The Truth comes out about the Burns High School “Cotton Booth” That CCS and the Shelby Star had removed from the Cleveland County Fair!!! Report by Robert A. Williams
Folks, remember the terrific scandal coming out of the Cleveland County Fair about two years ago when Cleveland County Schools had the Burns High School “Cotton Display” removed from the Fair’s Exhibition Hall? The booth that “certain” people found “Offensive”??
Now, the Truth:
Mary Accor; former County Commissioner (Appointed and Removed, then elected), and CCS Administrator and presently on the DSS Advisory Board.
Mary Degree; Former NAACP President (and alleged center of an internal financial investigation) and civil rights activist
Donnie Thurman, Jr.; Former CCS Board member who did not run for re-election under uncertain circumstances and former Communities-In-Schools employee who left under uncertain circumstances.
These three noted above: Mary Accor, Mary Degree and Donnie Thurman, Jr. saw the display at the Fair and totally biased-incorrectly decided amongst themselves that the Burns High School “Cotton Display” was offensive only because it had the caption “Old times are not forgotten” as part (sort of) of the display. The rest of the booth correctly stating the impact of the cotton industry on the history of Cleveland County. ALL 100% correct.
But, Accor, Degree and Thurman, none of which were likely ever to have been in a cotton patch (like I have been)-actually picking cotton, concluded that THEY were offended. “Old times are not forgotten” being part (sort of) of the second verse of the song “Dixie.” The song Dixie starts like this” “Oh, I wish I wuz in the land of cotton, where old times there are not forgotten.”
So, Accor, Degree and Thurman call Tony Fogelman, the head of CCS vocational program, and have Fogelman come out to the Fair to witness for himself the racially insensitive (to them) “Cotton Display” booth.
The Official-unofficial version of the cover-up story is Fogelman, alone, made the decision to remove the Burns High School Cotton Display booth from the Fair. A version I consider hoey. Fogelman is too smart to make such a controversial decision (Especially to Burns High Students, their parents and the upper Cleveland County community) without going up the line. To Supt. Stephen Fisher. For advice maybe, but for sure to let them know what is going on. And Fisher is too smart and sneaky to NOT have notified the school board chairman (Phillip Glover-to my recollection) of what was going on. Fisher and Glover would likely tell Fogelman to go ahead and pull the display, and also tell Fogelman that he would take the blame, but be protected, if a scandal would erupt as long as the Superintendent and school Board could claim deniability. Which they did.
Folks, this is the chain of sordid events that actually happened in regard to the Burns High School Cotton Display at the Cleveland county Fair.
Except for one thing my sources did not tell me. What I found out myself going back to the articles written at the time by me, The Shelby Star and another article that popped up in a google search. All three are included below.
The Star article featured a headline picture of the so-called Cotton Display “sign” with the “offensive” words “Old times are not forgotten.” So, how did the Shelby Star get that picture? Especially since the Cotton Display was removed so fast? Before the Fair actually opened.
The answer is obvious. CCS high administration. Supt. Fisher of Chairman Glover must have called the Star in anticipation of the scandal that would occur because of the CCS controversial decision to remove the display. As a part of the Star’s favorable publicity policy regarding CCS from back in the Skippy Foster days when CCS paid hundreds of thousand$$$ to the Star for “consulting services.” Now as advertising and the do-nothing NIE (News In Education) program. All in all, a device to help re-elect the ineffective school board members who try to shut down Danny Blanton.
But, as I often say, “Don’t believe me.” Go back and read the three articles below and see how the Star hides the truth about CCS and their shenanigans. Decide for yourselves who tells you the truth. And most important, who does NOT tell you the truth. All the truth.
I look forward for your results. Your readership is welcome. Especially now that election time for the 2020 School Board elections will begin in December 2019. About six weeks away. All you new and honest school board candidates had better get cracking.