Just Don't Say Anything

This morning Councilman Tom Marshall came on Ben Ferguson's radio show to defend his vote for the Mayor's $11,500 raise. Which would bring the Mayor's salary to $17I,500 annually. I say the Mayor's raise and not Mayor Herenton's, because the raise was given to the office not the man. Last week Councilman Myron Lowery came on the show defending his vote, but it didn't have the same effect as Marshall coming. To a degree I felt Ben Ferguson just patronized Councilman Lowery and dismissed him as just being one of the Mayor's cronies. It was clear they wanted to hear what one of their own (meaning Caucasian) had to say. Even the day Councilman Lowery spoke they never stopped asking to hear Tom Marshall's explanation. They wanted to know why someone who they normally agree with would see this thing differently.



I listened in and heard what seemed like Councilman Marshall enjoying himself defending his vote. It wasn't very hard to prove his point, considering he was right. He eluded to the same thing as what other Herenton-supporters and myself have been saying all along. "This whole thing is racially motivated." If Carol Chumney had won, we wouldn't even be having this discussion." He dressed it up by saying it was based on people having a problem with the Mayor's personality. In his own way he was telling them the gig is over. Detractors have done everything against him in their power and nothing has worked. Let it go.


What led me to write this post is his reaction to comments I made. By pointing out the fact that the Southaven Mayor makes almost as much the Memphis Mayor, despite Southaven only being a fraction of the size. I don't know whether it was news to him, or he just didn't want to give me props. Instead he brought up some off the wall instance, where a Mayor was being paid $300,000 a year to discount what I said. At first I wondered why, then I suddenly remembered. One thing I've noticed about whites unlike blacks. If they can't say something to help each other out, they just don't say anything.