Pubdate: Sun, 29 Jun 2003
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2003 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact:  http://amarillonet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13
Author: Greg Cunningham
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas)

WALKING A ROAD TO RECOVERY

Tulia Continues To Fend Off Attacks From Outsiders

Editor's Note: Globe-News Staff Writer Greg Cunningham has covered the 
controversial Tulia drug bust for three years. Forty-six people were 
arrested in the 1999 bust, 39 of them black.

TULIA - Like a bruised and battered prizefighter heaving himself off the 
stool for the championship rounds, the small town of Tulia continues to 
shuffle forward, defense up, head down.

For nearly four years, the town of about 5,100 people has absorbed body 
blow after body blow from the national media in the wake of the 
controversial 1999 drug bust.

The attacks come in the same form each time. The reporters come to town, 
spend a day or two, and do their stories. When the stories come out, the 
word that stings the most never fails to come up.

Always implied and usually applied, the term racist slaps the town upside 
the head every time.

Every once in a while, the town mounts a counterattack when a prominent 
resident or civic leader steps forward to defend the town's honor, then 
it's back to defense - hands up, elbows in tight to the rib cage.

The latest person to take up for Tulia is Swisher County Commissioner Lloyd 
Rahlfs, who said he has had enough of being silent while Tulia is attacked 
by outsiders.

Rahlfs makes many of the same points that have been made about the town by 
prior defenders: Tulia was trying to do the right thing with the bust, 
taking care of a serious drug problem; the community backs the bust because 
of its faith in its law enforcement officers; no one who really knows Tulia 
could say the town is racist

"That's one thing that really gets me," Rahlfs said. "People come down from 
New York City for a week and think they know all the defendants and their 
histories, and all of our histories. They think they're qualified to make a 
judgment about who we are and what happened here."

But in the midst of making all the points that have been made before, a 
tint of a new perspective works its way into the conversation. Rahlfs talks 
about reconciliation - not just leaving the bust in the past, but trying to 
heal the wounds and reunite the town.

"We've been slammed so much," Rahlfs said. "We've been called racist. It's 
time to put an end to all this. It's time to put it behind us.

"We need to go on with our lives, both sides.

"We've cleared the slate here. Let's try to end this and get our 
relationships back."

What Has Gone Before

That tone of reconciliation may signal a new turn in the Tulia saga, 
holding forth the possibility for the town to truly put the past four years 
behind it.

The struggle to do so no doubt will be difficult, but another Texas town 
has been through the process and laid down a road map.

The small East Texas town of Jasper in 1998 found itself in much the same 
position as Tulia today. Seared by the national spotlight in the wake of 
the brutal dragging death of James Byrd Jr., painted by the wide brush of 
racism and facing an eternity of its name associated with a national 
controversy, Jasper needed a way out.

The majority of people in Jasper felt the same way then as the people of 
Tulia feel now. They were upset that their town was being attacked because 
of things over which they had no control. They were mad that the label of 
racist was being applied to a town they knew was not racist. They didn't 
want the name Jasper forever connected to the Byrd tragedy.

But rather than drop into a defensive crouch, Jasper changed its tactics. 
Like a wily veteran fighter, Jasper found a way to not just survive the 
fight, but to actually adjust its approach and take a shot at winning it.

Leaders of the city - civic and religious - stepped forward to say Jasper 
needed to examine itself and what happened there. A commission was formed. 
Town hall meetings were held.

In the midst of all the dialogue, a funny thing happened. People found out 
new things about themselves and their neighbors. New understandings were 
formed, and Jasper emerged a better place to live.

"We did open up some serious dialogue throughout the community and began to 
really discuss some perceptions and some misperceptions about the culture 
and about racism," said Walter Diggles, who helped lead the reconciliation 
process as executive director of the Deep East Texas Council of 
Governments. "It helped us a lot to really come to grips with real racism 
that was present in our town - in the way we do business and enforce our 
laws - but that many never saw."

Diggles said the process was painful and by no means involved the entire 
town, but a large portion of the population did participate, and the town 
became a better place to live as a result.

