COMMUNITY ACTIVISM AND ITS AFFECT ON STATE AND NATIONAL VOTING

During the middle of April, while I was campaigning for State Chair, I received a flood of calls from parents and concerned citizens about a couple of situations that occurred at Mullins High School in Marion County.  It seems that a District School Board Member had been accused of texting threatening messages to a sixteen year old young man who was allegedly dating his daughter.  Based on reports from more than one source, it was the School Principal who not only informed him but other parents about who their children were keeping time with while in school.  From all the reports that I was receiving the youth in question was very nice and respectable, with no history of problems in school or in the community.  His mother worked at the Elementary School here in Mullins and his father is considered a very hard working, law abiding, very mild mannered and respected person in the community.  Initially, I put those who called me in contact with a young man that recently took over one of the organizations that would handle a situation like this.  I then informed those who called that I would be working with him on it. 

The Monday after the Convention I was contacted by the mother of the child in question and she updated me on what had happened to that point.  She said that an article about what had happened was in the newspapers along with a copy of the text messages and it could also be found at SC now, if I would like to read it.  She also stated that she and the young man I referred to her met with the Board member in question, the Principal and the Superintendant of Schools.  She stated that the Board member apologized for his actions but there was no mention of what the consequences for his action s would be.  I asked her, what did she want to happen, based on this ordeal her son and her family have been put through?  She said that the Board member should be removed from the Board, because any grownup who would attempt to traumatize any child for any reason does not belong on any School Board.  And anyone who had anything to do with this happening should not be a Principal in charge of children.  She went on to say it is not just about her child but other parent’s children who could be subjected to people like this.  We cannot continue to allow people like this to have influence over our children and not do anything about it.  We just can’t.  She asked me if I thought it was racially motivated since her son is Black and the School Board member and his daughter are White.  I said looking at it from the outside that is what it appears, but in reality it is just wrong.  If the School Board member was Black instead of White, it would still be wrong.  So often, Bad People do bad things, in hopes that it will be labeled racial.   They understand that by doing so they have a better chance of either getting off or getting a lighter sentence because of the racial outcry.  I told her there is a war going on between Right and Wrong, and until we start looking at things as whether it is Right or Wrong Bad People will continue to get away with Bad Things.  She stated that she understood and that she never looked at it that way.  She also stated that she and her husband had made attempts to take this to the School Board, but that she was getting conflicting information from the District and the County School Boards.  The District was saying that she had to meet with the County first and the County was saying she had to meet with the District first.  I told her that I would be out of town for a couple of weeks because of family emergencies and we will see where I can best help her when I got back.

I guess you are wondering why I am sharing this with you.  Well because, first of all, these are the situations that are happening in our Community’s that lose us elections and/or voters on the State and National level.  If people feel that the system does not address their needs then they will not come out to vote.  This is fine for the local Politician because their support generally is not from those who are being wronged; In fact they are generally in office to keep things just as they are.  Secondly, because sometimes as Democratic Chairs we forget that our responsibilities go far beyond just, what we perceive as Party business, and must be able to identify those issue in our community’s that will either benefit or hurt our Party’s standing and be aggressive in seeking solutions for them in a timely fashion.  Thirdly, we must learn how to frame the argument so that it does the greater good not only for the person or persons’ who have been wronged but also for the mission and vision of the Party.  And fourthly, we must stop allowing the Community to continue to label things based on color, race, ethnicity, sex, gender and religion.  If we do we will continue to lose that battle because these are the terms that the Republicans and like minded Democrats contrived to keep the Community separated.  Our emphasis should be on, what is Right and what is Wrong.  As Democrats we say that we believe all people should have the same rights, so if one person or group of people are receiving treatment that another person or group of people are not privy to that is wrong and should be addressed as such.  If we champion this on the local level it will reap huge voting benefits at the State and National level.

As always this is just my opinion and that does not make it right.

Lee  Walter Jenkins