Ocoee’s racial past

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (a k a Lynching Memorial) opened Thursday in Montgomery, Ala. Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson attended the opening ceremony because one slab is marked for Orange County’s 33 victims, 32 of whom are linked to Ocoee (1920 Election Day massacre).

Johnson has acknowledged Ocoee’s history but has not conceded the depth of devastation in the death toll, trauma to the black population that fled the town, and generations of lost wealth/prosperity within black families.

And, while he has pledged to erect a marker about the city’s history, he will not recognize the research done by the NAACP to identify the death toll. He agrees to list the death toll only as “undetermined.” In addition, Johnson has said, “Put that [marker] up and move on. That Ocoee isn’t Ocoee now. We’re a diverse city. There’s no unrest, no turmoil.”

My hope is that Johnson will be so transformed by his experience Thursday that he will want to rectify the city’s past denial of Ocoee’s racial terror history.

The memorial has been created because there is “no reconciliation without acknowledgment.” Our community deserves proper acknowledgment by city leaders of the suffering, humiliation and denial of humanity that occurred in Ocoee. I’m thankful that Johnson went to Montgomery. I’m counting on him. Heather Gantt Winter Garden