Memory of past protest mixes with new one

Tale of Two Headlines: How’s this for a juxtaposition of headlines on the same day:

MEMPHIS WILL HONOR STRIKERS IN NEW I AM A MAN PLAZA

CITIZENS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT OVER ‘BLACKLIST’; CITY DECLINES TO SPECIFY CRITERIA

Memphis dotes on its history now. It hasn’t always. And the things to which it pays tribute often weren’t supported or embraced by mainstream Memphis in its own moment. This is true of music, the city’s pride, though it let Stax go bankrupt and get demolished, let Beale Street run dry. And it’s certainly true of civil rights freedom fighters from antilynching journalist Ida B. Wells to “I Am a Man” strike leader T.O. Jones, who confronted reluctant (at best) power in their day but who now share space on a giant mural leading to a National Civil Rights Museum.

And, so, on the day it was announced that Jones and his fellow marchers would be honored on a $700,000 plaza next to historic Clayborn Temple, to provide “a space for reflection on social justice and equity, space for ‘peaceful protest,’” you also had to wonder if those future peaceful protesters would make “The List.” Or if Wells or Jones would have been on it today.

The city declines to specify the criteria for the 81 names on a so-called “blacklist” now subject to a federal lawsuit. But if you match names to the news you find connections not only to the handful of people accused of participating at a “die-in” protest at Mayor Jim Strickland’s house but to the I-40 bridge protest, the Graceland protest, Overton Park greensward protest, the Valero refinery protest and to just generally known activists in town (such as the four plaintiffs to the lawsuit).

Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings defended the list earlier in the week, saying that the 81 on the list were not targeted based on their political views, but it certainly looks like people were targeted based on a public expression of political views.

The courts will sort this out. Not all protests, or protesters, are created equal, in either righteousness or effectiveness. The bridge protest featured unsatisfying follow-up from both ends, and many of the same activists pushing back at Michael Rallings now were demanding his hiring, without process or the vetting of other candidates, the day after the bridge protest.

But it would be wise to take a step back, commune with monuments to the past, and let those lessons guide a cautious judgment about the present.

Reach Chris Herrington at chris.herrington@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @chrisherrington and @herringtonNBA.