An Explanation for the Riots in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD – in 5000 words (or less).

Four hundred years ago, our ancestors began importing native black Africans from their home continent to the North American continent, in chains, shoved below the decks of ships built especially for the purpose of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Three hundred years ago the practice of chattel slavery was so well entrenched into British-Colonial North American culture, that it was not only legal, but widely practiced in every single British colony in this hemisphere. In the southern colonies of the eighteenth century, the number of African descent slaves vastly outnumbered the number of white colonists, creating a social dynamic infused with fear and terror. Slave owners and their white employees feared violent uprising. Using their power and money, acquired largely through the benefit of slave labor, they influenced the courts and colonial legislative bodies to begin passing ever-more draconian laws against those of African Descent – forcing those few individuals who had managed to purchase their own freedom or win manumission through other means to leave the place where they were born, raised, and earned their living – to leave their families and friends still in bondage, behind. To stay meant to be forced to return to slavery. It’s in this era that it became legal for an owner to beat, mutilate, or even kill his slaves “as he saw fit”.

Two hundred seventy-six years ago, the Stono Slave Rebellion began in the colony of Charleston, South Carolina. The rebellion failed and everyone involved was either executed or sold into the West Indies. In response to the rebellion, the South Carolina legislature passed the Negro Act of 1740 restricting slave assembly, education, and movement. It required legislative approval for manumissions, which slaveholders had previously been able to arrange privately.

Two hundred twenty-seven years ago, after the American Revolution was won by the former British colonies of continental North America, the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified. The preamble of this document reads, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Within the same document, the founding fathers saw fit to enshrine chattel slavery as the law of the land, and to measure a person of African heritage as equal to 3/5 of a person.

Two hundred and twenty-four years ago, the Haitian Revolution began as a slave revolt in the French Colony of Saint-Domingue. This slave uprising was successful and culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution is generally considered the most successful slave rebellion ever to have occurred and it was a seminal moment in the histories of both Europe and the Americas. The success of the slaves on Saint-Domingue in throwing off the yolk of colonial rule through violent rebellion, the organized murder of plantation owners, and armed insurrection against a vastly superior military force, simply terrified white, slave-owning Americans. What occurred at Saint-Domingue caused a new round of extremely draconian legislative actions to be passed in the American South, as well as increasing militarization of the southern states.

Two hundred and fifteen years ago, not far from Richmond Virginia, a slave named Gabriel Prosser launched a plot to execute plantation owners and slaveholders, and to seize the city of Richmond. He recruited more than fifty slaves at the outset of his plan, but was thwarted by a fellow-slave who communicated a warning to his master. The planned rebellion failed at the very last moment before it was to be carried out, but the fact that it was very nearly successful shook Virginian’s to their core. Everyone found to be associated with the plot was executed. The state of Virginia responded by raising county-wide, highly-trained, regularly drilled militias, and the city of Richmond became a militarized camp with armed militia members patrolling the city on foot and horseback and parading around the capitol grounds on a daily basis. The militarization of Virginia continued unabated until the end of the US Civil War.

Two hundred and eight years ago, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which outlawed the kidnapping, imprisonment, export, and sale of African slaves. The British Navy aggressively enforced this legislation, which through blockade, seizure of vessels, and prosecution of ship owners and crews, brought a halt to the lion’s share of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The impact on the former colonies in North America was profound, shutting down the possibility that fresh slaves could be purchased to replace those worked to death (average lifespan after arrival to North America was five years) in the brutal sugar, rice, and indigo industries of the Deep South and Caribbean regions. Shortly after the implementation of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, American plantation owners in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina – particularly in central and eastern areas of those states where the farm land had been depleted – began purposeful and increasingly more sophisticated slave breeding programs based on contemporary cattle, horse, and pig breeding methodologies.

Between 1830 and 1860, roughly 10,000 slaves per month were sold or traded from the bustling slave market at Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, Virginia. This number was eclipsed by the larger, older, and even busier market at New Orleans, and it was nearly matched by the competing slave markets at Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. Taking just the Virginia numbers into account, more than three million individual slaves were bred, raised, and sold out of the piney woods of Virginia into the sugar, rice, and indigo killing fields of the Deep South.

Slavery – not plant agriculture (tobacco, cotton, grains) – was Virginia’s largest and most profitable industry in the decades leading up the US Civil War. Slavery made the state of Virginia the wealthiest in the United States, at a time when the United States was already competing with Great Britain to become the wealthiest nation in the world.

One hundred and fifty-four years ago the United State Civil War began. People, even today, argue as to what the cause of the war was, but few rational people will deny that the central points of debate had everything to do with money and political power. In 1860, the South possessed great wealth and great political power. The North and the emerging west felt that the South’s dominance was due to the constitutionally enshrined 3/5’s rule, which gave the South a disproportionally larger representation in the United States House of Representatives – and due to the reality that Southern employers did not have to pay wages to their workforce, a situation which gave them an unfair competitive advantage compared to employers in non-slave states.

When the United States government passed the Conscription Act, forcing millions of mostly young, recently immigrated, poor young men into service in the United States Army and Navy in support of the Union government in the Civil War, violent riots erupted, most notably in New York City. The city spiraled into chaos, with most of the animas directed at the city’s African population. An orphanage was attacked and looted, numerous homes and business were looted and burned, thousands of African American New Yorkers were assaulted on the streets, in their places of work, and in their homes. 120 African-descent New Yorkers were murdered over the three day riots before the US Army occupied the streets and forcibly restored order. This event remains the largest civil and racial insurrection in American history, aside from the American Civil War itself.

As the Civil War ramped up, the Southern Slave Trade continued. Despite The Emancipation Proclamation of January, 1863, nearly all American’s of African descent remained in bondage. Many of those who found themselves near the Union Army, chose to “run” hoping for freedom. What they found instead was forced labor under dreadful and dangerous circumstances, neglect to the point of starvation, constant marching with little or no housing provided to protect them from the elements, and being labeled “contraband” by the leaders and soldiers to whom they had fled seeking safety and relief.

For those that remained behind southern lines, nothing changed. Families were broken up. People were traded like cattle. There was no hope for freedom. It could not be bought, stolen, or earned. In the American South during the Civil War, it became illegal to free one’s slaves, or to transport them out of the reach of the Confederate government. As the deprivations of war took hold – food shortages, lack of fuel, lack of shoes and material for clothing – it was the slaves who endured the worst of the famine, cold, and nakedness. The slaves, who had always gotten the scraps left unwanted by their masters, got little to nothing at all.

When the Civil War ended with a Union victory in 1865, all the slaves in America were made free. Since it had been illegal for a slave to own private or even personal property, the overwhelming number of former slaves had absolutely nothing with which to begin their new lives. Never-the-less, many managed to quickly pull themselves up and start small businesses, lease farms abandoned by economically devastated former plantation owners, even build schools and begin to educate themselves and become politically active in an effort to improve their status in society and improve their lives and hopefully the lives of their children.

