good ‘Ole Boys” back-room politics. From there, we can stifle the poverty and end the violence. 

As a mid-sized Southern city representing a norm for America, Chattanooga has played out as a test market for numerous products that have eventually launched nationally. From testing new Comcast Cable Facebook apps to Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu, Chattanooga is a target test market. 

Taking Chattanooga’s national role into consideration, how can we become a test market for change? How can Chattanooga be positioned as a model for “Being the change we wish to see in the world” — addressing poverty and violence in such a way that could be shared with other cities around the country and yes, around the world.

“Choose the Good” 

In closing, let us remember and honor the dignity and spirit of our Cherokee ancestors, which can still be felt in this city that carries a Cherokee name and is the site of sacred meeting and burial grounds. The Cherokee presence is strong here, serving as a reminder for us to “choose good” and to treat our city and its land and people as sacred. 

We can “choose good” from this day forward for our children and for generations to come. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I challenge us all to “take the high road.” 

I will leave you with this tale of two wolves.  

An Old Cherokee Tale of Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. 

"The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." 

Which one will we feed in our city? It is time to “Choose the Good.” 

#SpeakTruthToPower

Missy Crutchfield
Gandhi’s Be Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Human Rights Activist

* * *

As a former Chattanoogan and Tennessean, my perspective is one of the onerous taxes you pay that reduces the wealth of the citizenry.  As I recall you pay 9.75 percent in sales tax, that I have coined as the "Tennessee Tithe," as it is approximately 10 percent (which would be easier to calculate but I understand would be politically abhorred).  

The other tax is the property tax that is reestablished every five years as I recall.  I noticed that the property I formerly, but finally disposed of after no gain following more than 20 years, was being taxed at a higher rate than for which it sold.  I also noticed that all the houses sold on my street over one year sold for less than the assessor's valuation. I understand the assessor's argument that in appreciating markets they receive less than the property value; but this is at the cost of the property owners during a market of declining valuations and I consider to be theft.  The recourse is to establish valuation each year, which is what I now enjoy in a state that understands this concept.

We confront wolves within and without; those without are those who have been granted power and authority.  They, too, must consider which they will feed.  We must be attentive to both wolves.

Paul Knapp

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