Thanks to the 76 people who spoke at City Commission August 28th (Feast of Saint. Augustine, 452nd anniversary of Menendez's sighting land and naming our town after a black man, Saint Augustine of Hippo).
St. Augustine's Spanish Governors freed British slaves, leading the British to burn our town to the ground twice. There's a state park at Fort Mose, honoring the African-Americans who won freedom from slavery under the Spanish, fleeing oppression in British colonies in the Carolinas.
We urgently need greater protection for resources with enhanced National Park Service status.
We need to promote healing and respect our history here, including:
1. Enactment of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser, Senator Claude Pepper, et al. in 1939. Let's honor 11,000 years of history, including the first Africans (free and slave) who arrived here on September 8, 1565 with Pedro Menendez and America's first Hispanics, Catholics and Jews. Courageous Minorcans, Greeks and Italians fled British contract-slavery in New Smyrna colony in 1777, voting with their feet. We must share their courageous stories with the world with NPS interpretation.
2. Emancipation Proclamation Park monument (site of first reading here is now a parking lot).
3. Union Civil War veteran monument.
4. Sculpture honoring slavery victims.
5. Sculpture of civil rights heroes Robert Hayling, Stetson Kennedy and Barbara Vickers, engaged in conversation, perhaps looking at the slavery sculpture and one of the other Civil War monuments (like the one honoring General William Wing Loring),
6. NPS civil rights museum honoring St. Augustine Movement's role in adoption of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, not unlike the ones in Memphis, Atlanta and elsewhere, putting history in perspective.
7. Monument to "Guillermo," first anti-Gay hate crime victim (1566), a French translator of the Guale language, whom Menendez ordered garroted to death in secret because he said Guillermo was a "Sodomite and a Lutheran."
8. Florida law requiring K-12 civil rights education, like in Mississippi.
9. Renewed dedication to restoring democracy, open government and transparency.
10. Halting developers's destruction of our history, wetlands, wildlife and beauty.
11. Ending housing, employment and public accommodations discrimination.
12. Restoring artists and entertainers to their rightful place in historic downtown.
13. County Charter providing for limited, open government, an independent Inspector General and Ombuds.
14. Single-member Commission districts.
15. Saving the majority-minority Town of Hastings from dissolution.
16. Urgently addressing mobility, affordable housing and low wages. We need free democratic labor unions and collective bargaining for higher wages and benefits.
17. Pumping system to protect us from global ocean level rise. Hurricanes Matthew and Harvey are harbingers. We'll get federal funds through enactment of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.
18. Federal Grand Jury investigation of corruption and civil rights violations. September 2 marks the seventh anniversary of the 2010 shooting death of Ms. Michelle O'Connell in the home of St. Johns County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Banks. St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar's massive coverup demands justice. See 2013 and 2017 New York Times and PBS/Frontline investigations. Two autopsy physicians were found malfeasant. Shoar tried to have FDLE special agent Rusty Rodgers prosecuted and fired.
What we DON'T need here:
o Hatred.
o Removal of local monuments to Civil War war dead. Leave the monuments alone.
o Misguided "minister" dividing us over monuments (after destroying 2/3 of Echo House, an historic African-American community building)(after first selling its roof tiles), while spewing anti-Gay marriage hatred on YouTube. Rev. Ron Rawls' racist rhetoric is reprehensible -- not promoting healing, but his personal agenda -- growing his "business" (his church) as he called it in City meetings.
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Posted August 30, 2017 12:02 am
By STUART KORFHAGE stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com
Local historians say city still has unfinished work from 1960s struggles
Local historians say city still has unfinished work from 1960s struggles
As was on display Monday night at the City Commission meeting, St. Augustine is one of many Southern cities taking a fresh look at how symbols can perpetuate racial tension.
The events more than two weeks ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, have caused people all over the country to reconsider whether Confederate monuments are appropriate in city squares, like the two monuments in St. Augustine the commission and residents discussed Monday.
Just as Charlottesville has become, St. Augustine is no stranger to the national stage when it comes to race relations.
It was about 53 years ago that Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference demonstrators — along with some locals — gathered in St. Augustine to push for the end of segregation.
Flagler College history professor Michael Butler, who is the author of the book “Beyond Integration: The Black Freedom Struggle in Escambia County, Florida, 1960-1980” and various other works related to civil rights, said King’s effort here was met with strong resistance and violence.
“I think St. Augustine was tremendously important, and it received a lot of attention at the time in 1964,” Butler said. “What SCLC discovered when they got involved in the St. Augustine struggle was that this was a much more violent and much more dangerous place than they thought they would encounter.”
And despite a specific list of demands, the SCLC never really brokered a compromise with local leaders. The Civil Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson, which ended segregation as a legal practice. The events here helped prompt the passage of the bill.