Jasper is a long way from Tulia, and no one is certain that a 
reconciliation is possible or even wanted in the Panhandle town. One thing 
is certain, however, doing nothing will leave the wounds Tulia has suffered 
over the past four years to turn into deep scars with no prospects for 
proper healing.

Religious Leaders Step to Forefront

The conscience of any community rests in its churches, especially in a 
deeply religious community like Tulia.

Religious leaders are expected to take the lead in matters of morality, and 
they appear to be doing so in Tulia. Conversations with several religious 
leaders in town indicate that they have already planted the seeds of the 
process.

"The whole thing has to be centered around prayer," said Matthew Veals, 
pastor of New Fellowship Baptist Church. "We have to bring God into the 
equation because it's just down to the point where there's been so much 
outside interfering that nobody's really even considering that maybe there 
is such a thing as a racial harmony."

Veals said his mostly black flock is strongly supportive of a process that 
can lead to greater racial understanding in Tulia. That process is under 
way among religious leaders, Veals said, but is in such an early stage that 
no details can be released.

The push for reconciliation won't be coming just from Tulia's black 
churches, however.

Rob Lindley, pastor of First Methodist Church in Tulia, said he also 
supports the idea of getting supporters and opponents of the drug bust to 
reach across to each other and heal the wounds.

"We need to come together with our differences," Lindley said. "We can 
continue to have our differences, but we can still come together, because 
it's our community. As long as we keep our community in the forefront, 
rather than people's vendettas or agendas, we'll be healthy." Lindley knows 
the task will be difficult because he still sees a lot of anger in his 
parishioners over the plight of Tulia.

That anger is present in many Tulia residents, most of whom refuse to talk 
on the record to the media anymore.

One Tulia businessman, who asked not to be identified, said he thought the 
anger is so fresh, that it may be some time before people in Tulia are 
ready for reconciliation.

"People are still plenty mad about what's been said about this community," 
the Tulia businessman said. "They (the media) came in and jumped all over 
us, and they didn't know the first thing about us."

The Obstacles

Lindley's idea of maintaining differences but finding common ground could 
be crucial because supporters and opponents of the bust still hold onto 
beliefs that appear to be diametrically opposed.

Like many in his flock and many in town, Lindley supports the idea of the 
bust, saying it was done for the right reasons. He admits there may have 
been problems with the way the undercover agent, Tom Coleman, conducted the 
investigation, but he says that's no reason to discount the entire 
investigation and certainly no reason to indict the entire law enforcement 
community.

Another common belief shared by Lindley and many in Tulia is that there 
really isn't even another "side" to reach out to. The media has repeatedly 
painted Tulia as a town divided between black and white, but many in Tulia 
say the division is actually between a large majority and a tiny few who 
oppose the bust.

Many in town put most of the blame for the damage to Tulia on the 
defense-support organization Friends of Justice, and its two most 
high-profile members, Alan Bean and Gary Gardner.

A conversation with Bean reveals that many of his beliefs are just as 
strong as those held by his opponents and could be just as big of a 
roadblock to reconciliation. Bean said he is willing to participate in 
discussion, but his strong beliefs would appear to leave little room for 
compromise.

"I'm willing to sit down with anybody, anytime, under any conditions and 
talk about this in a civil manner," Bean said. "I think if there are people 
on the other side of the issue who are willing to take the same stance, 
we're in pretty good shape.

"I am perfectly confident in my position, however. I have no doubt that I 
am right about this thing. I think my views have been borne out. If people 
don't understand why this is so, I would like nothing better to sit down 
and to tell them why I think this is so."

Gardner, for his part, rejects the idea of dialogue, saying there is little 
hope for the people of Tulia to achieve any sort of racial reconciliation.

Gardner points out that Tulia differs drastically from Jasper in that the 
residents of Jasper spoke out immediately against the crime in their city 
and moved quickly toward reconciliation.

In Tulia, four years have passed, and any effort at reconciliation could be 
described, at best, as nascent.

