Democracy, Dialogue, and Community Action: Truth and Reconciliation in Greensboro

INTRODUCTION

IntroduCtIon Time to Talk America is an idea—a beautiful one. Democracy is an experiment, an ongoing one. Both ideals require telling the truth so that justice at home and abroad isn’t blind. Both require reliable information disseminated widely,so that our passionate engagement and active,intelligent participation in the political process aren’t rendered victims of power, privilege, and the silent protection of those who have abused their power and flaunted their privilege.Even then there are no guarantees. —H. L. GOODALL JR. IN 2004,THE first Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States was installed in Greensboro, North Carolina, to examine the impact of a tragedy twenty-five years earlier, one that sparked a worldwide cry for justice. Five people were murdered on November , , when the Ku Klux Klan and theAmerican Nazi Party fired into a crowd of protestors one Saturday morning. Television crews captured the shootings on video, from start to finish, yet none of the killers ever served time for the crime. That tragedy—known as the Greensboro Massacre—exposed what many believed to be the inadequacy of judicial ,political,and economic systems in the United States.Before examining that disturbing day, it is important to recognize that the particulars of November  were not a staple of most people’s day-today conversations when Greensboro’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched. In fact, many people had never heard of November , while others had long purged the violent episode from their memories.Why,then,would talking about an event that occurred twenty-five years earlier be desirable or even necessary? As is often the way, not talking about something does not mean it ceases to have ix impact. Indeed, the effect of November  was felt far and wide in the fabric of the southern city.Trust of the police and local government was perilously low, racial tensions persisted, and political protest had been effectively silenced.1 Despite repeated attempts, the city was faltering in its efforts to envision a new identity following the collapse of its textile industry that had long formed the community’s economic base. Former Greensboro mayor Carolyn Allen and co-chair of the task force formed to initiate a truth and reconciliation process believed a thoughtful, sustained inquiry into the causes and consequences of November  could improve the city’s affairs she had seen decline over the previous twenty years—relationships between blacks and the police, trust of city leaders by citizens of all races, and communication among residents (Cose, ). An alliance of blacks and whites mobilized to establish the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project (GTCRP),a grassroots organization that would eventually lay the foundation for the United States’first Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC was to be a process and a tool by which citizens could feel confident about the“truth”of the city’s history in order to reconcile divergent understandings of past and current city priorities. In looking at the experiences of Greensboro’s citizens during this process, on-lookers from around the country and throughout the world asked if truth and reconciliation commissions could work for their communities as well.They wanted to know in what ways can and do people depend upon one another to assert the common good and transform a pain-filled past into a more hopeful, prosperous future? Communities that have experienced racial and class injustice, pain, suffering, and lingering resentment often point to the less than full exoneration of past wrongs as contributing to a gripping, existential mistrust and even cynicism among the populace. To correct the painful condition, citizens and leaders alike seek guidance in how to constructively resurrect past issues in order to implement reflective responses for the benefit of all citizens. These matters point directly to the ethical posture and communicative processes that undergird democratic action. It is people who imagine, construct, and sustain their communities by interacting, dreaming, and struggling with one another over conceptions of how to best live together. TRC processes invest resources to encourage deliberation that confronts conflict,welx INTRODUCTION comes differing views, seeks deep understanding, and constructs a future path to restore the well-being of the community. In doing so, TRCs recognize that it is communication that awakens people’s critical awareness, reflection, and action, not legal records, detailed reports, or judicial proceedings. With respect to communication, it is difficult to overstate its importance in a society...