-Caveat Lector- http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl- king0116.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dbroward
Mix-up has plaque honoring accused MLK killer instead of black actor By Dwayne Campbell Sun-Sentinel January 15, 2002 LAUDERHILL -- The plaque stated, �Thank you James Earl Ray for keeping the dream alive.� But the name should have been �James Earl Jones,� the Tony Award-winning actor and voice of Star Wars� Darth Vader, The Lion King�s Mufasa and CNN. The plaque was intended as a gift from the city of Lauderhill to Jones, who will be the featured speaker at the city�s annual Martin Luther King celebration Saturday. James Earl Ray shot and killed King in 1968. Members of the city�s Martin Luther King task force had asked the Lauderhill-based Adpro to produce the plaque but later agreed with the company that Jones deserved something unique. Adpro found the answer in a plaque with collectible African-American stamps available from Merit Industries of Georgetown, Texas. The companies struck a deal. All Adpro had to do was choose from a list of stamps and fax the name and script needed on the plaque to the Texas company. Then the package arrived. �It had an immediate chill. It was eerie,� said Adpro owner Gerald Wilcox, 43, as he showed the plaque that, he said, �deeply hurt.� Wilcox, who 10 years ago founded Adpro to produce advertising and promotional items, is having a hard time understanding the mix-up. He still asks himself how someone could confuse Jones, the celebrated actor and pitchman known for his one-of-a kind voice, with Ray, the man who shot and killed King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Ray pleaded guilty to the crime in 1969, but debate over conspiracy theories and possible government involvement lives on. Ray later recanted his story; he was serving a 99-year prison sentence when he died in 1998. King would have been 73 this month. The case of the terribly wrong name is also fueling conspiracy theories. Gerald Wilcox said he knew the error didn�t come from his company, but he sent a company secretary scurrying through order forms � just to be sure. �In all my communications with the vendor, I never used [James Earl Ray]. I almost fell off my chair when I saw it,� said Norbert Williams, 68, a former middle school principal who is an Adpro account executive. The evidence pointed to Georgetown, Texas. Merit Industries� creation, intended for Jones and for which the city is spending about $200, features a 15-cent stamp of King and stamps of six other famous African-Americans. The six include Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Merit had faxed Adpro a list of 15 African-American stamps to choose from, and a rough sketch of what the finished product would look like. The plaque arrived Monday and, even without seeing it, Lauderhill officials were incensed. �It�s a real outrage,� said Commissioner Margaret Bates, who also chairs the city�s Martin Luther King task force. �To confuse James Earl Jones with James Earl Ray � just think of the significance.� Even with his doubts, Wilcox said he was willing to call it an error but wanted Merit executives to tell him what happened. He said the first phone conversation broke down when a Merit employee became uncooperative and cut the call short. On a second try, Gerald Wilcox talked to the owner, Herbert Miller. �I explained to him why this was so important. He said I was making a mountain out of a mole hill,� Wilcox said. �They had no sense of history. First I was stunned, then the anger kicked in.� On Tuesday, Merit�s Miller called the mistake not a �slur� but a �copy error.� �We have a lot of people who don�t speak English. Accidentally, one of the girls who doesn�t know James Earl Jones from a man on the moon accidentally typed James Earl Ray,� said Miller, who offered to correct the plaque. Wilcox accused the Texas company of being �culturally insensitive� and is having the damage repaired locally so it will be ready for Saturday. Some Lauderhill officials say it�s best to move forward because they may never know the truth behind the name switch. Jones will speak to youngsters at the Boys & Girls Club at 1 p.m. Saturday before attending a 7 p.m. reception at Inverrary Country Club. �I�d like to think it was a mistake,� said Irvin Kiffin, the city�s parks director. �But if it wasn�t, Dr. King taught us how to be strong.� Dwayne Campbell can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 954- 572-2004. Copyright � 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel http://www.newsok.com/cgi- bin/show_article?ID=810075&pic=none&TP=getarticle Black pledge draws angry e- mails 2002-01-16 By Randy Ellis The Oklahoman Millwood Public Schools Superintendent Gloria Griffin says she is "dumbfounded." Since Monday, she has been swamped with angry e-mails accusing her administration of espousing black separatist doctrine to Millwood students. She said nothing could be further from the truth. "This is very unfortunate," Griffin said. � Millwood Public Schools � Kwanzaa Information Center At the center of the misunderstanding is a copy of "The Black Pledge of Allegiance," which appears on the Millwood Public Schools Web site