Camilla, Georgia, despite being 70% Black, was running on Jim Crow time. There were no Black police officers and only three Black City Hall employees … including the janitor!
So when Rufus Davis was elected mayor, he thought he could finally change Camilla’s ways. Little did he know.
They locked him out! No, literally – they refused to give him the keys to City Hall for TWO YEARS! And to make matters worse, Black City Council members were in on the scheme.
After looking at their meeting notes for the past 10 years, Mayor Davis realized Black members not only voted in agreement with the racist white members, but didn’t even try to challenge what was going on in their segregated town! So, he resorted to boycotting City Council meetings in protest.
Electing Black politicians, who supposedly "represent" our experiences and interests, into positions of power is not a fix to the violence of this country. We'll only get free if we put our focus on challenging and transforming the system for the change we want to see – not just by electing people who look like us!