Rev. Murphy’s comment is provided again for your convenience:
Rev. Dante A. Murphy
April 8, 2018 at 10:59 pm
Collateral damage from the civil rights movement that created greater opportunities for minorities also produced a generation of black baby boomers who became easily controlled and manipulated by whites in leadership. This process can be interrupted when either whites openly challenge other whites on this very issue or blacks become frustration to the point of using unconventional measures to bring about change. This ideology is partly observed in a recent article written by Robert Williams that exposes Cleveland County Commissioner Eddie Holbrook with playing the race card to secure another term as county commissioner. Mr. Holbrook referred the editor, Robert Williams, to his association “with the black community back to the 60’s.” I am personally unable to comment on Mr. Holbrook’s association with the black community as far back as the sixties. However, I am well aware of his association with the black community for the ten years (2006-2016) I lived in Cleveland County. During this time, I witnessed Mr. Holbrook being very astute in the process of buying out black leaders with the ultimate intent of manipulating others. Mr. Holbrook’s words uttered at a NAACP meeting, during one of his past campaign bids for county commissioner, are etched in my mind. He declared his commitment to raise money for the Community Math Academy which is an organization I was part of founding. At the moment Mr. Holbrook committed to supplying money for the Community Math Academy, at least four prominent black leaders in the African American community solidified themselves as sellouts to their community and Mr. Holbrook was the buyer. That buyout ultimately resulted in a prominent black pastor in the community being used to divide the black community. Rather than allowing this tactic to succeed, several black pastors regrettably did not push back on the prostitution of a black leader. Gradually, that same black pastor was used to kick other black pastors off a school board diversity team because of their challenging views and speaking truth to power. I was reminded some years later by a New York Times reporter that it is “fairly easy to buy out a black man.” I was thrown in disbelief at what I had just heard, not because of its validity or truth, but because a white man so easily said it. Having succumb to the shock of such racial truths I am now equally shocked when a white man is accused of buying out blacks, but denies doing so. So is the case with Mr. Eddie Holbrook’s denial of “playing the race card.”Mr. Holbrook’s response to the article failed to take into account that among blacks these racial tactics are frequently discussed and talked about. Blacks openly acknowledge among each other that whites strategically shop for black leaders, give them a few amenities, such as, board appointments, free baseball tickets, invitations to events, and a sense of “having arrived” for a return favor of controlling the temperature in the black community. This reality in and of itself may not enrage neither blacks or whites in the community. What should enrage both blacks and whites is that Mr. Holbrook’s decision to stall and outright deny promoting a sports complex partnership is an action that will obstruct a level of expertise needed for the enhancement of many athletes coming out of Cleveland County and the surrounding areas.
What is yet to be revealed are direct statements made, possibly representing the sentiment of all county commissioners, as to why a partnership cannot be made with former NFL player and two-time Super Bowl winner, Mr. Willie Green. In order to gain a better understanding of the details citizens should begin sending emails and ask every sitting county commissioner the following questions: 1) why North Carolina House Speaker and Cleveland County Attorney, Tim Moore, took commissioners into a closed session during its last meeting to discuss a “potential legal matter,” 2) why Mr. Willie Green’s association with certain blacks have impacted Cleveland County’s ability to partner with Mr. Green, 3) why a former county employee and pastor was forced off as a board member to one of Mr. Green’s non-profit organization as a negotiating tool to increase the chances of Cleveland County forming a partnership with Mr. Green. More than likely, they will tell you “we can’t discuss that because of a pending legal matter.” For those wanting to dig deep into secrets of a previous lawsuit and a forthcoming lawsuit against Cleveland County I would suggest doing a freedom of information request for all correspondences between myself and county officials, especially, North Carolina House Speaker and County Attorney, Tim Moore.
I am not suggesting by any means that Mr. Holbrook lacks attributes beneficial to Cleveland County. I am suggesting that his racist and discriminatory attack towards a rare partnership with an African American should be challenged furiously by the white community. Mr. Holbrook’s demonstrated knowledge in athletics alone is an obvious “red flag” as to why this partnership is being stalled and blackballed. In that, having a former professional athlete alone, of Mr. Green’s caliber who wants to give back to a small town, is a rare opportunity and without reason as to why anyone, especially, a person of Mr. Holbrook’s athletic mindset, would not want to promote.
White voters should also challenge Mr. Holbrook’s favor towards partnerships that cater predominately to the older population while projects enhancing the lives of children and youth are non-existent. The sports complex partnership proposed by Mr. Willie Green is one of only two partnerships during my years in Cleveland County that covered a wide range of youth with the added benefit of a continuous and direct impact on the population served. The other partnership is the Cleveland County Promise that would have provided free college tuition to every high school graduate in Cleveland County. That project also received no backing or promotion from Mr. Eddie Holbrook as it was also introduced to Cleveland County by Mr. Willie Green. For those of you wondering how easily this plan could have come to fruition, I would suggest you do a simple google search of the cities that have implemented free college tuition since Mr. Green made his initial presentation years ago. You will then come to your own conclusions as to whether Mr. Holbrook’s actions are hurting the future of your children and, consequently, is an indicator that he has outlived his time as a major player in Cleveland County politics.
More to come as I receive reports and get confirmation.
Proof of my reports and conclusions noted in this article is easy. Take a look at all these so-called “Close the Gap” initiatives and wonder aloud; After all these years of closing the gap, why is there still a gap???
Looking back it is easy to see just how much progress has NOT been made in Cleveland County. My solution is get rid of Massa Eddie Holbrook in the Democrat Primary on May 8 and get rid of “Massa Ronnie” Whetstine and “Massa Doug” Bridges in the General Election on November 8. It’s either that or keep on bending over for the Massas of Cleveland County’s so called good deeds.