Wednesday, December 10, 2003

There were black leaders, even in 1800’s

I’m writing in response to Bruce Jordan’s article in your Nov. 26, 2003, issue titled, “Why some faces are seen less than others in Faces.”

I am assuming he devoted most of his comments to the letter that, I, as an African-American citizen of Fayette County, wrote to you about no African-Americans being shown in the pictures that appeared in his “Faces” article.

To set the record straight, the caption under the picture in his article said, “The Faces That Built Fayette”, just as it does in his Nov. 26 article. My concern was and still is that there must have been some African-Americans who helped “build Fayette County” and were worthy of being shown in the pictures.

My concern, not complaint, was not “that no African-Americans have yet to be included in the series.” I would be foolish to presume what Jordan was going to include in future articles.

However, it is presumptuous of Jordan to infer that African-Americans are not aware that there has never been an African-American mayor of Fayetteville.

Just so you know, Mr. Jordan, we read and know history as well as you do. You don’t need to flatter yourself that anyone expects you to “rewrite history” either. It speaks for itself.

Jordan’s statement, “To assume that there” had to have been some black leaders in those days “is to seriously underestimate the plight of the African-American in the early years of the 20th century in rural Georgia,” seriously offends my intelligence and that of African-Americans. After all, our ancestors, and some of us living today, lived it!

Jordan is right that “They were doing everything they could, against insurmountable odds, just to survive.” By the way, he should know that we’re having to do much the same thing today, in 2003!

In spite of those insurmountable odds, there were black leaders who were an influential part of every Southern community, even in Fayette County.

Lastly, Mr. Jordan, I certainly would not, as you seem to presume, take credit for giving you a “social conscience” you already had. It’s not your social conscience I’m concerned about. It’s your seeming lack of sensitivity and acknowledgment of black folks’ contributions in building Fayette County which our exclusion in your pictures tend to imply.

No, blacks didn’t have the time or opportunity to stand around town having their pictures taken. They were in the fields picking cotton or the crop of the year just to feed their families, as well as the families of the “leaders of Fayette County” and perhaps your ancestors as well.

In all deference to Mr. Jordan, I look forward to reading the rest of his articles. I just hope he does better research and shows more sensitivity to all of Fayette County’s citizens.

Dan Lowry

Fayetteville, Ga.