TULIA COMMUNITY CAN STOP RACIAL DIVISION

There is a sign on Interstate 27 just outside the Tulia city limits
proclaiming the town has "the richest land and the finest people."

This proclamation is in dispute following a controversial 1999 drug bust
that threatens to divide a small community along racial lines.

The controversy has grown from the war on drugs to a situation that could
rip apart a town and unfairly label an entire community.

The drug sting operation, which has drawn the attention of national media,
resulted in the arrest of 43 people, 40 of whom happen to be
African-Americans, a disproportionate amount considering Tulia's black
population numbers about 250. The drug bust has drawn the condemnation of
the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the
individuals responsible for the bust, namely undercover agent Tom Coleman,
Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart and District Attorney Terry McEachern.

Allegations have been made the trio conspired to arrest and prosecute
Tulia's black population. Monday evening put the growing divide in this
small farming community in focus.

The Swisher County Memorial Building was the site of a rally for supporters
of local law enforcement. Those attending the rally were primarily white.

The same day, a rally was held at Swisher Electric Cooperative, Inc. to
announce a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice by the NAACP
alleging civil rights violations in the arrest and prosecution of
individuals in the drug bust.

Those attending the rally were mostly African-American.

Ultimately, the courts will determine if a racial conspiracy resulted in
the arrests. What has to be addressed by Tulia residents is the damaging
racial divide that is becoming more apparent as the controversy, which will
only escalate in magnitude, continues. An attempt to curb criminal
activity, and the justice system will determine whether this was justified,
cannot be allowed to divide an entire community.

"It's time for all of us to come together for our community," Tulia
minister Matthew Veals said Monday. "We are not the kind of community we
have been labeled to be."

In the coming days and weeks, the people who make up "the richest land and
the finest people" can prove this saying is more than just a slogan on a
highway billboard.