Twenty-One Years Ago

January 11, 1990 - City Mayors (from left) Bobby Flaherty of Bartlett, Herman Cox of Collierville, George Harvell of Millington, William Howick of Lakeland and Charles Salvaggio of Germantown listen to comments concerning school consolidation during a January 11, 1990 public meeting at Bartlett High School. They mayors said they planned to secede from Shelby County and start their own. (By Michael McMullan/The Commercial Appeal files)

Lately I have kept my opinions concerning the merger of the school systems to myself.  It's largely because different people are supporting it for different reasons.  Unfortunately some grandstanding and politics have taken the forefront in this issue. I have seen some that were adamantly against it all of a sudden have a change of heart. Before it's over they may be trouble. I see this as a cleansing opportunity for the MCS. Not a chance to stick it to the white man. The problem is those who think that way have a valid argunent. This time there really is a white man working against them.

What jumps off the page when you look at the photo above? One thing is all of the men pictured upfront are white. The problem with that is they're deciding the plight of a population made up of 60 to 70% black residents most of whom don't even live in their cities. Talk about taxation without representation. Times supposedly have changed but they really haven't. To say race doesn't have a part in this charter surrender debate is either naive or intellectually dishonest. Even attempts to circumvent or change the law have been made to keep things the way they are. Everyone against the merger is not racist but some of them are. It's not so hard to believe some of them are still out there. This picture was taken only twenty-one years ago.