Jim Clark Responds to Juan Lynum

Mr Lynum,
 
I think you need to study African-American history. The fact is that Florida had the highest rate of lynchings per capita in the entire nation. These were not people who were stopped for broken taillights, but people who gave their lives because of bigotry. They were leaders such as Harry T. Moore, the pioneer leader of the Florida chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Moore and his wife were brutally murdered as they slept in their Mims home on Christmas night 1951. He had fought for civil rights and to free the Groveland Four. To me, this is a lynching, not being stopped for a broken taillight, or being criticized for calling your mother whenever things go against you. No matter what criticism you face, to you it is a “high-tech lynching.”More than 2,500 African Americans were lynched in America beginning in 1890. Please study the case of William Reed, an African American who was lynched in 1915 in Altamonte Springs for talking with a white woman. That is a lynching. Stopping someone for a broken taillight is not a lynching. Criticizing someone for calling Mommy is not a lynching.
 
As for our publication, we are proud of our coverage of the African-American community. I am looking at our December issue and see pictures of nearly two dozen African-American leaders from Orlando. There is Reynold Washington, Keith Tribble, Ray Gilley (two pictures), Beverly Marshall-Luney (three pictures), Keith and Joyce Blanden, Commissioner Billy Dean, Isadora Dean, Reggie Savage, Lynn Edwards, Amelyn Jean-Baptiste, Carolyn Tribble, Linda Walker, Juanita Roundtree, Phylis Moore, Ron  Brookins, Doris Brookins, Leon Brookins, Fairolyn Livingston,Gwladys Kabore, Bill Edwards, and Bob Burns. We also have dedicated an entire page to photos of the opening ceremony of the Heritage Center, which celebrates the history of African-Americans in Winter Park. Do you know of any other publication which dedicated so much space to this event? I notice that one of your e-mails is sent to Onyx magazine You are certainly aware of our support of their annual event. We have sent photograph ers to cover their awards, given them extensive coverage and I have been a presenter three years. We don’t pretend that we do enough, or that there are not publications such as the Orlando Times or the Pine Hills News that do a far better job.
 
As for your claim that you are a member of the African-American leadership in Orlando, I can only refer you to the results of a recent election in which you were a losing candidate. The African-American voters in Orlando apparently disagree with you. When I think of African American leaders in Orlando, I think of the men and women who stood up when the cost was high, not those who whined at every turn.
 
Please stop trivializing the great contributions African-American leaders have made in the Civil Rights struggle in our community by equating yourself and your broken taillight to their sacrifices.
 
Best,
Jim Clark