In August of 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer testified before the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Party and told them about the hardships that she and citizens along the Delta had experienced as they fought for the right to vote. Feeling this might alienate and hurt his Southern base, President Lyndon B. Johnson scheduled a hastily arranged press conference to preempt the speech. This had the counter effect as the speech would be broadcast as America on the nightly news and win support for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party nationwide.
President Harry S. Truman said before Congress in 1950, "Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."
Dr King was quoted as saying, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Today's action by the Hamilton County Commission was outright preemption and will serve as a Fannie Lou Hamer moment for this community. At a time when citizens are peacefully participating in civil disobedience, on top of a global pandemic that has exacerbated the economic prospects of an untold score of individuals, to limit public discourse on these and other vital topics was abstract and arbitrary. Many who tried to give comments during the session were denied this fundamental aspect of democracy.
This was not an occasion when a singular group formerly petitioned to air a grievance or perpetuate a stated position. Rather, it was a time when a wide multitude of citizens desired to share for the public record concerns or a set extraordinary circumstances that had befallen them. At issue are several constitutionally guaranteed rights that are afforded to each and every American such as freedom or speech, expression, assembly, petition, due process and equal protection under the law.
The Hamilton County Commission was derelict in their duty in not hearing the important issues being raised by this community. There are profound questions surrounding law enforcement engagement, the militarization of law enforcement, mass incarceration and money bail, the school to prison pipeline, and how we will contend with a dramatic spike in the COVID-19 response that has been devoid of adequate protections for workers who have now been deemed as essential but have not been granted the essentials to help navigate through the crisis like paid time off, adequate healthcare, support for childcare and hazard pay. Contact tracing, isolation, and adequate monetary support for those with positive symptoms has been lackadaisical at best. These morally imperative topics merited our full attention, and to choose to be ambivalent to these questions is likened to striking the albatross. Our government still operates under the will of the people, the rule of law and the consent of the governed, and the people deserve to be heard.
Yours in Abundance,
Unity Group of Chattanooga
Sherman E. Matthews, Jr. Chairman
Eric Atkins, Corresponding Secretary