"I think this whole deal is like a nasty cut on the finger," Gardner said. 
"You just put a Band-Aid on it, ignore it and go back to work. A lot of 
people talk about the thing. I say just let them get on with their lives."

The defendants from the bust also express an eagerness to get all the 
enmity and strife in Tulia put behind them, but they also have impediments 
to being successful in that regard.

Some of the defendants are angry over their time behind bars, and most hold 
some distrust of the town that sent them to prison, which could make it 
difficult to participate in reconciliation.

Freddie Brookins Jr. seems to exemplify that mind set. Brookins said he 
would love to see Tulia move on, but he's just not sure it's possible.

"I believe that we could put this behind us," Brookins said. "But there's a 
lot of people who still don't want to. After all the facts have been shown, 
they still think we're guilty.

"The only way we're going to be able to put this behind us, is just if 
people stop being ignorant and look at the facts."

Who Will Lead?

Those strongly held beliefs on both sides are a significant hurdle to be 
overcome on the road to reconciliation, but they are by no means 
insurmountable obstacles.

Jennifer Kunz, professor of sociology at West Texas A&M University and an 
expert on race relations, said a dialogue among willing people could 
overcome those opposing beliefs, if the conversation can be started.

"A person doesn't have to believe they are prejudiced to benefit from this 
process," Kunz said. "A willingness to listen can be enough.

"Often, people find they are prejudiced in small ways they weren't aware of."

Kunz said what is needed to get people involved in the dialogue is a 
trusted community leader or leaders willing to take the first step toward 
starting a conversation.

Candidates for this position are many, including Tulia Mayor Boyd Vaughn or 
Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart, both of whom expressed a willingness 
to engage in talks but not much interest in taking the lead in staking out 
middle ground.

"If they would like to get together and talk, if they think something's 
really bad, we'd be happy to sit down with them," Vaughn said. "If the 
community wants to get together and have a town hall or do it in small 
groups, we'll sit down and get with them, too."

Stewart said talks would be a natural thing for Tulia.

"I don't think you could ever go wrong with trying to understand each 
other," Stewart said. "This is a good community with great people. Any 
community with good folks like this would be willing to sit down and talk 
with our neighbors."

Perhaps what is needed to create a willingness to compromise is someone to 
show that compromise is possible, even desirable.

That demonstration could come from the most unlikely of places in the form 
of Randy Credico. At the beginning of the Tulia controversy, the New York 
stand-up comic and social activist made himself one of the most disliked 
people in town with his grating personality and attacks against the people 
of Tulia.

Things started to change for Credico, however, as he spent more time in 
town. Despite all the grenades he lobbed during his fight against the bust, 
the people in town always treated him civilly. He began to change his mind 
about folks in Tulia.

Then, an even more interesting thing happened. Credico started talking to 
Stewart. Slowly, the incendiary critic of the bust and one of its 
staunchest defenders started to see eye to eye on a lot of things.

Now, Credico has come full circle. He was in Tulia this weekend to talk 
with Stewart and city leaders about how he can help undo some of the damage 
he helped create at the beginning of the controversy.

"You have a nuclear explosion on this city, and when the dust settles, and 
all the media leaves, where is everybody?" Credico said. "You can't just 
leave things this way."

Credico said he is committed to doing what he can to heal the wounds of 
Tulia, a town which has won a place in his heart. Credico is showing his 
commitment by raising funds for a community project - such as a swimming 
pool or community center - to help bring Tulia back together.

"Tulia didn't deserve all of this," Credico said. "I said a lot of bad 
things about it, but Tulia's no more racist than any other city. I like the 
people there. I think it's a great city."

Tulia has several rounds left in its fight and a couple of options for how 
it will play out. The town can continue its tight defense and last through 
the final rounds, or it can follow the lead of Jasper and change tactics, 
looking for a new way to win the fight.

If reconciliation is the choice, it will no doubt be difficult and will 
require a leader to show the way to common ground, a leader who has yet to 
step forward.

But it's hard to resist the compelling image of Credico, the bust's most 
vocal opponent, and Stewart, its most ardent supporter, and their unlikely 
reconciliation leading the way to a better future.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom