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Black and white residents of St. Petersburg should stand side by side in rejecting violence and discrediting the rhetoric of the Uhurus.
Omali Yeshitela's words sounded very much like extortion. After a night of disturbances in St. Petersburg, the leader of the Uhuru group said Thursday that Mayor Rick Baker "could save the city from going through a trauma by having the city attorneys make a settlement" of the lawsuit brought by the family of TyRon Lewis, the young black motorist fatally shot by police in 1996.
Lewis' death spurred serious violence eight years ago, and Yeshitela's irresponsible comments clearly were intended to raise fears of a repeat of that ugly period. Baker responded appropriately. The city has been in discussions about settling the lawsuit, he said, but "you do not settle it as a result of threats of criminal violence." Darryl Rouson, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, also has called for a settlement of the Lewis case, but he came forward Thursday to issue a forceful statement rejecting violence.
Much has changed in St. Petersburg, particularly in its predominantly black neighborhoods, since 1996. For one thing, Yeshitela and the Uhurus have been marginalized - and this week's events help to explain why. New African-American leaders have emerged in city and county government, in the NAACP and other civil rights organizations, and in local churches, schools and businesses, and many of them have proved to be effective advocates for their communities. Baker and his predecessor, David Fischer, committed themselves to an array of social and economic improvements in the Midtown neighborhoods, and those commitments have begun to produce tangible benefits. The Police Department, spurred by mistakes made during the 1996 unrest, has been reformed, and the city's first African-American chief, who oversaw many of those changes, now holds a position of influence in Baker's administration.
So when Yeshitela threatens St. Petersburg, he also threatens the many black residents who have a greater stake in the city's future than they once did. The Midtown residents whom Yeshitela claims to represent were the victims of most of the violence eight years ago, and they would suffer most from tensions that threaten the promise of further economic progress in their neighborhoods. They also have the greatest reason to be offended by the Uhurus' tired rhetoric. While Yeshitela's mind often seems trapped in another time and place, most Midtown residents, like their fellow citizens throughout St. Petersburg, are focused on their families, their jobs, their educations and their aspirations for a better life.
The Lewis lawsuit will be decided, in or out of court, on its own merits. Whatever that outcome, black and white residents of St. Petersburg, who were shaken by the disturbances of 1996, have an obligation to stand side by side now in rejecting the calls of those who would use violence to satisfy their personal agendas.