Roney Questions Reparations Committee Expenditures

Asheville – The Buncombe County Commissioners recently declined a request from the Community Reparations Commission (CRC) for a one-year mission extension. They approved only two months of additional support. On December 12, Dr. Dwight Mullen, who chairs the CRC, came before Asheville City Council with the same request. He began by saying he is a professor, but he was coming before council to speak as a neighbor who, like those on the commission, had lived through the har imposed by institutions and systems like healthcare and education. Three times, he contrasted what the CRC was doing with the Watts Uprising. According to the official story, back in 1965, in Los Angeles, a young African-American motorist failed a sobriety test, resisted arrest, and was struck with a baton. Rumors spread among onlookers that the police had kicked a pregnant lady, and this led to a piling-on that lasted six days and resulted in 34 deaths and over $40 million in property damage. Mullen described the local community as having “escaped Watts.” Although the CRC refused to supply a formal list of reasons justifying an extended timeframe, Mullen said the group had “very specific reasons.” First, while local governments were quick to...