TUSCUMBIA – The local branch of the NAACP held a rally Monday night at the Colbert County Courthouse in response to the nationwide unrest that began a week ago, the result of the alleged police murder of an African-American man, George Floyd of Minneapolis. Unlike the unlawful destruction of large swaths of numerous American cities, the rally was specifically set up to be a peaceful and lawful protest.
A large crowd of Shoals residents of all ethnicities showed up to show their unity with the rest of the civilized people who feel outrage at the murder, which was shown world-wide in its totality. A Minneapolis policeman, held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes until his heart stopped. Officer Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder and manslaughter in the incident. Chauvin’s act began a national protest, mostly peaceful… some extremely violent.
The Tri-County NAACP organized a peaceful protest, and a large number of Shoals Citizens turned out to show their support, and to say to the world that, regardless of color, we are all Americans with equal rights.
Colbert County Commissioner, Tori Bailey
Colbert County Commissioner, Tori Baily, one of the event organizers, spoke with the Quad-Cities Daily and summed up the issue,
“The world watches as George Floyd is murdered by a man over twenty dollars who is supposed to be sworn to serve and protect him. A man lost his life over twenty dollars! It is the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back… And we are here to say, ‘Enough!’ The idea (of this gathering) was to call people from the community; the pulpit; to call people who are black; people who are white; who are young, to all come together because we ultimately have openly more in common than that what divides us. Unfortunately, we have some people who have been quiet; silent… While they say, ‘I don’t feel that way. It’s not me! I’m not the problem.’ We need to call them on the carpet. We need to make them understand that they are also responsible. If they are not part of the solution, then they are part of the problem. If they do not say anything, they silently agree that this behavior is OK. If you try to ‘pass the buck’ and say, ‘Well, it’s not me, it’s the other people’, and you’re not doing anything to stop those other people, then it’s you. And so, we have to come together. We have to speak with one voice and realize that in our area there is much more that unites us that there is that divides us. We have voter a registration table right here. We are now challenging everyone to vote. If you didn’t vote, then you also part of this problem. So, let’s vote!”
The Quad-Cities Daily was on hand at the rally to record the event in photos.
Photos by Sheri & Steve Wiggins