During the “Reconstruction” period after the conclusion of the Civil War, Union soldiers occupied much of the defeated south, and through their armed presence, enforced a nascent form of early civil rights. The South’s elected representatives were replaced by Union government appointed officials charged with the mission of restoring the Bill of Rights and Constitutions protections to the region, as well as enforcing the newly passed 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments (abolition of slavery, equal protection, voting rights).

One hundred and thirty-eight years ago the United States government formally ended the period of occupation of former Confederate states. Military troops were withdrawn and occupation governments were pulled out. Into that vacuum rushed a power-structure that had been patiently waiting, planning, and working for just such a US Government withdrawal. Almost overnight all gains made by those of African descent were erased. The era of Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan, and racial segregation the likes of which had never existed prior to the Civil War, was ushered in under a black cloud of terror and threat of violence.

The culminating event of the Post-Reconstruction/Pre-Jim Crow era occurred in 1898 in the city of Wilmington, North Carolina. According to Wikipedia; “The Wilmington coup d’etat of 1898, also known as the Wilmington massacre of 1898, or the Wilmington race riot of 1898, began… on November 10, 1898 and continued for several days. It is considered a turning point in post-Reconstruction North Carolina politics. The event is credited as ushering in an era of severe racial segregation and disenfranchisement of African-Americans throughout the Southeastern United States. Laura Edwards wrote in Democracy Betrayed (2000), ‘What happened in Wilmington became an affirmation of white supremacy not just in that one city, but in the South and in the nation as a whole.’

“Originally described by European-Americans as a race riot, the events are now classified as a coup d’etat, as white Democratic Party insurgents overthrew the legitimately elected local government. A mob of nearly 2,000 men attacked the only black newspaper in the state, and persons and property in black neighborhoods, killing… 60 victims.

“Two days after the election of a Fusionist white mayor and biracial city council, two-thirds of which was white, Democratic Party white supremacists illegally seized power and overturned the elected government.” The mob who seized Wilmington by force and through murder, stayed in force. In fact they managed to motivate the rest of the state of North Carolina to elect white-Supremacist Charles B. Aycock as governor the following year.

By the turn of the 20^th century, the American South and large parts of the north and Midwest, consisted of communities divided by race, enforced by threat of violence. While it was not uncommon for some whites to employ African-America female domestics inside their homes as cooks, laundresses, nannies, and maids, and to employ African-American men outside their homes as gardeners or for labor, most whites had extremely limited contact with blacks. Churches were segregated (this was not true prior to the Civil War), schools of course, were segregated, most businesses were segregated, and neighborhoods were completely segregated (this too, had not been so prior to the Civil War). Blacks, who had no power in the communities in which they lived, were forced to work for wages well-below the norm for a white person doing the same job. Economically, it was extremely difficult for blacks to buy property because banks would not make loans, and it was common (and legal) for businesses to deny blacks the opportunity to purchase property even if they had the funds.

Throughout the early 20^th century, racial intimidation against blacks increased in an effort to maintain the status quo of white power in a South and in cities that were increasingly black in population. Politician’s, the press, and business owners collectively conspired to foment smoldering racism by pitting low-income white workers against black workers, keeping whites afraid of losing their jobs, and blacks afraid of losing their lives.  Enforced segregation increased the gulf of understanding between the two races, keeping them apart from one another and thereby reducing the opportunity for people of different races to find common ground.

Despite all this, in the first half of the twentieth century, enforced segregation created a situation that allowed blacks to become increasingly self-reliant and self-sufficient. A vibrant black middle class emerged comprised of teachers, business owners, and eventually physicians, attorneys, and entrepreneurs. Black communities strongly emphasized education and religion, while placing a high value on a tight, nuclear family supported by extended family, and the larger community beyond. This success allowed many blacks to buy property, build wealth, and gain some political influence and autonomy. In the pre-WWII era in America, citizens of African-descent began to climb up out of the ravages of more than three hundred years of physical oppression and begin to participate economically in society that while not “equal”, was certainly far superior to anything experienced previously.

Seventy years ago, at the beginning of WWII, young black men found themselves called on by the United States government to serve their country in the War against Nazi Germany and its allies. Despite a great deal of opposition, Franklin D. Roosevelt integrated the US military, allowing men of African descent to bear arms on the battlefield for the first time since the United States Civil War. Young men fought and died in that war, defending the concepts of Liberty and Freedom on foreign shores. They performed admirably as soldiers, pilots, sailors, and marines. Their individual service records, their bravery, and their determination to prove their metal against a deeply prejudiced military population is now well-known. When the war concluded and these men returned home, they returned to communities where former POW German soldiers were served at lunch counters that they, former American soldiers, were turned away from. They, generally, were unable to reap many of the benefits of military service, as they could not be admitted to colleges that were accredited to accept VA benefits, VA home loans were closed to them, few employers would hire them, and the white communities in which they lived largely denied or ignored the fact of their service and sacrifice.

It was out of this crucible of hypocrisy and outrage that the early Civil Rights movement was born.  That movement took hold through the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, culminating with Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 27, 1963. The event made it clear to Washington, D.C., to the elected officials in Washington and throughout the nation, and to every American, that a sea-change was coming in regard to race in the country.

In the South, violence, intimidation, and white outrage was captured on television. Many American’s were horrified by what they saw. Young black and white civil rights workers were executed in Mississippi, and again, Americans were horrified. The Attorney General of the United States, Robert F. Kennedy, brought the force of the Federal Government and all-but occupied Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas, and other communities during this period.

Fifty-one years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, outlawing – for the first time since Reconstruction — discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace, and by facilities that served the general public.

Fifty years ago, Congress passed The Voting Rights Act of 1965. Per Wikipedia: “Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act resulted in the mass enfranchisement of racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.”

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

With his loss, the Civil Rights movement in the United States lost its captain, its compass, its wise counsellor, and – unfortunately – its core dedication to non-violent protest. Following King’s assassination, the country erupted in a series of violent riots between African-Americans and police. The outrage felt after King’s death marked a significant turning point in the tenor of race relations in the nation. The tone quickly turned militant, frustrated, and angry. The black community divided against itself, with the older generation wanting to keep peace and pursue non-violence, while younger proponents of equal justice seeking to grasp it “by any means necessary”. The tension and the grief in black communities became palpable.

With the Passing of the Civil Rights legislation in the late 1960’s, segregation in schools, housing, and businesses, gradually became a thing of the past – for some affluent members of the African-American community. No longer forced into “Red-Lined” communities, blacks who could afford to “moved on up”, and moved out to better neighborhoods offering better school districts and greater social and economic advantages to their children.  Black consumers, now free to trade with any business they chose, went out of their neighborhoods to patronize businesses with better selections, perhaps lower prices, and all certainly offering a novel experience as compared to their well-known, local black merchants. White consumers, by contrast, did not flock into black neighborhoods to seek out the novelty of segregation.

