"The Capacity to Believe: Race, Media and Politics in the American South"

By Marcus W. Williams

The truthful anecdotes and fictional characters take you on an insightful and exciting journey that is serious, witty and redeemingly triumphant. It is a gripping account which depicts how the media, unbridled capitalism, residual racial bias and politics as usual collude to control, suppress and subvert the natural election process in the American South. Included in this well-researched historical novel is an assessment of the successes and failures in race relations in America. To that end, it is a fresh and fascinating examination of the American conundrum about race. The final chapter, entitled "I Still Believe", provides a powerful tribute to past adversity laden, iconic achievements inspired by abiding faith, enduring hope and indeed, the prevailing love of God. The Capacity To Believe is a must read for students of history, journalism, political science and constitutional law, as well as the political aficionado residing in or outside of America. Finally, this novel could prove useful in discerning what fuels the furor of current opposition to President Obama. Is it the ideological administration or his pigmentation? Read and decide for yourself!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491836132

Marcus W. Williams

The author, Marcus W. Williams, has never allowed contrary empirical evidence to thwart his efforts to attain his goals. He garnered a unique perspective of social interactions while having served as Student Body President in High School, Undergraduate and Law Schools. At Lumberton High School (Lumberton, NC), Williams was elected Student Body President in the first election conducted after the mandatory consolidation of the tri-racial segregated school systems. As Student Body President at the University of NC in Chapel Hill, among other achievements, he initiated mass transit on campus, implemented a new, streamlined Campus Governing Council and sponsored a well acclaimed "Colloquium On Individual Rights and Liberties" which included such speakers as: Former Presidential Candidate Eugene McCarthy, Congressman Hugh Scott, Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Professor Angela Davis, ERA Proponent Martha Griffiths, Civil Rights Attorney William Kuntsler and a host of other luminaries. During his successful term as the first minority Student Body President at the University of Minnesota Law School, Williams found the time to lead his team to become Champion of the Law School Basketball league and won as a member on the university wide Champion Wrestling team. The Author has served as an Attorney for 35 years and has spearheaded numerous productive community economic development projects.

Book preview

"THE CAPACITY TO BELIEVE:

RACE, MEDIA AND POLITICS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH"

A SAGA OF THE CULTURAL, POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATION IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES . . 

Marcus W. Williams, ESQ

38861.png

AuthorHouse™ LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2013, 2014 Marcus W. Williams, ESQ. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/26/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3611-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3612-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3613-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013921319

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE THE DECISION

CHAPTER TWO BLACK PREACHERS CAN FLY: ELDERLY WHITE FOLKS CAN RUN…

CHAPTER THREE I STILL BELIEVE

CHAPTER ONE

THE DECISION

A s I gazed at the sheen on the surface of the water, my mind flashed back to the words of the greatly admired, silvery-haired, smooth Southern-speaking professor of Speech Communications at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill: If you attain your law degree and become a successful lawyer, all doors will be open to you and no racial factor will deter you from your goals; you will possess instant credibility in most households.

This reassuring reflection was punctuated seemingly by a screaming seagull diving into the serene, turquoise waters of the Cape Fear River a few feet in front of me. The calm current of this narrow section of the river barely created a tremor on the floating section of the dock on which I was standing. Even the tugboat about 100 yards away barely caused a discernible ripple to reach the shore. The stark beauty of the moment belied the intense, tumultuous skirmishes, which had transpired here in the past and provided no clue of the unfathomable events to emerge in the ensuing weeks. One fact was certain, however, I knew I had made the decision to run for Congress in this southeastern area of North Carolina.

The seductive promise of this opportunity and my heightened, unbridled optimism about the prospects for success was tempered by the realization that this was the same region of eastern North Carolina which had been plagued by racial strife throughout its storied history. I reminded myself what the 20th Century philosopher, George Santayana once expressed: Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Nevertheless, I felt an exhilarating sense of hope, excitement and expectation because I trusted that the contemporary reasonable person would give good-faith consideration to my message.

To enable the commencement of a campaign for this federal public office, the best job I ever held must be relinquished. It was the type of employment which had allowed me to grow as a person, and I thought, gain credibility as a dedicated professional in the community. For nine years, I had successfully directed an anti-poverty program and engaged in or initiated a raft of innovative community enhancement projects. Every dime (allocated to the program or garnered through extensive fund-raising efforts) was appropriately and conscientiously utilized. The organization grew a reputation of sterling integrity. This poverty-fighting program itself was a component of a network known as Legal Services a.k.a. Legal Aid which provides free civil legal services to the poor and economically disadvantaged.

During my tenure as Director of this seven-county Legal Services office, we had achieved some truly remarkable results. This job, in my opinion, was the poetic, substantive response to a comprehensive, external, systematic social condition which did not necessarily have the best interests of poor people in mind. The directorial authority of this position had afforded me the discretion to marshal resources to target and rectify some of the residual inequities, many of which existed for multiple generations.

