CULLMAN, Ala. – As anti-racism protests in Cullman’s Depot Park entered their third day Tuesday, former State Representative James Fields returned to meet for a second time with protesters. Fields looks at the protests and counter protests from a unique perspective: as an African-American official who held elected office from Cullman County.
Fields told The Tribune, “It’s a sad situation all the way around, you know. Unfortunately, Mr. (George) Floyd lost his life. There have been so many who have lost their lives.”
Gesturing to the group of young people on the sidewalk, he continued, “Peaceful like this, showing support, is one of the best ways to get our message out, to bring awareness to people. Unfortunately, some people are not going to listen.
“You know, we don’t do enough listening. We just need to hear one another, sit down and talk with one another, try to understand. You can be on this side of the political stream or you can be on this side of the political stream, and when we allow politics to continue to divide us, we’re always going to have situations like this, and that is very unfortunate.
“All we can do is pray for these guys here, thank them for what they’re doing, and hopefully, people will understand that all lives do matter. Everybody’s lives matter. I think when we look at just the statement of ‘Black Lives Matter,’ the beginning of that was, go back in history. I’m just proud to see Cullman standing up. I’m proud to see Cullman speaking out.”
Noting his election to the Alabama House of Representatives by Cullman County voters, Fields said, “We’ve come a long way. I know that I’ve never heard of any serious problems- not in the last 30 years- with the police department treating people any different, no matter what their skin color. Of course, I don’t run into law enforcement that much!”
Asked about the counterprotesters who have turned out around the park each day, Fields asked, “What are they counterprotesting? You can let your emotions take you somewhere you don’t want to be. Why are you counterprotesting? That’s the sad commentary to the whole thing, is that, ‘If you’re for it, I’m against it.’ Well, what am I for and what are you against? ‘It don’t matter; if you’re for it, I’m against it.’
“This has brought light to every part of our state, every part of our country. Have they even attempted to understand? Have they really attempted to look at what’s going on? Because when you look at this crowd, I’m the only person of color here. You’ve got a lot of people who would probably be here, that are just afraid. We’ve got to confront our fears, and when we’re able to confront our fears, then we’ll be able to move forward.”
Are you concerned that Cullman might see the kind of violence seen in other cities?
Fields responded, “No. No, I’m not. No, I don’t believe that will happen. I don’t think you’ll have any vandalism, any glass breaking, any buildings being destroyed or police cars being destroyed. I don’t think you’ll see any of that in Cullman. I think what you see now is how peaceful this will be all the way through.”
Are you concerned that the current tension could cause problems?
Said Fields, “Yeah, I’ll tell you: these are some brave people. They’ve probably been harassed in a way, but they come out and they tough it out. So I think they’ll be fine, and I think everything’ll be good.”
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