"A SEAT AT THE TABLE" FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS TRIBAL PEOPLE IN ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA (AFTER 441 YEARS)

"A SEAT AT THE TABLE" FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS TRIBAL PEOPLE IN ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA (AFTER 441 YEARS)

The new Mayor, JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. can do a lot to bring about healing ancient wounds in our Ancient City by proposing the following:
1. Canceling all future junkets/trips to Aviles, Spain, NYC, Germany and elsewhere and canceling all future government subsidies to fancy masqued balls and using the monies saved to erect a Civil Rights Monument in the Slave Market Square (instead of forcing Civil Rights Heroes to raise funds to pay for a public monument).
2. Enacting a Human Rights Ordinance (HRO)(see below) and using it and moral suasion to end de facto segregation by City Hall, St. George Street merchants, Realtors (R) and other local employers and to remove vestiges of racist stereotypes (visible from the Castillo);
3. Ending the de facto segregation in the St. Augustine Police Department (59 of 59 white officers) and Fire Department (28 of 28 white firemen).
4. National recruitment of the next City Manager, City Attorney, City Police Chief and other Department heads, ending all-white, all-male, all-political mismanagement structures that were so insensitive to our people and environment that they unlawfully deposited the contents of the old illegal city dump into the Old City Reservoir -- one of the most obnoxious acts of environmental racism ever seen.
5. Making preservation of the African-American community and ending poverty goals of our City government, with efforts to assure equity and fairness in providing City services (including restoring 1928 trolleys).
6. Establishing a Reconciliation Commission for the purpose of encouraging the sort of apologies and understanding seen in the documentary, "Dare Not Walk Alone," including a resolution of the St. Augustine City Commission apologizing to local and national victims of Civil Rights violations, inviting Rev. Andrew Young and other surviving victims to a celebration of diversity and brotherhood. This Reconciliation must necessarily include full, candid historical apprciation for indigenous tribal and Africa-American history, including a "St. Augustine National Historical Park" embracing our City and an "emerald necklace of parks," including Fort Mose.
7. Making preservation of African-American and other minority-owned businesses a priority, with efforts to develop talents and skills for true economic development.
8. Annexing the rest of West Augustine and providing full City services.
9. Providing for seven City Commissioners to be elected by districts, assuring every community is represented in City Hall;
10. Ending what soon-to-be-ex-Mayor GEORGE GARDNER admits is "rampant corruption" in City Hall, a hidden tax on every resident and visitor..

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said St. Augustine was the "most lawless" city in America. Time to take action for reconciliation and brotherhood, to help recover
our city's tarnished reputation?

If we're going to attract and retain talented young people and become a world-class City, racism must be extirpated (just like homophobia). Cities are competing to attract and retain talented young people by being "hip."

Jim Crow and Apartheid never were hip and all vestiges of racial discrimination must be extirpated in St. Augustine, Florida.


What do you think?