Rather, middle class whites who found their neighborhoods and schools gradually including blacks, fled to the suburbs and opened private “parochial” schools that could, legally (and more important to the individuals of that era and our own, use religious “morality” to) discriminate on racial grounds.

Between the passing of Civil Rights legislation in the late 1960’s and the beginning of the Reagan administration in 1980, the once-vibrant black middle class which had steadfastly taken care of its own, all but vanished in what remained of the still segregated nation. Black businesses failed due to lack of customers, and so black employment in the community ceased. Black schools were absorbed into white school systems which were abandoned by the tax base and left to ruin. Historically black colleges saw enrollment gradually decline, and then precipitously fall into oblivion as the few black students who could go to college, chose to go to integrated colleges and universities offering a wider range of scholarly options. Middle-class blacks mainstreamed into the larger society. They represented a small percentage of the African descent population in the United States, but their absence in still-segregated communities was felt all-too-keenly. This group included teachers, professionals, doctors, and attorneys – the leaders of what had once been a wholly segregated community. When they left they took their values of education, hard work, self-respect, wisdom, and self-discipline with them. What remained in those neighborhoods, towns, and cities was an impoverished class of poorly educated residents with few economic options, little education, and no one remaining to look to for guidance or for employment.

After the Vietnam War concluded in 1975, another generation of African-American veterans returned home to conditions even worse than those experienced by their fathers a generation before. They came home to broken communities that offered no jobs and no recognition of the sacrifice they made. Many vets, black and white, returned from Southeast Asia with drug addictions (courtesy of the CIA). And black vets were returned to neighborhoods already saturated with the first wave of Cartel-scale drug dealing.

Thirty-five years ago, under the administration of President Ronald Reagan, the “War on Drugs” was commenced in response to the increasing crime rate and lawlessness experienced in the country, which the President blamed on drug users, dealers, and neighborhood gangs. During this period the “3 Strikes” mandatory sentencing was imposed in many of those states with the largest percentage population of African-Americans. Interestingly, the myriad of legislations written and adopted by states targeted crack cocaine (predominately used by African-Americans) for much harsher, longer sentences, while leaving rock or powdered cocaine (primarily used by whites) as lesser offences. At the same time that the President lectured the American people on the evils of marijuana and crack, members of his administration were participating in “guns for drugs” exchanges with Central American dictators (the “Iran-Contra affair”), bringing marijuana and cocaine into this country, then dumping it into African-American communities on the wholesale.

Twenty-years ago, both federal and state governments began to investigate the concept of mass-privatization of prison systems. The early experiments generated a windfall of profits to both the states and the companies hired to run private, for-profit prisons. Private companies were contracted to run large, industrial scale prison systems nationwide. They worked in partnership with law enforcement and the judiciary to ensure a constant high population count in these facilities. With the assistance of drug laws passed a decade earlier (almost in pre-cognition of the Private Prison concept), a new, multi-billion dollar industry cropped up without anyone really noticing – except young black men and their families.

For the whole of the United States population, the prison statistics are sobering. From 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America quadrupled-from roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million people. Today, the US is 5% of the World population and has 25% of world prisoners. Combining the number of people in prison and jail with those under parole or probation supervision, 1 in every 31 adults, or 3.2 percent of the population is under some form of correctional control.

— African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population, with an incarceration rate at nearly six times the rate of whites.

— Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population

— One in six black men had been incarcerated as of 2001. If current trends continue, one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime

— Nationwide, African-Americans represent 26% of juvenile arrests, 44% of youth who are detained, 46% of the youth who are judicially waived to criminal court, and 58% of the youth admitted to state prisons (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice).

—  African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites.

— African Americans represent 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense.

— African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). (Sentencing Project)

Three years ago, an un-armed, black teenager was walking through his home neighborhood with a soft drink and a snack. He was followed, assaulted, and shot to death by an armed private citizen who claimed the young man looked suspicious. The armed man was not charged in the murder of Trayvon Martin. He went on to commit numerous other assaults and violations of the law, yet he has yet to serve any time in prison for his offenses.

Since Trayvon Martin’s death, countless private citizens armed only with cell-phone video cameras have captured live-action incidences of abuse, assault, and even murder, committed by police against un-armed African-American men and boys, as well as against “petty criminals” who posed little if any genuine threat to society. And yet, few, if any officers have been prosecuted.

Not quite two weeks ago an unarmed, twenty-five year old African-American man who was guilty of simply running through a neighborhood parking lot, was accosted by the Baltimore Police, detained, arrested, and – somewhere between his run and winding up in zip ties, face down on the pavement, had his spine severed, leading to the loss of his life. Much of the incident was caught on cell-phone video, and it’s fairly clear to any rational person that Freddie Gray, the victim in this instance, was already severely injured when the police hauled him, legs dragging behind him, into the police van.

Another young man headed to prison or to the grave? Another son, father, brother, stolen from his family.

Four hundred years ago, our ancestors began importing native black Africans from their home continent to the North American continent, in chains, shoved below the decks of ships built especially for the purpose of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Today we – our current generation – import African-Americans into the for-profit prison system, using a hyper-militarized police force trained for this express purpose, and a judicial system built to ensure the success of the current system – a system which seeks to enforce the status quo – where black families are broken and kept weak and leaderless, where black bodies are used for profit, and in which Black Lives Don’t Matter, except for what we can get out of them.

With a history such as this one, a few riots every few years are to be expected. It’s nothing new. It’s been going on for 400 years and until we (the white people in power) recognize that the system in place is not broken, that in fact it is doing exactly as it was designed to do, nothing is going to change. Except we should keep in mind, every 200 years or so, the slave rebellions actually succeed. It’s something to think about as we contemplate this highly successful system we’ve all become so accustomed to that we can no longer even see it clearly for what it is – a criminal enterprise.

Ferguson Missouri – Thoughts

Wife of Ferguson Police Chief, on the Protesters of Ferguson, MO.

Try as I might, there is no sleeping or writing tonight. What’s happening in Ferguson, Missouri is just too important to sleep through.

Years ago when I first started blogging (at a long since decommissioned URL) everything I wrote was about the outrageous polarization and militarization of the United States in the wake of 911. I wrote about the loss (back then it was an erosion, that’s the word I used) of our Civil Rights. I wrote about a foreign policy that was a War Crime in action, and a domestic policy that was the birth pangs of an emerging Fascist nation.

That was a long time ago.

