RACE IS ON IN TULIA: HOW MUCH HAS BEEN OVERCOME?

I was preparing a lesson for my freshman English class the other day when I
came across an old recording of Martin Luther King speaking to a large
crowd in Washington, D.C. in late August 1963.

Of course, most people will automatically know that I was hearing King's
famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Dr. King's magnificent tone and inspiring
words brought a tear to my eye and reminded me of a racial struggle that is
still taking place in our own back yard.

I'm sure some of you are sick of hearing about it, but yes, I'm going to
talk about Tulia.

I've written a previous column in this paper about the events in Tulia -
the drug bust of a quarter of the town's black population, the shady
behavior of undercover officer Thomas Coleman, the rather limp denial of
District Attorney Terry McEachern, the subsequent harsh prison sentences
given to several of the arrested, the recent protests, lawsuits filed in
response to aforesaid arrests, etc.

So why am I bringing it up again? Why am I taking you away from your warm,
crusty bagel and your comfy hazelnut-scented coffee to dwell on ambiguous
and unpleasant stuff like - I won't even say it - the "T" word?

In a poll done by the Amarillo Globe-News awhile back, the folks at the
paper asked, "Was the drug bust of July 1999 in Tulia racially motivated?"

An overwhelming majority of those voting (863) voted no; 249 voted yes.
Granted, many of those voting probably hadn't had time to digest the
situation yet. Hopefully, after consideration of the facts, many of those
who voted "no" may have changed their minds and realized that the police
force and district attorney's office in Tulia, albeit well-meaning in their
attempt to keep drugs out of their town, were a bit overzealous.

At any rate, it seems that many people here locally think nothing went
wrong in Tulia. They believe there were no false arrests, no manufacturing
of evidence. They think the whole deal was perfectly kosher and that's that.

Maybe so.I can't say for sure and won't try to.

Which brings me back to Dr. King's famous speech. Let me quote for you the
short section that brought a tear to my eye.

"The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must
not lead us to distrust all white people, for many of our white brothers,
as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their
destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound
to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."

Stirring words.

But it wasn't the words themselves that pulled so heavily at my
heartstrings; it was the roar of applause from the audience that followed
them, a cheer from the almost all-black crowd that was more resounding than
at any other time during the speech. These were men and women who wanted to
live in a free America, who were willing to forgive and wanted desperately
to be seen as equals in a white man's society.

"Let freedom ring . . ." Dr. King said later in his speech. "When we let it
ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city,
we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men
and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able
to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at
last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' "

I was never very good at changing people's minds about certain things. Some
folks never change their minds about anything.

I wonder if the citizens applauding so emotionally and vigorously in August
1963 were too generous toward white America?

The results of the Globe-News' poll certainly seem to be saying something,
though I would hate to step too directly on anyone's toes by making any
unfl attering implications as to what that statement might be.

At any rate, in my humble opinion, there were mistakes made in Tulia.

The Texas Legislature apparently agrees with me.

I hope, if the Globe-News decided to do another poll regarding the events
in Tulia, the numbers might change some. Sadly, I'm not sure they would.

Free at last?

Are we there yet?