Yet because both sides never really got together locally after the protests — and the arrest of King — Butler believes St. Augustine is still suffering from unresolved issues of racial equality.
“There was very little interracial cooperation after the Civil Rights Act passed in St. Augustine,” Butler said. “I think that’s a story that more cities in the South have in common with St. Augustine than don’t.”
St. Augustine’s place in the history of the civil rights movement rivals its other historical acclaim, said local historian David Nolan.
But Nolan believes it’s almost entirely unappreciated by the predominately white community that makes up the St. Augustine area. (St. Augustine was 84 percent white, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, while the county overall was 89 percent white.)
“When I came here in the 1970s … I was told two things: ‘Don’t waste any time in Lincolnville. There’s no history down there.’ And the other thing was, ‘You must never mention the name of Martin Luther King in St. Augustine,’” Nolan said.
Nolan acknowledged the city’s achievement in recognizing the significance of civil rights history in 2014 with the “Journey” exhibit and the reunion of some of the 16 rabbis who protested with King and were arrested here in 1964.
Other than that effort, Nolan said he really hasn’t seen much embracing of black history here.
The city erected the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument and Andrew Young Crossing in 2011 in the Plaza de la Constitución to honor Civil Rights leaders.
“Kind of 50 years was the magic number,” Nolan said. “Once 50 years had passed, the city started very tentatively to do things, to have exhibits, to put the Andrew Young footsteps in the Plaza.”
Still, Nolan would have liked to have seen a concerted effort to preserve places like the Monson Motor Lodge, site of the famous “swim-in” and iconic photo of acid being poured into the pool when black swimmers refused to get out.
“I have no doubt that, in the future, St. Augustine will take advantage of its civil rights history,” Nolan said. “We’ll be selling T-shirts and keychains and all that kind of stuff.
“The question is: How much are we going to lose between now and then? How much have we already lost and how much are we going to lose between now and when they say, ‘Hey, we better save every bit of it.’”
Part of the reason the civil rights history has not been embraced the way the history of Henry Flagler or Pedro Menendez has been could be traced back to the fact that the black and white populations have never fully resolved the conflicts of institutional racism.
It’s something Butler said very few Southern towns have been able to do well.
“It’s the nation’s story,” he said. “There’s a huge difference between desegregation and integration. St. Augustine desegregated. St. Augustine has yet to fully integrate.”
That has carried over into the current dispute over whether Confederate monuments should continue to be displayed in the city’s public spaces.
“That’s where these issues of symbols come into play,” Butler said. “That is the visual reminder that we haven’t fully integrated as a society. They mean one thing to certain people, and they mean something totally different to others.
“The fact (is) that there’s very little listening when it comes to symbols and their public presence.”
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Posted August 30, 2017 12:02 am - Updated August 30, 2017 09:49 am
By SHELDON GARDNER sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
City officials plan to ‘wrestle’ with future of Confederate monuments
St. Augustine officials say they won’t be making any fast decisions about what to do with a Confederate monument in downtown’s Plaza de la Constitucion.
After hearing hours of public comment on Monday night, commissioners asked for a careful approach. And on Tuesday, City Manager John Regan said that’s how he’s moving forward.
“I think we’re at a real critical moment in our city’s history right now,” Regan said.
The next step is researching how other governments have addressed the issue of Confederate monuments, and the policies other cities have for monuments in public. Regan plans to bring that back to commissioners for consideration, but he hasn’t given himself a deadline for doing so, he said.
After hearing public comment Monday, Mayor Nancy Shaver said many questions remain to be answered about the city’s options.
Removing the Confederate monument on city land on the east side of the plaza is a possibility, said City Attorney Isabelle Lopez. Laws regarding burial grounds would apply to the memorial to Confederate Gen. William Loring, which is on the western side of the plaza and is under state — not city — control. His ashes are buried there.
“For our monument. … It’s a public policy decision,” Lopez said.
That’s how Shaver described the issue on Monday.
“The policy question to me, really, is what is appropriate to have in a public space,” Shaver said. “I think that takes contemplation. I think it takes understanding what that might mean from many resources.”
Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline pointed to some resources to consider, including a statement from the National Trust for Historic Preservation that she said summed up her opinion at the moment.
The statement said, according to Sikes-Kline, that people should remember the past but not necessarily revere it. As communities try to find a balance, they should do so in a transparent way that looks at many alternatives and allows thoughtful dialogue in the community that includes all voices.
Sikes Kline, whose background is in historic preservation, also said people in the community need time to consider the issue. Commissioners also need time to go out and listen.
“I feel like we’re at a historic moment,” Sikes-Kline said. “I feel like we’re looking at a big culture change. I think you’re seeing it expressed here. … I want to hear everybody’s voice, and I’m very reluctant to get ahead of our community.”
