Black Hat Commissioners, Part 1 | Eastern North Carolina Now

This article will focus on the continuing saga of a story that started in Pitt County, North Carolina in June of the year 2020.  Before I delve into the details of the story, I’d like to explain the title a bit.

If you are a fan of the old cowboy movies set in the American west, you’ll likely recall that the proverbial Good Guys always wore white hats.  And conversely, the Bad Guys always word black hats.  In the end the white hats / Good Guys always won and the black hats / Bad Guys were always defeated.

There are even Biblical references to white and black in terms of good and evil.
Isaiah 5:21 tells us, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (KJV)
The warning here is to those who purposefully mislabel good / light / sweet with evil / darkness / bitterness.  Their eventual aim is to confuse others and overcome.

In a couple of other references, we find the following statements:
   “White is always used to symbolize purity, holiness, or righteousness.”
   “Black is always used to symbolize evil and death.”
Reference: https://connectusfund.org

   “White, in the Bible and in today's society, is typically associated with purity, things that are good, innocence, honesty, and cleanliness.”
   “Black is, of course, the darkest color in the Bible. It lacks brightness or a hue, and although it absorbs light, it does not reflect any back.”
Reference: www.biblestudy.org

Now that the whole Black / White thing has been explained, let’s move on.

On May 25, 2020, a 46-year-old black man named George Floyd died while in the custody of Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers.  It was reported that he had died due to asphyxiation from sustained pressure on his back and neck.  Stated in another way, the officers detained Mr. Floyd by keeping him pinned to the ground by one of the officers placing his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck.  This incident was widely criticized as an unnecessary death due to police actions.

Now anytime a person dies, it’s a terrible thing.  If you are a person of faith, you likely believe that God placed us all upon this earth for a specific purpose.  For our life to be extinguished prematurely is tragic and may prevent us from fulfilling our God-given purpose.

Now, let’s move the story closer to home; specifically, Pitt County, North Carolina.  You may ask, “What does the death of George Floyd – 1,300 miles away from Pitt County have to do with anything here?”  Good Question!  Really, Really Good Question!

Shortly after the George Floyd event, widespread chaos broke out across the United States (and some other countries).  The chaos was seen as a reaction to the event due to a perception of racial inequality, prejudice, and injustice.  Many locations across the country were vandalized, burned, and looted.  Innocent people on the streets were injured or killed by rioters.  (Characterized by some as “peaceful protestors.”)  All of this chaos was widely ignored as “justified rage.”

This chaos came to Greenville, North Carolina (Pitt County) in eastern North Carolina on May 31st 2020.  The date is etched in my mind because from a personal perspective, that would have been my youngest daughter’s 35th birthday.  According to reporting by the local newspaper – The Daily Reflector – the rioters (“peaceful protestors”) destroyed property through a section of Greenville.  Windows were broken, small fires were set, random vandalism was perpetrated, and some looting occurred.  Law enforcement was reportedly told to “stand down” and let the crowd have its way.  So, was this crowd (my definition is MOB) made up of local citizens or a blend of locals and bussed-in troublemakers.  Another Really Good Question – Unanswered to this present day.

After the May 31st Greenville riot (“peaceful protest”) some of our Pitt County “Black Hat” Commissioners started to have ‘back-room discussions’ about REMOVING the Pitt County Confederate Soldier’s Monument (Memorial to our Confederate Dead) from the Pitt County Courthouse grounds.  As a bit of background, some of these “Black Hat” Commissioners had been scheming to find a way to REMOVE our honorable monument for several years.  Suddenly (post George Floyd), they felt they had the impetus they needed to win their evil battle and finally REMOVE our Pitt County monument.

Perhaps you are asking yourself several questions:

1. What did the George Floyd incident 1,300 miles away have to do with the Pitt
2. County Confederate Soldier’s Monument?
3. What did the Pitt County Confederate Soldier’s Monument ever do to any of the
4. Commissioners?
5. The Pitt County Confederate Soldier’s Monument was totally funded and erected
6. by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and was gifted to the PEOPLE of
7. Pitt County. So, what gives SEVEN Pitt County Commissioners the right to
8. illegally REMOVE and subsequently DONATE our monument to folks from
9. outside our county?
10. Since rioters (“peaceful protestors”) targeted a number of downtown Greenville
11. businesses and the Pitt County Courthouse, why weren’t those buildings
12. REMOVED?
13. Were any local / state / national laws violated when REMOVING the Pitt County
14. Confederate Soldier’s Monument? (See: Document (ncleg.gov) 100-2.1)
15. If the idea of eliminating (or addressing) racial inequality, prejudice, and injustice
16. was the goal, what would REMOVING our Pitt County Confederate Soldier’s
17. Monument do to achieve that goal?

Dear readers, Thank You for your attention and interest in this writing and please be patient as I prepare Black Hat Commissioners – Part 2.  In that segment, I will go into detail on the events that occurred after the commissioner’s evil vote in June 2020.

God Bless,
JMan – Pitt County, North Carolina