immediately beneath the traditional American Pledge of Allegiance. The Black Pledge of Allegiance We pledge allegiance of the red, black and green, Our flag, the symbol of our eternal struggle, and to the land we must obtain. One nation of Black people, with one God for us all, Totally united in the struggle for Black Love, Black Freedom, and Black determination. Griffin said the pledge, the origin of which is unknown to her, has appeared on the Web site since it was created last spring. She said she had forgotten all about it until the angry e-mails started arriving. The pledge is not something the students recite in school, she said, although it apparently has been characterized that way in e-mails that have circulated over the Internet. "Let me tell you how this came about," Griffin said. "Two or three years ago, one of the middle school teachers was doing a study on black pride or cultural pride. "This particular pledge was among the items the students found through their research." Black students make up about 99 percent of the Millwood school system's population, she said. Some students found the pledge to be encouraging and inspirational and asked if it could be used in the Student Planner, a book where students keep track of their assignments, Griffin said. It was approved and later was placed on the Web site, she said. Griffin said the idea that some people might interpret the pledge as advocating separatism never occurred to her when she read it. "When I read it, I focus on the words 'united in love, freedom and determination,'" she said. "If you look at history, there is a great need for African Americans to love. It is very important that we appreciate freedom. And it is very, very important to have self- determination, and I don't mean that in a sense of separatism." Others have interpreted the pledge differently. One of the nicer e-mails Griffin received said: "So much of the Millwood Web site is worthwhile. However, it is a shame that this pledge to black separatism is allowed in your school system." Another says: "I am offended by the Millwood Black Pledge of Allegiance. It is one of the most racist pieces of propaganda I have read in many years. In a nation which encourages equality, I am surprised to see such stark racial division being taught by a public school." Griffin said she is particularly upset by e-mails that have been blatantly racist, e-mails that falsely accuse the district of asking students to recite the pledge and e-mails that seem to question students' patriotism. The pledge is not recited in Millwood schools, she said. The Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag is recited often. "The elementary school opens each assembly with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag," Griffin wrote in a response to one e- mail. "Since August, this pledge is recited each morning. With a backlog of requests for American flags, the elementary school art teacher made attractive American flags for the classroom." Middle school assemblies begin with a presentation of colors by the Civil Air Patrol and students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. At the high school, the Junior ROTC posts the colors and the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag is recited, she said. "Other than being the target of misinformation, I don't know what to make of this," she said. "Something has been taken out of context. As a result, it really borders on slander." Griffin said she doesn't know the origin of the black pledge or the red, black and green flag it refers to -- although she does recall seeing the flag surface during the 1960s civil rights movement. She also said she didn't know whether the pledge would remain on the school's Web site. She said she has asked the middle school principal to research its origin so appropriate action can be taken. At the least, a paragraph of explanation identifying the pledge as cultural study material needs to be added, she said. Don Ross, a black state representative from Tulsa, said he is unfamiliar with the pledge. Like Griffin, he recalls the flag surfacing during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. "I don't think it has anything to do with black separatism. If anything, it symbolizes unity," he said. Ross referred to the red, black and green flag as the "freedom flag." He said it is frequently presented, along with the American flag, at gatherings of many traditional black groups that have nothing to do with black separatism. The flag is frequently flown at Martin Luther King Day parades, he said. However, as is the case with many symbols, the red, white and green flag apparently means different things to different groups. The Kwanzaa Information Center Web site has an article on the origin of the red, black and green flag. It said the flag "has become the symbol of devotion for African people in America to establish an independent African nation on the North American Continent." "Red is for the Blood. Black is the Black People. Green is for the Land," the Web site says. Privacy Policy | Site Map | FAQ's � 2002, Produced by NewsOK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. 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