While practicing law in this capacity, me and my colleagues represented the poor and otherwise disenfranchised people in their day—to-day survival needs, and gave them access to the courts and the much needed chance to win on some major law reform issues. Our efforts extended beyond the 9 to 5 working parameters. Along with community volunteers and a diverse, capable staff, we constructed 79 units of housing for the elderly and handicapped in collaboration with the local Catholic Church; I personally chaired a fundraising committee which purchased and helped to revitalize an old 84,000 square foot inner city school for use as a community center or hub for recreation, health care screening, computer training and for exposure to youth and senior activities; I served as the organizing technical advisor when we founded a Community Development Corporation which facilitated low-interest financing and built single-family homes, while conceiving and constructing a thriving business incubator (which consisted of twelve 1,500 square feet, business condo units); our legal staff thwarted the re-segregation of the public schools and undertook successful voting rights redistricting cases—opening the electoral process to sizeable numbers of freedom loving patriots who had not enjoyed the real effect of the full panoply of their rights as citizens (e.g. the opportunity for minorities in Columbus to elect candidates or be elected themselves to public office for the first time in one hundred and thirty-two years). As Attorney Director, I could exercise authority and legal persuasion to raise public consciousness and rally public opinion to confront, if not pro actively attack from a legal vantage, serious systemic disparities. Was I going to relinquish this essential tool, and the best professional leverage I ever had, for a political pipedream? What would become of the organization upon my departure? More personally, what would happen to my family financially if I fail? Politically speaking, had the past accomplishments of the program under my leadership actually catapulted me into a zone of credibility for proven competence or conversely, did it create enmity with those who routinely vote against and have philosophically opposed the very work that I had undertaken? In order to win the campaign, my analysis must be true and accurate. In an ironic way, I felt fortunate to be able to have the luxury of thought about such a dilemma. The conventional, antithetical sociological forces had not destroyed my confidence, my vision of the future or sense of justice. Neither did they intimidate me or impair my healthy self-image. So what if I lose? If I were to fail in my effort to run for U.S. Congress in southeastern North Carolina, I would continue to work hard, in whatever capacity the Lord encouraged me to pursue. As I became prone to express on the campaign trail, Day will follow night, birds will stay in flight, and this young man will be alright… Indeed, the potential prospect of failure left me undaunted when I pondered the memorable quote from Michelangelo: The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do.

I was no stranger to hard work. Given that I had been reared in Lumberton, in southeastern North Carolina, I understood the value of the dollar and the immeasurable quality of the job that I would imminently be surrendering. In my first job, at age ten, I worked full days at the tobacco barn handing that leafy crop to the stringer. At age twelve, I had cropped tobacco (i.e., walked and stripped the tobacco leaves from the stalk and loaded them into containers pulled by the mules or tractors) from dawn to dusk. The pay was $6.00 per day which frequently included hanging tobacco in the barn late into the evening. Yes, I was cognizant of the financial dimensions and worst case consequences of the decision to resign my job and engage in political welfare.

My previous personal experience running for public office was limited to one statewide effort.

Four years earlier, at age 37, I had filed, campaigned hard and finished third in a five-man race in the Democratic party primary of the contest for Governor of North Carolina. The former two-term Governor, at that time running for his third term in office, prevailed again. The incumbent multiple term Attorney General trailed in second place. Fourth place was inhabited by a former Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. (Incidentally, the winner had made his initial successful run when he was 37 years old). I had performed well even though the media uniformly described my campaign as having no chance or characterized my attempt as being quixotic. Most people in the audiences thought I had won many of the debates. The essential issues were quite clear and I was very conversant and confident due to my day-to-day interaction with the survival issues of low income working people and continuous advocacy on their behalf. Most importantly, at that time I had filed to run for the correct reason. I simply desired, in an untainted and uncompromised fashion, to help improve living conditions and enhance the fundamental quality of life for the people of my home state.

Such a desire and commitment was even more compelling this time, especially with respect to trying to redress the specific dire needs which had worsened for many of the people who reside in the eight counties that comprise the Seventh U.S. Congressional District. The economy of the District is a study in contrasts. Some of the people possess great opulence and ostentatious wealth, particularly the owners in those houses and heavenly havens of the two-hundred mile stretch of oceanfront. Similarly, the commercial waterfront areas were well appointed, often via the public’s tax dollars. On the other hand, the neighborhoods of the low income and elderly were deteriorated and blighted. Some citizens could barely scrape together enough to ride the bus or purchase a newspaper. It was imperative to enable economic opportunity and development to prosper throughout all of the sectors. Having had substantial experience in facilitating the formation of several successful public/private partnership ventures and having been reared in the District, I believed that I had acquired the insight, required range of skills and high motivation necessary to precipitate positive change.

I was not a novice to the dynamics of political interaction. Quite the contrary, I had been an impresario of student politics. Service as Student Body President at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill had broadened my horizons about working and collaborating with people. Highlights of that administration, among other attainments included: The implementation of a revamped, streamlined, uni-cameral legislature, entitled the Campus Governing Council (which continues to operate today); the creation of a student health service ombudsperson to assure quality of clinical health care for students and to provide a grievance mechanism; the convening of an informative colloquium on Individual Rights and Liberties which featured such luminaries as famed criminal defense