She and Shaver also mentioned Sandra Parks, former city commissioner and widow of civil rights activist Stetson Kennedy.
On behalf of the Stetson Kennedy Foundation, Parks suggested several things, including:
Work with the state to shroud both monuments until there’s a resolution.
Create a donation fund for modifications to the monuments or for creating new ones.
Create a short-term Civil War commemoration committee composed of historians, tourism professionals, educators and history organization leaders to recommend design and content standards for monuments, events, tours and advertising for St. Augustine Civil War history.
Create an inventory of Civil War sites in the city.
Provide educational programs to the public about the city’s Civil War history.
Vice Mayor Todd Neville said he wanted the city staff to come back with options, saying the environment was “hot” on Monday night.
Commissioner Roxanne Horvath said she needed more time “to digest” people’s comments.
“This was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be,” she said.
Commissioner Leanna Freeman suggested providing some direction.
Overall, commissioners agreed on taking a careful approach and considering information that city officials bring back.
Regan said it’s the city’s job to be prepared for all consequences. Monday night’s meeting was the first step in “active listening, which is the first step to solving … problems that have consequences,” he told commissioners.
The city has been progressive, he said, pointing to efforts to diversify its workforce, open the door for civil rights monuments in the plaza, investing in West Augustine utilities, and financing an exhibit on African-American history as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations.
“Philosophically, our goal is to be a progressive city,” he said. “This problem, we have to wrestle. It’s not something that’s an easy one.”
Shaver agreed.
“This is not about bricks and stone,” she said. “It’s really about something quite different, which is what I think we heard tonight.”
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Posted August 29, 2017 12:02 am - Updated August 29, 2017 10:40 am
By SHELDON GARDNER sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
Sides plead to retain or remove St. Augustine Plaza monuments
At St. Augustine’s City Hall on Monday night, dozens of people called for opposing futures for Confederate-related monuments in St. Augustine’s plaza.
More than 70 people signed up to speak to commissioners about the issue, and public comment was still being taken shortly before 10 p.m. Commissioners hadn’t had a chance to share their opinions by press time.
Of about 50 people who had spoken shortly before 10 p.m., they were almost evenly split between those who wanted the monuments to stay and those who wanted them removed. Some people suggested options other than leaving or removing them, including the city coming up with a different way to educate people about its Civil War history.
During the meeting and before public comment began, Mayor Nancy Shaver asked for people to shake hands and asked for people not to jeer or applaud.
“This is democracy, but this is a room to be civil,” Shaver said.
Speakers included a representative from the NAACP and a representative from the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The leader of the NAACP’s St. Augustine branch, the Rev. Margaret Rickerson, called on commissioners to remove “all Confederate statues, flags and memorials from our public grounds,” adding that the monuments represent slavery.
“So the history books should be their resting [place],” Rickerson said. “’Take them down’ is our battle cry.”
St. Augustine has two Confederate-related monuments.
One of the memorials, on the east side of Plaza de la Constitucion, honors men who died “serving the Confederate states.” A monument with an image of the Confederate flag that stands near the west end of the plaza honors Confederate Gen. William Loring — whose ashes are buried in the area — and his service in the Civil War and other conflicts.
The city controls the space where the Confederate monument is located, and the state owns the area of the Loring monument, city officials said.
Historian Susan Parker, at the request of City Manager John Regan, gave an overview of the history of the monument on the east side. The first request to put the monument in the plaza was denied by city officials, she said. As city politics changed, the monument was allowed.
People around the country and the state of Florida have called for the removal of Confederate-related monuments from public spaces, while others have pushed back in favor of keeping the memorials and monuments.
Much of the comments at Monday’s meeting focused on what the monuments symbolize and their impact — whether leaving them reveres a history of slavery, and whether removing them would open the door for other historical monuments in the city to be torn down if they offend people.
“The purpose of those monuments was a clear message that we lost the war but we’re still in charge,” said the Rev. Ron Rawls, pastor of St. Paul AME Church, who again called on commissioners to remove the monuments and said he’s been threatened since speaking about the issue.
Rawls encouraged people a week ago to come to City Commission meetings and sign up for public comment to speak in support of taking the monuments out of the plaza.
Public comment was also touched with personal testimonies, including of those who remembered racial segregation in the city and who have experienced discrimination.
Jaime Perkins, who grew up area, recalled working for a bank in downtown St. Augustine. She said a man came into the bank and used a racial slur against her. He wore a Confederate flag pin on his lapel, she said.
“If that flag once meant heritage, which I don’t concur with … the hate groups and other radical organizations … have tarnished its image,” Perkins said.
Many spoke about preserving history, some family members of those named on the Confederate Monument. One woman who started a petition gathered thousands of signatures to keep the monuments.
