“Standing in the Gap of Wendell’s Truth” is the name given the peaceful protest planned for Wednesday, July 8th at 11:00 a.m. The Durham County Administrative Building is chosen as the site to demonstrate an investigation against Davis for charges he wrote a letter to influence the outcome of the election of members of the Durham Board of County Commissioners.
“We
are standing in the gap for Wendell Davis due to the non-transparency and what
we see as the retaliatory actions against him due to him stepping forward,”
Steven Williams, one of the rally organizers, said “One thing is always
certain, if an individual has to explain why they are not racist, then
most likely they are indeed.”
Davis’ February 11 tree-page letter accused Heidi Carter, a
white member of the Board of County Commissioners, of “inherent bias” toward
him and other “people of color in general.” Davis suggest Carter’s bias was at
play during a February 3 work session when she said the county would have
developed a funding plan for Durham Public Schools sooner “were it not for the
manager.”
Williams,
who serves as a member of the Workforce Development Board, says supporters of
Carter refuse to concede how Black people feel.
“You
can easily identify racism by a person’s actions not by what they say. In
this case, Commissioner Carter was charged with similar accusations during her
tenure on the Durham Public School Board which is public record,” Williams said.
“Therefore, we are demanding a fair and transparent investigation which will
avail the details of Wendell’s grievance publicly so as a community we can
assist the Commissioners on deciding next steps and moving forward together.”
Otis Lyons, founder and president of Campaign4Change, facilitated
conversations leading to the rally. Lyons, also known as Vegas Don for his
unique approach in reaching troubled youth, says the attack against Davis is an
example of modern-day lynching.
“He [Davis] is being served injustice because he stood up against racism,” Lyons said. “White liberals are trying to oust him which is nothing but systemic racism. Their goal is to get rid of Wendell, and people of color -Durham County employees will be next.”
At the end of the February 24 Durham County Commissioners board meeting, Wendy Jacobs, chair of the board, announced an investigation of all issues pertaining to Davis’s accusation that Carter targeted him with racist comments. Th room was packed with angry citizens who booed after Jacobs said she recognized Davis’ feelings were hurt.
Things got messy when Jacobs announced a second investigation during the April 27 virtually held board meeting. Jacobs said county commissioners instructed the county attorney and county clerk to submit notification regarding a second investigation against Davis.
The investigation against Davis focuses on the actions that the county manager took in the way he sent the letter as it relates to the intent in impacting the election. Durham County Commissioner Brenda Howerton was surprised by the decision.
“You mentioned two issues that you had not informed me about. One of those issues, you had not informed me of,” Howerton said during a tense exchange with Jacobs.
Jacobs recommended going into closed session with an attorney present and chided Howerton for bringing personnel matters during a public meeting.
“Don’t throw stuff out that you haven’t discussed with me,” Howerton responded.
Howerton expressed concerns about the investigation of Davis in an April 21 email. She wrote that the investigation being “pushed through” in a very clandestine way” is problematic. She said she voted against an investigation demanding resources from a budget impacted massively by Covid-19. She also questioned “how decisions are being made when all board members aren’t apprised.”
In a May 15 Facebook post, Rev. Mark-Anthony Middleton, a member of the Durham City Council, called for county commissioners to end the investigation due to limited transparency and resources caused by Covid-19.
“The proposition that at this time our commanding general would be occupied with anything other than defending us; and our elected leaders would direct precious resources towards investigating circumstances around an election that has already been certified and broke in their favor is tantamount to a dereliction of duty, and an abuse of power,” Middleton said.
The call to cease the investigation of Davis has been met with deaf ears. Organizers fear Covid-19 and the necessity of virtual meetings prevents citizens from crashing meetings to express their outrage. Prepare for a large group of protestors in downtown Durham on July 8 at noon.
They’ll be screaming about the pain of a knee on neck.
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