When the Boston Bombing happened I was completely unplugged, off the grid, and out of touch. The news I got was from one really underfunded public radio station with a scratchy signal, and a really worse Fox Network radio station pushing a gaji-jillion watts of sheer insanity at me every time I turned on the little black box trying to get an updated weather report. And even then, listening to the coverage of the police action (Martial Law) after the bombing, I thought to myself “Well, that was a really successful test run, to see if a municipal police department can effectively intimidate an entire city into quiet, cooperation, trembling in fear behind locked doors.” The answer was yes, they can. A nice test run.

Since then we’ve had nothing except more violence. More divide and conquer. More of the Neo-Corp-Kleptocracy taking over our country and justifying itself with a bought out Supreme Court and tax breaks for the wealthy while we incarcerate young black men and starve working people, telling them they do not deserve a living wage, health care, safe roads, or adequate schools for their kids – even as CEO’s of failing company’s get millions is performance bonuses, the wealthy get tax breaks, the oil and gas companies frack our ground water, and the government steals our future from us.

And now we have Ferguson, Missouri.

The Powers That Be want YOU and ME to FEAR Black People. They want us to HATE brown people and turn them away, even if they are homeless children. They want us to suspect our neighbors and teach our children about “Stranger Danger”. They want us to trust no one except who they tell us to trust, and think nothing except what they tell us to think.

But you know what, sometimes they just screw up.

Ferguson, Missouri is one humongous screw up. Because almost everyone in America can look at what’s happened there, at the absolutely criminal actions of the Ferguson Police Department, lack of oversight and silence from the elected officials of that town, and the silence from the Missouri Justice Department, the US Justice Department, and the deafening sound of crickets from the White House, and we can see with our own eyes that something has gone horribly wrong in our country.

In fact, something has been horribly wrong for a very long time.

Some of us are afraid of Black People. The Ferguson’s Police Chief’s wife certainly falls into that category.

I’ll tell you who I am afraid of. I’m afraid of calling 911. I’m afraid of an army of Mutant Ninja Turtle guys showing up with sniper rifles and AR-15’s when I do. I am afraid of my city officials, right on up to the Federal Government and everything in between.

And you know what, when the people are afraid of their government, there is no Constitution or Bill of Rights that we can fall back on. Tyranny has already won.

Rest in Peace Lady Liberty. Keep Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown company. We’ll be with you soon. Cause they are coming for the rest of us soon.

How Far Back?

When I was a child in the 1970’s, long before the days of the Wikipedia, multi-player online gaming, NetFlix, or even Google and Facebook, instead of spending too much time watching syndicated Brady Bunch reruns after school, I spent time with my grandmother listening to her tell stories.

My grandmother was born in 1907. Her father was born ten years after the Civil War concluded, but before Reconstruction even thought about giving way. Her grandfather was named after a famous French Revolutionary war general who was an ally to the rebellious colonists in the battle for American Independence. And his grandfather (her Great-great) had fought alongside that famous French general in multiple battles from Charleston (against Cornwallis) to Yorktown; his name was Lafayette. (Go ahead, Google him.)

My grandmother was a student of early American history (among being a student of many things.) She made the past come alive for me through her stories and her indirect “education”. She wanted to instill in me a sense of who I am and who and where I came from. But instead of beating me over the head with a textbook, instead she turned it into a game.

Almost everyone has heard of the old college drinking game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”. The premise of the game is to come up with some random Hollywood actor/personality, and then in less than six connections, link that person to Kevin Bacon.
It goes something like this:

Choose a random Hollywood Actor who you would think has never had any connection Kevin Bacon; for instance:

1] Dame Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith was in “Curtain Call” in 1998,

2] With Frank Whaley,
who was in “JFK”, in 1991,

with Kevin Bacon.

That’s just TWO degrees of separation between one of the most lauded, awarded, British screen and stage actors, and one of the most ubiquitous brat pack character actors, whose career (mostly) came and went in the 1980’s.

Before Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon was ever conceived, actually, before Kevin Bacon was even a teen idol gracing the pull-out centerfold of Tiger Beat magazine (yes, he did, and I had a few of them), my grandmother conceived a similar game based on our familial connections to essentially every major event in American or post-Reformation English history.

She called the game “How Far Back?” and how it was played was simple; I would name an event in history, or a person in history, and then she would – with me – trace our ancestral connection to that person, place or event. The goal was to make a clear known connection that was substantiated and recorded in the histories, rather than just surmising and going for “wishful thinking”.

Sometimes we’d spend days trying to establish the connection. Some day’s we couldn’t because she didn’t have access to the tools we take for granted today. But most of the time she could piece together the connections in her head and spit them out to me in moments, usually requiring a spare piece of paper to diagram the connections so I could see them with dates and names and geographical locations.

The world of the past was a far smaller world than the one we know today. Everyone knew everyone in a manner of speaking, and a lot of “the everyone’s” were blood kin. The connections were easier to make than they are today in an era when we don’t keep up with family and we care less about history (to our detriment.)

We’re all still just as related as we were then (say three hundred years ago), we just don’t know it. We’re too distracted by NetFlix, multi-player online gaming, and who got killed off on the Good Wife on Tee-Vee. Tragic.

So here was one of my favorite connections from “How Far Back?””

Thomas Harriot; the famed, post-Renaissance ethnographer, linguist, scientist, and astronomer who was indispensable in helping Galileo get his telescopes and star charts in order…

1] Harriot served under the patronage of Sir Walter Raleigh,

2] who, after the failure of the Lost Colony at Manteo, clandestinely advised the Virginia Company and specifically Captain John Smith on how to prepare for a second attempt at colonization in the Chesapeake region.

3] Captain Smith, upon landing in Chesapeake, selected “ten worthy men” to explore the interior of Virginia with him. Those men were the only ones who survived the “starving times” at Jamestown, the Indian massacres, and the infighting the nearly killed the new colony. One of those men was Robert Beheathland. Beheathland was one of only two original colonists who survived to have descendants in the New World.

4] Robert Beheathland’s daughter, Dorothy, married a man named Randall Crew (whose descendants were implicated in Bacon’s Rebellion, BTW – as a proud aside.) Dorothy and Randall are my 11th generation great-grandfather and great-grandmother.

And so you see, “How Far Back?” can take you places you may never have imagined. In my family’s case, it takes us all the way back to the original founding of the nation that would become the USA, to First Contact with the Powhatan Nation, and to the reorganizing of the entire world map, and world political view.

Through that connection my blood kin touch Elizabeth I, and even King Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Frances Bacon, Sir Walsingham (bastard!) and the greatest minds and players of the age. It might be stretch but if I worked at it, I suspect I could directly connect Shakespeare himself into this mix, which might be fun.

It’s a great game. And it helps me explain why my family is so complicated and mixed up and obsessive. We have a very long history.

But then so does every family – if they bothered to figure out their own connections.

While this may seem boring trivia to most folks, I promise, it makes great cocktail party banter and goes a long way towards explaining why half the books in my library have a strange, Medieval looking bookplate with a Griffon on it and the phrase “Truth Against the World” as its motto.

