Tuesday’s Veterans Parade through Greenwood’s downtown, sponsored by American Legion Post 200, was supposed to honor all those who served in uniform.
By Wednesday afternoon, there was some disagreement over whether an appearance in the parade’s lineup by Carol White-Richard, a candidate in the Fourth District, Position 3 runoff against Takiyah Perkins on Nov. 25, was officially approved.
Post leaders said she wasn’t permitted; White-Richard said she was.
Robert Beasley, Post 200’s public relations officer, said White-Richard wasn’t an official parade participant.
He said he had received some “flak” on the issue during an appearance on “Let’s Talk,” a radio show hosted by Leflore County Supervisor Robert Moore, himself a member of Post 200. Moore’s brother, Charles, serves as the post’s commander.
Beasley said White-Richard’s appearance at the parade, if interpreted as political, places the post at risk.
“She didn’t have our permission,” he said. “We told her she couldn’t have political signs. We don’t want the public to think we’re endorsing candidates.”
Beasley said he spoke with White-Richard briefly before the parade, and she asked him if she could enter a vehicle. He said he told her he would have to check with Charles Moore.
Later, as the parade got under way, White-Richard “bogarted her way” into the lineup, he said.
White-Richard, 43, a Greenville attorney, said Beasley’s description of what happened is a “complete untruth.”
She said that after being told by Charles Moore that they couldn’t have political signs on the door of their vehicle, she took the magnetic signs down and replaced them with a simple banner that read:
Carol White-Richard
Salutes Our Troops
Veterans Day 2014
Honoring All Who Served!
She said she talked to Beasley before the parade to make sure that the new signs met with the post’s approval. She said he told her, “My commander said you can be in the parade. You can be in the parade.”
“Mr. Moore never told us we couldn’t be in the parade,” she said.
Moore said this morning that he saw a young woman, who might have been White-Richard, parked on the outskirts of the parade staging area.
“I told them they couldn’t be in the parade with those signs. No advertising,” he said.
Moore said that included the generic veterans tribute banners that White-Richard said she used. “Anything with her name on it is advertising for her,” Moore said.
Samantha Bryant, a White-Richard supporter, said she attended a Post 200 fish fry Saturday and talked to Charles Moore to make sure White-Richard could participate in the parade. She said he responded yes.
Bryant’s uncle, Isaiah Cayson, is a member of Post 200 and serves as its treasurer, she said.
Beasley said he had a preferred candidate in the judicial runoff but declined to identify her.
Perkins did not attend the parade.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
