`NAACP plans rally in Sharon`

By Jenn Hall
Herald Staff Writer

The NAACP will take the lead in planning an event focusing on diversity to be scheduled for the same time as a Ku Klux Klan rally.

Being called ÒRally in the ValleyÓ by some, organizers are looking to have the event somewhere in Sharon. They hope to have a program running from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Ñ the same time as the Klan rally Aug. 8.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Shenango Valley Ministerial Association met Tuesday night at Valley Baptist Church, Farrell, to iron out additional details.

The two groups will meet again at 7 p.m. Thursday at Valley Baptist to final-ize the program, which will be informal. Those who attended another meeting that was held Monday, including many public officials, also are being invited.

The Rev. Anderson Tatum Jr. of the Farrell church said the rally should be planned in a way to involve all of the people who committed Monday.

ÒWe are a people that wants to work in the healing,Ó he said. ÒWe are not go-ing to change the minds and the hearts of some of these people but we are going to work at bringing our community together and going forth.Ó

Preliminary plans include areas for membership drives for the NAACP and voter registration drives. Many at the meeting called for not only unity against the Klan but also an educational day addressing race problems in Mercer County.

ÒWe donÕt want to just ignore the Klan but we need to be addressing the insti-tutional racism that is ongoing in this community,Ó said Dr. Kimberly Richards, of the Southwest Gardens Economic Development Group.

She spoke of inequality in housing, employment, wages and arrests that exist in the county. Talking about togetherness is OK, but only if people are willing to address the other issues that keep the communities apart, she said.

ÒIÕm not willing to come into brotherhood with people who work 9 to 5 against that,Ó Ms. Richards said. ÒWe need to be ready and willing with starch in our backs to show them what is going on in the county.Ó

The Rev. Lonnie Simon said the community needs to ignore the Klan and focus on the community and problems here including inaction.

ÒThe No. 1 problem in the country is racism,Ó said the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, Farrell. ÒThe average white person doesnÕt like to deal with it. ThereÕs no better time to deal with it than out of this situation.Ó

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Robbins and U.S. Representative Phil English have made statements in news releases against the KlanÕs rally in Mercer, which cannot be prevented under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

ÒWe have a constitutional right and a sense of what is right to reject the KlanÕs views and its presence here,Ó Robbins, R-50th District, said, adding that he hoped people would let the Klan know their beliefs and intolerance were not welcome in the county.

English also called the rally an affront to the values of the area, saying he did not support people from outside the area spreading the Klan message. The branch of the Klan having the protest is based out of Rural Ridge, Pa., north of Pittsburgh.

ÒAnd my advice to these clowns still stands: Spend less time carving eye holes in bed sheets and get a job,Ó said the representative from the 21st District.

Back to TOP // Herald Local news // Local news headlines // Herald Home page

Updated Aug 5, 1998
Questions/comments: herald@pgh.net
For info about advertising on our site or Web-page creation: advertising@sharon-herald.com