My grandmother died in 1990. I’ve had no one to play “How Far Back?” with since. Anyone game?

In Defense of the North Carolina Archives and Their Role in the Franklin County Records Destruction Debacle

I have written a great deal about what happened in Franklin County on December 6, 2013. And I’ve stated some opinions (all my own) about the possible motivations, involvement of the myriad individuals, and the outcomes.

I’ve had a bit of fun at the expense of the Franklin County board and Angela Harris (Franklin County Manager), in particular – at whose feet I lay (about) 95% of the blame.

I’ve questioned the logic of the folks at the North Carolina Archives, for advising (strongly) the destruction of these records, without first undertaking a thorough investigation of what was in that basement, and for advising (in uber-strong language) that the records should not be given over to the Historical Society – since the NC Archives saw no value in them.

And, in my last post, I’ve had hearty belly-laugh at the time, expense, and general “head-space” this whole debacle has taken up at the archives. I still shake my head that these folks are so unbelievably unprepared and inept at handling a small (very small) crisis of this nature.

That said, the folks at NC Archives are not social media experts. Neither should they be. They are – for the most part – doing yeoman’s work in a field that makes most people yawn. I think their work is important, horribly underpaid, and badly understood – most notably by people like me.

I regret that their time has been taken up in dealing with this issue. In a more perfect world, their staff would have thought twice before writing the documents that I have called into question. In a better world they would have advised Patricia Chastain and the County Board to “do as they pleased”. In a better world – everyone would have communicated with and cooperated with everyone else thoroughly and respectfully.

Unfortunately we do not live in a better world.

All that said, I want to be clear. The NC Archives DID NOT DESTROY these documents. That was done at the Franklin County level – on an order given by Franklin County Manager, Angela Harris.

I’m done with this issue. The Historical Society can take it from here. The good people of Franklin County deserve better representation than the likes of Angela Harris and the Keystone Board that represent them – but I’m not their PR firm or their lobbying organization. I’ve done what I could to get the word out… My work is done.

Your Tax Money At Work!! Franklin County Records Destruction Debacle Continues at the NC Archives

It’s so rare that I actually get to see the machinations of the sausage factory at work – but tonight – we have a great, front row seat to the grinder, grinding away.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0GykIN45fqFTTdWczVvZkRRTzQ&usp=sharing

Apparently the folks at the North Carolina Archives are so discombobulated by the intensity of the reaction to their involvement in the wonton and pointless destruction of 150 year-old historical documents in Franklin County, North Carolina, that they put a staffer on the job of collecting, organizing and redistributing all the internet response (all they could find, given their sad skillset) back into their organization.

PLUS (and here’s where it gets REALLY fun), the document collection contains a few choice internal memos between staff, describing how they want to deal with the PR crisis, referencing their Public Relations firm (hired at how much per hour to troll Facebook and blogs and post positive comments in support of the NC Archives?)

I used to work in PR. We paid $400 per hour to do troll work like the troll work described and catalogued here. It was a cheap rate. I guarantee you that the NC Archives isn’t paying a cheap rate.

There are a TON of documents in this cache that detail their very “purposeful” response to the PR crisis. I started downloading docs as soon as I found the link, and I have to tell you – some of the materials are damned entertaining (lot’s of atta-boying and cross-agency support – plus a good view into who supports the NCArchives, no matter what… NCGS, are you listening?)

Enjoy the link folks. I promise you that if these people have one lick of sense between them – the link will be dead by tomorrow.

Talk about a lapse in SECURITY!!! Google Docs? Are You Kidding Me????

If the link goes bad, I’ll post some of the more choice documents with (my always acerbic) commentary. So HOPE the links goes bad!

More Outrages Emerge from the Already Outrageous Franklin County Records Destruction Debacle

Angela Harris – Found Guilty of Criminal Contempt

By now all readers of this blog are at least somewhat familiar with the Franklin County Records Destruction saga – which is still a developing story with more details and an ever lengthening paper trail.

For anyone who needs a recap, you can catch up here: More Details on the Franklin Co., NC Records Destruction

And here: Franklin County Hot Potato Toss – New Developments

And here: Franklin County Documents Destruction – Franklin Times Reblog

See all my posts on the subject at the following Tags: “Franklin County” (and don’t forget to hit the link, “older posts”, when you reach the bottom of the page.)

Since the destruction of the records in Franklin County, the story has gone viral. I’ve been blogging it since December. On my blog alone I’ve logged more than 250,000 unique visitors to the pages dedicated to this story. This, on a little, homespun weblog that previously has not seen more than 65 visitors in a single day. During the peak of this story, my blog hosted 100,000 unique visitors in a single day. These statistics prove that this is a very BIG story, not just in North Carolina. Not just in the United States – but internationally. I can only imagine what other, more established web sites are seeing in terms of visits and page-views. It must be staggering.

And yet, the folks at the NC Archives, the County Manager and Board of Commissioners in Franklin County, North Carolina can’t seem to get it through their thick skulls that what happened on that Friday night in December has OUTRAGED millions of people all over the world.

In January, at the last meeting of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, the community showed up and simply lambasted the board and County Manager Angela Harris. (See a video of a portion of the meeting here.) Members of the community demanded an explanation. They demanded an apology. They demanded Ms. Harris’s resignation. What they got was a whole lot of nothing.

Ms. Harris stated at that meeting that she would draft a written response to the questions posed to her.

A written response!? After months of stonewalling and silence and buck-passing and obfuscation!? After unilaterally making the decision to incinerate 150 years’ worth of historical material!?

Are you kidding me??????!!!!!! How about a written resignation?????

And so… Ms. Angela Harris finally speaks. It took her more than a week after that meeting to draft the following “response”. Almost two months after choosing to burn books and documents that many in the community were ready, willing, and able to save, preserve, and make available to research.

I will say this about her “written response”. I have not seen a sadder example of arrogance, in combination with willful ignorance, in combination with near-criminal incompetence, demonstrated in public since the Gulf Coast/BP Oil spill, when former BP CEO Tony Hayward offered up the following; “The first thing to say is I’m sorry.” And then he continued, “What the hell did we do to deserve this?”

Angela Harris seems to be taking her political/damage control cues from the Tony Hayward School of Arrogant Executive Mis-Management. Except she didn’t even offer up the insincere, perfunctory apology!!!!

In the coming days, after my head ceases hurting from looking at this gigantic PIECE OF BULLSHIT, I will craft a suitable “written response” to her “written response”. I promise, it will be a choice piece of prose.

If you can read the following from the pen of Angela Harris without your head exploding – by all means – DIVE IN!

