On the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, my town is having a parade. Our police chief has decided that it will be necessary to ready a SWAT Team and have a generally heavy police presence along the parade route, "Just in case."
Only in St. Petersburg.
Chief Darryl Stephens has been getting it from all angles since last fall's disturbances. The rich white folks wonder why he didn't just shoot all of the demonstrators, black and white. The black folks wonder why his police force found it necessary to cause more than half of the damage on the second night, leaving an impoverished neighborhood even more so. The police union wants him out because he doesn't let his officers "kick ass" like the old days. Of course, his predecessor was a Daryl Gates protegee who proclaimed that he would instill the methods and values of the LAPD in the St. Pete police. No matter what he does, Stephens can't win.
And, in truth, during his tenure he has changed the police department for the better. Community policing is a good idea, and some of the really excessive officers have been fired. There's potential here. Unfortunately, Stephens has a horrible sense of timing and strategic planning. Many folks here think his actions and directions led directly to both disturbances, one of the reasons I think he's unfit for the office. Last week, he proved that point better than any of his enemies could.
The SWAT Team plans were disclosed at the city council meeting. He seemed surprised by the shock and disgust of the council members, even from the most law-and-order types of the bunch. Those members in touch with reality blew their stacks. The two black councilmen accused Stephens of being racist (a charge he denied with almost no passion), and even our milquetoast mayor decried the plans.
All for naught, though. This year's parade will go off looking like something out of the sixties, a cop in riot gear for every couple of spectators. And with this year's celebration of Dr. King receiving extra attention, who knows what might happen. Hell, peace may break out.
At the YMCA, which is located downtown, fliers for the parade abound. "This year of all years", it implores. When I saw that, I started thinking.
Folks who never have had much enthusiasm for paradeswill be attending this one. Twelve years ago, I marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with my high school band. But I lost my excitement for such things long before that. Probably sometime around Band Day at the University of Kansas in 1978. Even with my apathy for such public spectacles, I'm going. I might even make a sign. Something like "Cops: America's other white meat." Hey, I've been saying it long enough; might as well stand behind my drivel.
But more likely, I'll come up with something a little less divisive. I mean, the purpose of this holiday is to celebrate the life of Dr. King, a man of peace and tireless bridge-building. Loving your enemies. Turning the other cheek while standing firm. A lesson all of us should learn.
Even in the face of almost unbelievable actions from the police, we'll be there, standing and cheering. Attempting to prove that the people of St. Petersburg can indeed get along, even if ithe city's police force seems stuck in the fifties.
You know, I might even hug a cop. Well, I would if I wasn't so sure I'd have my head bashed in while the man in green said, "Take it somewhere else, fag."
One step at a time, I guess.
Jon Worley is constantly amazed by the sincere racism that crops up every day in an "enlightened" city.