State: Civil rights crusade fires up small town

PERRY -- Just as the sun began to descend Friday behind the Spanish moss, a charter bus pulled up beside Perry Package and Lounge. Black state lawmakers and activists spilled out, and about 40 of them squeezed into the bar that a month ago refused to serve a visiting black lawmaker from Maryland.

Cameras and microphones caught every word as state Rep. Frederica Wilson, civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton and others grilled bar owner David Holton, first at the front counter and later in the back room where visiting lawmaker Talmadge Branch was told he had to go for a drink.

"A lot of people say this is the custom here," said Sharpton, who had followed the entourage in a separate car. Holton insisted that Branch's Feb. 3 experience was a misunderstanding.

"I have never made anyone come back here," Holton answered. "(But) I'm going to close this back room because it's hurting their feelings," Holton said of black residents.

He did promise to hire a black employee if any of the legislative black caucus delegates could recommend one.

"I'll do it. I'm always looking for good help."

Branch was headed for Tallahassee last month when he stopped at Perry Package to get a drink. According to the police report Branch filed, he was told that "the rules" required that he be served in the back room with the rest of the "coloreds."

For the incident, Holton and the bartender were charged with criminal second-degree misdemeanors. Each agreed to pay a $500 fine and write a letter of apology to Branch. Holton also faces the revocation of his liquor license and potentially tens of thousands of dollars in fines from Attorney General Bob Butterworth's office.

As the delegation left Perry Package by the back door and under the watchful eyes of state law enforcement agents, Perry resident Drexel James stopped them.

"The problem is the whole town," not just Perry Package, said James, who is black. "If you go in there and start a fight, you're going downtown" to the police station, James said. Delegates took down James' name and promised to keep in touch before getting back on the bus.

Branch heeded his attorney's advice to stay on the bus during the Perry Package stopover. But when the bus later turned the corner toward its next stop, Stewart Memorial AME Church, his eyes widened. A sea of about 200 cars covered the church's parking lot and overflowed onto the sides of U.S. 98 to the west.

Inside the church, about 200 people crowded the pews and about another 100 listened outside. Hands clapped, fans fluttered and chants of "Fired up -- can't take it no more" echoed in the church hall.

"The fact that you have packed this church confirms that there is a problem," Sharpton told the crowd, which included just a handful of white faces.

"They call us outside agitators, but it was an outsider named Branch who they sent to the outhouse of Perry Package," Sharpton added.

Then it was Branch's turn. In a soft voice that contrasted with Sharpton's exclamations, Branch thanked residents for coming.

"I was a bit uneasy coming back to Perry," Branch said.

"But now that I've walked into the church and have seen the light on your faces, I can say: It was all worth it. . . . This must come to an end, and it will end in Perry and it will end in Florida and it will end in the world."

David Winter, one of the few white Perry residents to attend the church rally, said he felt compelled to come after hearing about Branch's experience at Perry Package.

"It's an incident that doesn't represent the feelings of everyone in Perry," Winter said. He added that he was surprised the crowd included so few whites.

"I am disappointed that none of the white ministers showed up."

Wilson wasn't disappointed with the turnout. The Miami Democrat, who said she spotted suspected Ku Klux Klan members Thursday night while preparing for Friday's meeting, said the crowd was more than she expected.

"I'm overwhelmed," said Wilson, also the legislative black caucus' chairwoman. She and the rest of the entourage had to drive back to Tallahassee early Friday evening, but she left behind a state official to collect names of people who'd suffered from discrimination and a promise:

"We will return."