The original of this statement appeared at Franklin County News Online, on January 16, 2014. (http://fcnonews.blogspot.com/2014/01/county-manager-angela-l-harris-letter.html)

“After careful consideration and reflection of the chain of events that led to the disposal of county and state records on December 06, 2013, and with great concern for the citizens of Franklin County who have experienced disappointment over this matter, I am providing the following summary.

Early in her tenure (exact date uncertain,) newly appointed Clerk of Court, Patricia Chastain visited the County Administration Building and stopped by Chuck Murray’s office (Director of Finance and General Administration) where Mr. Murray and I were meeting. The Clerk of Court, Ms. Chastain made reference to North Carolina Archives wanting to come to Franklin County, but she was “trying to hold them off” (I believe was her statement) until Heritage Society members could go through documents stored in the basement. The basis of her concern was that Archives would take certain items and leave others behind. I expressed on this date and a number of times thereafter that I would recommend seeking the guidance of Archives and fully disclosing the goal of maintaining records (or copies) locally. (Note: I would later learn that officials from Archives had proposed to the Clerk of Court the dates of June 10, 12 or 13 for a visit and initial survey; alternate dates were the week of June 17 and June 24.) The Clerk of Court indicated she would have Heritage members sign a confidentiality statement. I expressed concern that individuals unrelated to the court would be going through her files and advised her to seek guidance on this matter.

Note: Later, the question was raised about the County Attorney drafting a statement for the volunteers. The County Attorney and I discussed and agreed this was the Clerk’s matter; therefore, I advised the Clerk of the importance of her seeking appropriate guidance from her superiors.

The Clerk of Court inquired of county staff about the availability of space so that Heritage Members could work on sorting documents. I am uncertain of the exact date she began to inquire about this. Again, I proposed she seek guidance within her system about the project. Space was identified and on August 05, 2013, the Board of Commissioners supported paying utilities for a period up to six months. Utilities were turned on August 08, 2013 (cut off on November 04, 2013) at the space identified.

On August 14, 2013 Mr. Murray emailed Register of Deeds Brandi Davis “I think it would be smart to tell Heritage Society not to touch any of the ROD’s records until you guys have a chance to go through them.” He advised me he was concerned about confidentiality.

In meeting on August 14, 2013 a local citizen made me aware she had been in the basement with Ms. Diane Taylor Torrent from the Heritage Society. She expressed she was surprised Ms. Torrent had a key to the basement since she was not an employee (court or County). I had concerns regarding confidentiality of the County records and followed up with the Clerk of Court the next day. Some of these records were confidential and should not be handled by unauthorized personnel.

On August 15, 2013 the Register of Deeds emailed the Clerk of Court advising she and the Finance Director visited the basement on August 12, 2013 to see what records were in the basement or had been removed. In her email she advised she had contacted Archives for assistance. She advised the Clerk of Court in her email that Tom Vincent with Archives had informed her that ‘until Archives gave final approval, the Heritage Society should not have access to these records.’ Ms. Davis advised the Clerk of Court the Heritage Society should be “put on hold.” Ms. Davis was attempting to schedule a time for Archives to assist her with her records. Ms. Davis later advised me Mr. Vincent had not heard back from the Clerk of Court in reference to scheduling a visit to the County.

Note: Prior to this date, Ms. Davis understood there were no Register of Deeds records in the basement. Ms. Davis possessed two postcards with information regarding items that had been shredded in 2000. On the bottom of one postcard was the statement “NOTHING IS STORED IN OLD COURTHOUSE NOW.” Other information on the postcards read “DESTROYED AMENDMENT APPLICATIONS AND DELAYED BIRTH CERTIFICATE APPLICATIONS FROM 1968 thru 1994. BY SHREDDING IN JULY 2000.” Additionally, one card stated “Destroyed Financing Statement index Books (4) from 1982-1991 A-Z which were stored. Another statement read “Destroyed Marriage License Stubs from 1962 thru 1994.”

Later in the day, on August 15, 2013 I met with the Clerk of Court to discuss my concerns, one of which was confidentiality of certain records. On this date, I also discussed the State issued Record Retention and Disposition policy. Mr. Murray later emailed retention guidelines to the Clerk of Court and Ms. Torrent. I was aware Archives had attempted contact with the Clerk of Court in order to arrange a site visit. I urged Ms. Chastain to contact Archives and schedule the visit and later that day she did.

The Clerk of Court emailed Tom Vincent (Local Records Supervisor- Records Analysis Unit with NC Department of Cultural Resources) regarding Franklin County Archival Records. In her email she wrote, “I am finally settling in and getting back to this matter” in response to her original contact of May 29, 2013 setting up a potential meeting in June, 2013.

On August 21, 2013 Mr. Vincent and Carie Chesarino (Records Analyst) examined the basement of the Franklin County Courthouse. The follow up report indicated “the records in the storage room are in extremely bad condition.” A copy of their preliminary findings is available in the Manager’s office. The conclusion section of the report stated “the amount of dirt and mold in the storeroom make it hazardous for anyone to spend any amount of time in there.”

On August 22, 2013 Mr. Vincent followed up via email with the Ms. Davis regarding giving the delayed birth applications to the Heritage Society. He stated “I’m really uncomfortable with official copies of anything having to do with vital records being outside of government custody.” He went on to reference GS 130A-93(b) and advised “the retention period for the delayed birth applications is only 1 year, so you can get rid of those.”

On September 20, 2013, Ms. Davis emailed Becky McGee-Lankford (Manager, Government Records Section, Assistant State Records Administrator) regarding “delayed birth certificates and a trash bag of health certificates that used to be used to obtain a marriage license years ago.” She sought guidance regarding their destruction. On October 01, 2013 Ms. McGee-Lankford responded with instructions for destruction and/or retention. Note: Marriage Health Certificates contained “certificates from a regularly licensed physician stating that no evidence of venereal disease, tuberculosis in the infectious or communicable state, or mental incompetence was found in the applicants.” This information is confidential.

On the evening of October 01, 2013, I noted the Clerk and Ms. Torrent were standing outside of the basement area. They stated they had been working on an inventory for Archives. I stated to the Clerk of Court that while the preliminary report from Archives did reference an inventory, it was my understanding we were to “cease and desist” until a representative from health and safety with the Administrative Office of the Courts made a site visit. The Clerk stated her guidance was to do an inventory. My understanding was Archives had initially stated “if” an inventory existed, they wanted a copy; however, the Health and Safety Inspector would be making a site visit and further activity should cease in the interim. I advised the Clerk of Court she may want to follow up on this issue rather than continuing to be in the basement.

On October 11, 2013 the Clerk of Court forwarded a copy of an inventory to Mr. Vincent (NC Archives) and copied Ms. Chesarino (Records Analyst) and Ms. Torrent (Heritage Society member). Ms. Chesarino forwarded a copy to Ms. Davis who in turn provided me a copy.

