Durham residents fear Monday’s vote for chair and vice-chair of the Board of County Commissioners may stymie racial healing. Rumors that Commissioner-elect Nida Allam plans to nominate current board chair Wendy Jacobs to become vice-chair, after Commissioner-elect Nimasheena Burns nominates Brenda Howerton to become board chair, triggered massive backlash on social media.
Kevin Primus, who supported Jacobs in the pursuit of light rail, posted:
“How healing would it be for racial relations in Durham if all five county commissioners voted UNANIMOUSLY for a minority leadership in both the chair and vice chair roles?,” We saw the opposite dynamic in the school board race, where the entire school board publicly supported the experienced, white incumbent, but the Durham voters overwhelmingly supported the Latina challenger, centering the experiences and voices of a more marginalized community. Many Durham residents are on the edge of their seats to see if the newly elected board can unify around and support Black leadership.”
Cathy Rimer-Surles, co-chair of Organizing Against Racism, Durham and Episcopalians United Against Racism, says Jacobs has failed to take responsibility for actions in not responding appropriately with any sense of understanding of why Black people had concerns regarding the treatment of Durham County Manager Wendell Davis. Jacobs ordered an investigation of Davis after he made claims of mistreatment by Commissioner Heidi Carter that he says felt like actions rooted in racial bias. Jacobs argued Davis wrote the letter to influence a primary election with her and Carter on ballot.
“I would completely agree that the issue of trust is huge and having Wendy in either the chair or vice-chair would not make sense because of that,” said Rimer-Surles. “It’s time to take a step back and try to listen more carefully and understand the concerns of the Black community and why there are so many concerns, and really try to do some self- reflection and understand better power dynamics in Durham.”
Rimer-Surles says white people must learn to relinquish power to affirm the work of anti-racism.
“I am a part of that demographic in Durham, which is the white progressive. We've done some good stuff, but we also have a sense of entitlement,” Rimer-Surles said. “I think about power in Durham and I think that we white progressives need to be more self-reflective of our white fragility, and how lack of awareness causes harm in Durham. Be a lot more willing to take a step back in acknowledge how our actions contribute to a white supremacist culture.
Nia Wilson, co-director of SpiritHouse, is organizing people to contact members of the board of county commissioners to express concerns involving the potential vote making Jacobs vice-chair. Like Primus, she is seeking a unanimous vote for Howerton and Burns as a statement validating Black women in leadership.
Wilson contends Durham prides itself in being a progressive city, but, in her opinion, it’s not. She says Durham is rooted in white liberalism; an ideology that believes white people will eradicate inequality while refusing to forfeit power.
“It is very paternalistic, that they will take care of everyone so that people feel comfortable, but what they don’t do is trust people to know what they need and to share that power,” Wilson said.
Wilson says Jacobs and Carter have not been accountable for the harm they caused with issues involving Davis.
“They waited until after the report from the Racial Equity Task Force before either one of them even apologized. So, while you (Rev-elution) have writing articles, and people are calling for accountability, they continued to dig their heels in,” Wilson said. “But after the Racial Equity Task Force makes their report, Heidi apologizes and told us what she was going to do. The first step in accountability, when you’ve caused harm, is to find out what the people that you have harmed need for accountability. She did not ask. She said I am sorry, and this is what I’m going to do.”
Wilson discussed the underlying message in Jacobs’ desire to be named vice-chair.
“You are asking Brenda to co-chair the county commission with a person who has been racist, who has been abusive and who can be considered someone who has been an oppressor,” Wilson said. “So, in saying that in order for Brenda to have the chair position, she has to co-chair with her oppressor, then there is racism in full effect.”
Wilson says it is unfair to blame Allam for considering the nomination of Jacobs. She stressed it is not Allam’s role to serve as the mediator in the healing among board members.
“People of Color are positioning themselves to appease white people without being in conversations with the white people around what it is they need for them to do,” Wilsom said. “They put their cards on the table and we have to once again compromise for their comfort.
Camryn Lawrence Smith is the Executive Director of Communities in Partnership and Co-Founder of Neighborhood Allies of Durham. She also serves as the Co-Chair, with Cathy Rimer-Surle, of Organizing Against Racism, Durham. Smith says white people fail to see how they operationalize and weaponize systems rooted in white supremacy, and how they use those systems to penalize and punish Black people who speak out.
“They (Jacobs and Carter) have an unwillingness to listen to the people, to the voices of people, who have been directly impacted and who actually know what they are talking about,” Smith said. “So, that leads me to have very little trust at all. I have no confidence at all in their ability to lead from a perspective that infuses equity and looks out for the best self-interest of those at the bottom of the rung, which are mostly Black, indigenous and Latinx community members.”
Smith says she knows a lot of people would say that people with her perspective are biased.
“What I will say is history is on our side as whiteness never wanting to be told, not wanting to be called out, not wanting to be held accountable.” Smith said. “Brenda and Nimasheena are Black women this community trusts in terms of how they operationalize equity.”
Smith says she does not trust Carter and Jacobs due to a lack of transparency, understanding and the lack of communication with County Manager Wendell Davis, a Black man she says the community wants to continue to trust because he listens and has a relationship with the Black community.
“How she (Jacobs) handled that entire situation, in my opinion, is indicative of how Wendy deals with issues of conflict that are centered in race,” Smith said. “I have no confidence in her because these issues are going to come up. These issues are going to crop up because people are people, no one is perfect, and we have a long history of racialized and institution racism”
Smith says all the data is telling white liberals what they’re doing is not working. Jacobs, and other white liberals, align themselves with Black people who have assimilated themselves to operationalize white supremacy in Black embodiment to confirm in their owns minds they are doing things the right way.
"So, what we’re asking for them to do is stop listening to confused Black and brown people who are fitted to white supremacy,” Smith said. “We’re asking them to listen to people who are actually doing the work on the ground and who are actually dedicated.”
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