Dear editor,

The mission statement of The Selma Times-Journal includes a comment to fair, objective and balanced reporting, yet this paper consistently contradicts this mission when it comes to stories with racial implications. Two recent events exemplify this observation. On the front page of the Oct. 3 paper your headline read: Ethnic slur uttered, Interim Superintendent of Education admits using comment at meeting. Apparently, Mr. Jefferson, the interim superintendent of Selma City Schools, made a statement which has been deemed a racial slur. The statement referenced people who are fierce negotiators of low prices. Some would view this activity as a virtue. However, when it is referred to as “Jewing down,” it surfaces as a racial slur.

Biblically, the statement references the efforts of Abraham to save two cities from destruction by negotiating with God to give the people more time to change their wicked ways.

Whether the term is a racial slur it is a matter of opinion to be interpreted by the context in which it is used. People, black and white, used the term picnic daily in a positive way. Some historians, however, say the term was used to describe the violent act of picking a n——- to hang.

By contrast, the words and actions of Selma City Council President Cecil Williamson are racist by any rational definition, yet his proven history of attending rallies and meetings to support the first grand wizard of the Klu Klux Klan was totally ignored by this paper until a protest of citizens yielded a one-sided account of his activities.

I have yet to be interviewed or questioned about our research that established Cecil’s membership in two white supremacist groups. Both groups believe in the south’s right to separate from the United States, by “lock and load” if necessary. Lock and load is the language used by his colleagues to express their determination to secede from the United States and reinstate slavery through the violent overture of the U.S. government (if they so choose).

When asked if he believed in “secession” at a council meeting, Cecil refused to answer. Any fair and objective news media would have reported a public official refusing to answer questions about his loyalty to our nation, yet the Journal remained incredibly silent.

This same paper, however, wasted no time in blasting Mr. Jefferson on the front page with only a secondary concern for the commemoration of the MAAFA.

The Jewish holocaust, referencing the death of 12 million people, is known by most people and it is religiously commemorated by Jewish people. By some accounts nearly 20 million Africans meet their death during the black holocaust, the MAAFA, but its commemoration took second place to a story about an “ethnic slur.”

This paper has never headlined Cecil’s formation of the “Friends of Forrest,” a white supremacist organization, or how he sued the City of Selma to keep a monument of a Klansman on public property. Nor did the paper report on an article he wrote stating the teaching black history “dumb downed” the curriculum and that his heroes are slave call treasonists.

Dr. Jefferson faces tremendous challenges as the interim superintendent of our school system. The attack on his character was untimely and unnecessary. To remain silent on this issue is to accept our inferior status, which is the goal of white supremacists. As for me, I refuse to accept the goals of white supremacists in and outside of the media.  I urge all people of good will to do the same. The consequences of acceptance are evident in the high crime, violence, school drop out rates and other avoidable social ills.

To headline a story about Dr. Jefferson without giving him an opportunity to make substantive changes in a troubled school system is unacceptable. His character and abilities cannot be defined in one statement. Unlike Cecil Williamson, he has no history of discrimination against Jews.

If we teach our children of their ancestral greatness, they can duplicate the accomplishments of their ancestors who were the first scientists, architects, physicians, engineers, philosophers and writers. I do urge all thinking people to reject the image that this paper has portrayed of Dr. Jefferson whose ancestral greatness is unquestionable. I also believe his commitment to uplift our children and our schools are unquestionable.

Faya Rose Toure (Rose Sanders)

Selma