On October 18, 2013 Ms. Chesarino emailed Ms. Davis in reference to 3 Register of Deeds Fee Book Ledgers – 1940’s, Numerous Blank Real Estate Ledgers. In Ms. Chesarino’s email she stated, “although these records should be destroyed, it is my opinion that the space is unsafe. Sarah West is an environmental health inspector at the Administrative Office of the Courts. She has an appointment to inspect the basement at 9 a.m. on Monday 10/21. I will accompany her on this visit. While we’re there, she could give you advice on the logistics for safe disposal of the remaining Register of Deeds records.”

On October 29, 2013 Ms. McGee-Lankford (Government Records…NC Archives) emailed the following reports, copies of which are on file in the Office of County Manager:

(1) preliminary report from the 08/21/13 visit by NC Archives

(2) records inventory provided by the Clerk of Court

(3) report completed by Safety and Health Specialist, Sarah West with NC Administrative of the Courts

(4) letter from Ms. McGee-Lankford. In Ms. Mcgee-Lankford’s email she writes “Based on the inventory provided by the Clerk of Superior Court (see attached) and notes taken by Division of Archives and Records staff (see attached), as well as the environmental assessment provided by Sarah C. West of the Administrative Office of the Courts (see attached),” it is the recommendation of the State Archives of North Carolina that all records listed above be destroyed using proper protocol. The letter grants each of you authorizations to destroy the records in the custody of your office. We urge you to take immediate action to destroy these records. No other disposition is advised, including the donation of the records to a non-government entity for any reason. The health and safety issue concerning these records outweighs all other considerations. Ms. West does an excellent job detailing these health and safety concerns in her report.”

Ms. McGee-Lankford reiterated the above and adds in her letter, “The State Archives would have taken some of these records in accordance with established disposition instructions. However, due to the ongoing health and safety issues these records pose to the staff and general public that have access to them, we are requesting that these records be destroyed by the county office responsible for the records. The Clerk of Court will need to seek permission from Sean Bunn at NCAOC to destroy, in addition to the permission to destroy we are granting in this letter. Please prepare an appropriate written Request for Destruction of Records Form AOC-A-119 to be faxed . . .” Further Ms. McGee-Lankford writes “These records should be destroyed as soon as possible per North Carolina Administrative Code, Title 7, Subchapter M, Section .0510:”

a) burned, unless prohibited by local ordinance

b) shredded, or torn up so as to destroy the record content of the documents or material concerned

c) placed in acid vats so as to reduce the paper to pulp and to terminate the existence of the documents or materials concerned

d) buried under such conditions that the record nature of the documents or materials will be terminated

e) sold as waste paper, provided that the purchaser agrees in writing that the documents or materials concerned will not be resold as documents or records

Ms. McGee-Lankford stated “due to the health risk presented by the records in question, it is recommended that great care be taken in disposing of these records in order to prevent the further spread of mold spores.” Further she stated, “ Our agency does not typically authorize the destruction of records scheduled to come to the State Archives, however, due to the health and safety issues expressed during our initial meeting with county officials (see attached report) and Mrs. West’s report (see attached report) detailing the mold hazard present on and around these records, we are authorizing the destruction of all of the records listed above. Ms. West states in her report ‘I feel that the more these records are disturbed the more the toxins become airborne.”

On October 30, 2013, I instructed Mr. Murray to have Glen Liles (Public Facilities Director) execute the recommendations of Sarah West (Health & Safety Inspector with Administrative Office of the Courts) regarding Courthouse needs.

On November 04, 2013 at a Board of Commissioners meeting, I reported on the status of the site visits made by State officials to Franklin County. I advised the Board of the need to immediately destroy the records due to environmental health concerns. The matter was discussed again with the Board on November 18, 2013. Reports from NC Archives and the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts were emailed to the Board of Commissioners on November 07, 2013.

On November 05, 2013 the Clerk of Court and I participated in a conference call with Ms. Chesarino from Archives. The purpose of the call was to receive specific guidance regarding certain records brought to my attention. The Clerk was provided instruction to photograph said items and Ms. Chesarino agreed to follow up upon receipt of information from the Clerk. On November 15, 2013 Ms. Chesarino emailed feedback concerning those documents to the County Manager and Clerk of Court. The feedback received stated “upon examining the photographs provided, it has been determined that the documents in question are not of administrative, legal, evidentiary, or historical value and should be destroyed along with the rest of the records that had been stored in the basement of the Franklin County Courthouse.”

During the conference call, it was also discussed an inventory was done by NC Archives in 1964. The Clerk of Court made reference to this inventory during our call. I was pleased to learn this had been done. Later that day, Ms. Chesarino emailed me relevant pages of a 1964 inventory of Franklin County official records which included the retention requirements for each category.

On November 15, 2013, the Clerk of Court completed AOC-A-119 “Request for Approval for Destruction of Records” which certified the records listed can be destroyed. She further certified the records had been microfilmed or scanned and were appropriate for destruction. The Administrative Office of the Courts approved the destruction request on November 21, 2013. The Clerk of Court provided me with a copy of the approved request for destruction in order that the County could destroy the Court records when County records were to be destroyed. Please see a copy of the attached approved request.

On November 25, 2013 Mr. Murray emailed the Clerk of Court to advise that a company had been identified to clean the basement and he wanted to make sure the following week was acceptable. On December 02, 2013 Mr. Murray emailed the Clerk of Court again in reference to cleaning the basement. His email read “Is it ok to clean the basement out this weekend?” The next day the Clerk of Court responded via email “Sure it is. I just need to know when and time so I can be here and have it open.”

On December 04, 2013 Mr. Liles emailed Mr. Murray to advise he had spoken with the Clerk of Court December 03, 2013 regarding the destruction of the documents. Mr. Liles indicated he informed the Clerk of Court of the time schedule and said she was “glad to know we were moving forward.”

On December 05, 2013, the Board of Commissioners were advised in an email that “Builder Services of North Carolina (Restoration Experts) would be removing and properly disposing of items (records) as well as cleaning the basement beginning the afternoon of December 06, 2013.” Note: Mr. Glen Liles worked this schedule out so as not to inconvenience the citizens since the area would be blocked off and would have caused parking/logistic problems. The project began around 4:00 p.m. and would last overnight and into the weekend.

On December 06, 2013 Builder Services began work on removing documents and other contaminated materials from the basement. The area was cleaned, tested and sealed. Ms. West, Health and Safety Inspector with the North Carolina Administrative Office of Courts, advised nothing else should be placed in this area after it was sealed. I reminded the Clerk of Court of this instruction due to the fact the area was not climate controlled and would become contaminated again. The Clerk of Court indicated it was her understanding it could again be used after it was sealed. I suggested she review the recommendation from Ms. West. In a later conversation, she stated she would not place any records in the basement.