David McCallister, Florida Heritage Chairman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the monument was put up by women who wanted to remember their family members who died.
“It is a cenotaph for their memory when they are buried in mass graves and battlefields far from home,” McCallister said.
In other business
• Commissioners supported a settlement in a lawsuit that four artists filed against the city related to city rules that apply to the sale of art. The settlement will also, among other things, exempt artists from complying with the mobile vending ordinance and having to apply for a permit to sell their art. Attorneys fees of $50,000 and mediation fees will be paid by the Florida League of Cities, who was the city’s insurance carrier.
• Commissioners supported funding a grant program that will pay for some people in West Augustine to pay for hooking up to sewer.
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Posted August 28, 2017 08:47 pm
By JARED KEEVER jared.keever@staugustine.com
Peace prevails as crowds gather downtown to debate Confederate monuments
Things remained peaceful Monday night as more than 100 people came to downtown St. Augustine to make their opinions known about the proposed removal of Confederate monuments from the city’s main plaza.
About 20 people, some carrying American flags, and many wearing military garb, took up position near the obelisk built to honor those from St. Augustine who died fighting for the Confederacy.
Another monument, which sits on land owned by the University of Florida at the west end of the Plaza de la Constitucion, honors Confederate Gen. William Loring — whose ashes are buried in the area — and his service in the Civil War and other conflicts.
The Rev. Ron Rawls, of St. Paul AME Church, has asked city officials that the monuments be moved to a museum or private property.
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Apparently motivated by the recent removal of similar monuments from public spaces in other American cities, Rawls, at a meeting he hosted at his church last week, said the ones here serve only to perpetuate a message of intimidation aimed at black residents. At the church meeting he invited supporters to speak out at the next city commission meeting and to keep doing so until the monuments are moved.
“We will stay there until 12 o’clock that night,” Rawls said at the time. “And then in two weeks we will do the same thing.”
“And the longer this draws out, the longer that will draw out,” he said. “This is something that can be done and we need to take advantage of the spirit within our country right now that is moving toward what’s right.”
Police Chief Barry Fox said before Monday’s meeting that he had planned for about 200 people to show up and had, with the help of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and St. Augustine Beach Police Department, added in extra layers of security in case tensions ran high.
While the meeting didn’t start until 5 p.m., demonstrators in the plaza, from a group that calls itself “3 Percent United Patriots,” or 3UP, started showing up about 2:30 p.m.
With police standing at the edge of the plaza, and others occasionally walking through, most demonstrators spoke calmly with passersby when they stopped to talk or ask questions.
Questions for the group were directed to Sheryl Tumey who wasn’t there but said by phone that she was working from her home near Daytona Beach, arranging to have supplies sent to hurricane victims in Texas.
In a brief interview she said the group got its name from the idea that only 3 percent of the population in colonial times “stood against the king’s tyranny.”
She described the group as “diverse” but made up of “like-minded people” who didn’t want to see the monuments moved because they honored people who fought and died in war.
“This is for veterans who are recognized by the U.S. Congress as combat veterans,” she said. “We respect all veterans.”
The 3UP organization, she said, does not tolerate racism and she took issue with people of a “conservative mindset” often being thought of as “racist.”
“The labels need to stop,” she said. “We are Americans and we need to start acting like it.”
At City Hall, those wishing to speak, about 100 of them, filled chairs set up in an overflow room adjacent to the meeting chamber.
Les Lamon said he was in favor of having both monuments moved. He acknowledged that people who fought for the Confederacy fought bravely “but they fought clearly for slavery.”
Choosing to honor them is a decision, he said, “and that’s a choice we can revisit at any time.”
“That doesn’t mean we are getting rid of the history, we are just choosing not to honor it anymore,” he said.
Michael Harrison, who said he has lived in St. Augustine his entire life was there to speak in favor of keeping the monuments where they are.
“It shouldn’t even be a debate,” he said. “This is a tourist town, people come here to see history.”
Discussion on the topic, which was added to the commission agenda last week, didn’t get underway until shortly before 7 p.m.
Mayor Nancy Shaver said about 75 people had signed up to speak and officials estimated the public comments could last as long as four hours.
Still no honor and respect to our first people.
ReplyDeleteStill no healing offered to the Timucua and the millions of Indigenous peoples who are their living cousins.
Still no pardon for Osceola.
Still no tribute to the freedom fighters who were imprisoned at Fort Marion.
Still no recognition of the hundreds of unmarked graves of the indigenous freedom fighters who died as prisoners of war and are buried in unmarked graves.
IN HAEC VERBA, I wrote, "Let's honor 11,000 years of history…." St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore bill empowers NPS sharing Native American history.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is only 600 words, written as Record column responding to this week's events. For full text of draft legislation go to http://www.staugustgreen.com/draft-legislation.html