The month of February is celebrated as Black History Month because both Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14) had February birthdays. But here in Davidson County we have our own remarkable reasons to celebrate.
Davidson County had a population of 16,601 in 1860. This number included 3,076 slaves and 147 free people of color. It is hard to believe that 160 years ago over 18% of our county’s population was slaves. It probably will not surprise you to learn that nearly 2,000 Davidson County men fought for the Confederacy, but you may be surprised to know that many local people were opposed to the war. There was a peace rally in Thomasville in 1862.
The post-war south was difficult for everyone, white and black, but at least there were schools for white children. It was almost six decades after the war before black children had a school of their own. Julius Rosenwald, the self-educated son of a German-Jewish immigrant had become a multi-millionaire as President of Sears Roebuck. He wanted to address the inequality that black citizens experienced in the south by building schools. There were 813 Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina, including Dunbar School on 4th Street in Lexington that opened in 1924.
Rosenwald’s next project was to provide public library services for black citizens. The Davidson County Public Library opened in 1928, but was in serious financial distress. The Rosenwald Foundation offered the county financial assistance on the condition that services would be provided to all citizens, regardless of race. At the time around 10% of the county’s 40,000 citizens were black. In the summer of 1929, two new branches of the Davidson County Library opened to serve the African-American population. When this happened, our county became the first county, not just in North Carolina, but the entire south to offer public library services to all of our citizens—an amazing accomplishment! And the first month the new branches were open, black citizens checked out 4,000 books. That was one book for every African-American in the county!
In 1951, Dr. Lacy Caple became the first African-American dentist in Lexington. He was an early advocate for civil rights along with Harvey Henderson, Rev. A. T. Evans and Rev. F. D. Betts. In 1958, Dunbar High School won the first of three state football championships under the leadership of Coach Charlie England.
In 1963, the Lexington “Race Riot” received international attention after a man was killed. No one who was present that night will ever forget the fear that they experienced. The News Media had already left town when only one week later the Lexington City Council ordered the immediate desegregation of all city offices. A bi-racial council was formed to find ways to work together. Four years later all schools in Davidson County were totally integrated.
Rev. Dr. Arnetta Beverly became the first
African-American to be elected to the Lexington City Council in 1987 and in
2002 the Davidson County Commissioners voted to approve the Martin Luther King.
Jr. Holiday.
There have been many brave and
courageous men and women of all races who have worked for equality and justice
through the years. There have been
times of great progress and there have also been times that we have failed to
love our neighbors as ourselves. There
will always be those who are insensitive and those whose hearts are full of
hatred which is why it is so important for us to focus on our accomplishments
and the positive efforts to bring about justice for all. Light is always stronger than the darkness
and love is always stronger than hate.
I hope you will join me in
celebrating the many wonderful accomplishments of African-Americans and others
who have worked for racial reconciliation and unity. No, we are not where we should be, but thank
the good Lord we are not where we used to be.
We keep moving forward, even though there are setbacks. We keep striving to reach the goal of a
society where all people are respected because we have been created equal. Every person is an individual of worth
because all of us, of every color and every culture, have been created in the
Image of God. One day we pray we will
reach our goal where there will be true liberty and justice for all!