Kevin Cherry, Phd, Deputy Secretary, Director Office of Archives and History wrote a letter to the editor of The Franklin Times responding to an earlier article in the paper concerning the destruction of County records. Mr. Cherry commented on the history (110 years) of the State Archives of NC, an agency “charged by statute with the management of all state and local government records created and retained during the normal course of business within North Carolina government offices.” Further, he pointed out that “established professional standards within the state and the archival field across the country” were utilized in reviewing/appraising the records. He pointed out the fact that many records were decades past their retention date, many documents were “duplicates, confidential, drafts, or duplicated in another records series that has been saved.” Additionally, it was noted Archives has over 1,066 microfilm reels of permanently valuable Franklin County records.

I hope these facts demonstrate the destruction of records was necessary in order to protect the health and safety of our citizens and staff. Access to confidential records would have posed additional liability issues for the County. In retrospect, I believe if arrangements had been made for the site visits proposed by Archives officials to the Clerk of Court on May 29, 2013, the final determination could have been made sooner and a great deal of confusion and disappointment would have been avoided.”

A Reader’s Excellent Letter to the Franklin County Board

A reader forwarded the following letter to me, with a request that I post it. I contacted the author – Pam Smith, of Manassas, Virginia – and was gratified to receive her permission to post it here. It’s an excellent letter and one that I believe we can all support.

Pam Smith’s Letter to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners

Franklin County Update: News & Observer Coverage

Finally, some mainstream media coverage on the Franklin County Records Destruction Debacle.

The N&O does an “okay” job of getting the facts right, but they let Angela Harris completely off the hook, and they completely neglected to mention the fact that the destruction of records took place clandestinely, after regular business hours, and with no notification to the parties involved. I give them a C-minus on thoroughness.

————–

Row over destroyed Franklin County records goes viral

By Sarah Barr – sbarr@newsobserver.com

January 14, 2014

LOUISBURG — The story of a decision to destroy a long-neglected collection of records discovered in the moldy basement of the Franklin County courthouse has raced across blogs and social media in recent weeks.

Online readers from around the world have joined local residents in debating whether county officials should have destroyed the records, which dated from the mid-1800s to the 1960s. For most, the answer is no, despite a long list of reasons from professional archivists about why the records weren’t essential to keep.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/14/3534263/a-debate-over-whether-franklin.html#storylink=cpy

Franklin County Documents Destruction – Franklin Times Reblog

‘Burngate’ Sparks Calls for Manager’s Resignation

By: CAREY JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer

LOUISBURG — Residents upset with the county manager’s decision to burn historic documents called upon her to produce at least one piece of paperwork — her letter of resignation.

County Manager Angela Harris didn’t comply with that request, but she did tell commissioners and the public that she would craft a letter detailing her decision to destroy documents that were being housed in the Franklin County Courthouse basement.

“I think that would be helpful to the board and the community,” Harris said during the board’s meeting on Monday night.

Her response came after members of the Franklin County Heritage Society lambasted the county’s decision to destroy courthouse records on the weekend beginning Dec. 6.

In the spring, the historic preservation group began reviewing documents kept in the courthouse basement after newly appointed Clerk of Court Patricia Burnette Chastain came across the weathered storage area and asked the group for advice on how to preserve and catalog the information.

The volunteer group, with assistance from the county, procured a place to store the documents and the Heritage Society had plans to digitize the documents.

Between the spring and fall, though, staff with the State Office of Archives and History, and the Administrative Office of the Courts reviewed some of the documents and examined the basement — advising county staff that the documents could be destroyed, after they were inventoried, and the basement needed to be cleaned.

Heritage Society staff told commissioners and county staff that they were willing to fully inventory the documents, at their own risk, and catalog the information.

However, the state and county staff contended that the mold on some documents and inside the basement was too much of a risk.

The county and state also contended that some of the basement documents held sensitive information — some of the documents kept in the basement included old social services paperwork.

As a result, the county paid Builder Services about $7,400 to box up the remaining documents, burn them at the county’s animal control shelter, and clean the basement.

That work began at about 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 — a Friday — and continued through that weekend.

The decision was not made during a public meeting and no notification went out prior to the cleanup effort.

“We were told nothing about the destruction,” said Heritage Society Member Annette Goyette, who was part of an initial group of society members to begin examining the documents.

Goyette noted that Harris told her she would be kept abreast of the county’s actions, but did not hear anything about the destruction and hasn’t heard from Harris since.

“We feel like we need a public apology to amend the insults,” Goyette said during the public comment portion of the board’s meeting on Monday night.

“The records are gone,” she said. “We have to accept that.

“But we have to make sure this never happens again.”

Resident Roger Lytle, who has been vocal about the county’s handling of the documents, said Harris’ sudden and swift actions — in defiance of public efforts to save the documents — brings into question Harris’ ability to continue as county manager.

“People are angry about the destruction of these records,” said Lytle, noting that it has gone beyond Franklin County.

Thanks to the Internet, the matter has gone global and has placed a stain on the county that would impact its ability to attract new business and industry, he said.

Ultimately, he said, it all falls back on Harris’ ability to manage the county.

“She failed to do her job,” Lytle said of Harris. “It brings into question her ability.

“And the question is, does she need to be removed?”

Resident Mary Ella Hutchinson was just as blunt. She said the answer to Lytle’s question was ‘yes.’

“I’m publicly calling for the resignation of the county manager,” she said.

She was particularly perturbed by the county’s decision to rely upon advice from state agencies, like Archives, but not respond to residents who elected them.

“We elected you and you owe us some answers,” she said.

Resident Steve Trubilla expressed his exasperation because he said neither county staff nor county commissioners appeared to answer for anything.

He’s asked questions in person and through letters — none of which garnered a response.

“I don’t often attend these meetings anymore because I don’t feel like I’m welcome anymore,” he said. “Are you going to answer (anyone’s) questions?”

Commission Chair Sidney Dunston said the board was not going to engage in a back-and-forth debate during the meeting.

Resident Dee Sams said the leadership of the county and the approach they are taking, exemplified by the courthouse document decision, is harming the county.

“Who knows what we lost?” said Sams. A complete inventory of documents was not completed before the destruction was authorized.

“It’s an absolute travesty.

“Franklin County has gotten a seedy reputation and this does not help.

“… Something needs to happen because of that.”

The only commissioner to speak, Harry Foy, said he was in support of volunteer efforts to save the courthouse documents and a decision to destroy them never came to the board for a vote, he said.

After that, Harris told commissioners and the public that she would prepare a written response regarding the incident.

It was not clear when that response would be made public. The board next meets on Jan. 21.

Franklin County Documents – A Nice Local Media Recap

I rarely reblog, but this one provides a nice recap of what’s gone on in Franklin County. Yours truly is cited as a source, and linked to from the article.

See it here: Lost Documents Get Tempers Flaring in Franklin County