Perry mired in racism, black residents say

Residents, activists and lawmakers gather to assess the amount of progress in the town since a February racial incident: None.

By ALISA ULFERTS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2001

PERRY -- Charles Thomas recalled the last time he asked a white employee to stock the shelves at the Kmart where he works as a department manager.

"She said, 'N-----, you don't tell me what to do," Thomas told about 100 people, including civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton and state Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat and chairwoman of the state's legislative black caucus.

Residents of this small Taylor County town gathered Sunday afternoon at the New Brooklyn Missionary Baptist Church to talk about what changes, if any, had taken place in the two months since a bus load of black lawmakers came to town to discuss racial discrimination.

The answer, about 100 residents agreed, was none.

When Thomas, 38, complained to the store manager, he said, nothing was done. But that won't stop him from protesting whenever he sees black customers followed through the store, a practice he said managers call a "Code 406."

"You're not going to run me off. I'm going to fight for my rights and my people's rights," Thomas said.

A manager at the local Kmart declined to comment on Thomas' charge. There was no one available to comment Sunday at Kmart's headquarters.

Perry became the focus of national attention in February when a visiting black lawmaker from Maryland said he was told he had to be served in a back room.

According to the police report Delegate Talmadge Branch filed, he was told that "the rules" required that he be served in the back room with the rest of the "coloreds."

Bar owner David Holton, who says the incident was a misunderstanding, faces the possible revocation of his liquor license and potentially thousands of dollars in fines.

Sunday's meeting in Perry wasn't the first time the black caucus visited the town, Wilson said. And it won't be the last, she added.

After the March trip, Wilson and other caucus members gave Perry a failing grade in several categories, including education, housing, criminal justice and access to businesses.

They listened to residents for about three hours, and then gave failing grades in the categories again. Wilson said the caucus will come back this summer to issue another report card.

Perry residents who spoke Sunday said they and their children have been harassed by police, required to pay at restaurants before they were served and have been followed when they shop. Some filed racial discrimination complaints and lost their jobs.

Wayne Dunwoody said black residents who go to Denny's in the early morning have to pay up front for their food, even though the white crowd, which shows up a little earlier, can pay after they eat.

When Dunwoody, 38, asked the manager why blacks have to pay up front, Dunwoody said he was told that people who come that late often just leave without paying.

Kenneth Miller, a former corrections deputy, said black inmates were treated more harshly than whites at the Taylor County correctional facility. He said he often heard racial slurs after he used the prison communications system. He said he was fired in April after he filed a racial discrimination complaint. He was accused of sleeping on the job, a charge he denies.

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