Corrected version
The Greenwood City Council, following a brief, heated debate, approved the appointment of Connie Johnson to the Greenwood School Board by a 5-1 vote Tuesday.
Johnson, a 66-year-old secretary, has served as a volunteer at the Greenwood Mentoring Group’s Learning Center on Avenue G for three years.
Ward 6’s David Jordan cast the only vote against her. Ward 2’s Lisa Cookston was absent.
No one spoke either in favor or in opposition to Johnson’s appointment during the public comment segment of the meeting. A large number of people attended to support Johnson, including Bill Clay, founder of the Greenwood Mentoring Group, and Kathy Whicker. Both Clay and Whicker are members of the Greenwood School Board.
Johnson said this morning she was gratified by the outpouring of support from the council as well as family and friends.
“I consider it an honor to have this privilege to serve. I’m grateful for the support of the council members,” she said.
The School Board now includes two white women (Johnson and Whicker), one black woman (Lora Evans) and two black men (Clay and George Ellis).
Jordan, a black retired schoolteacher, told the majority-white audience at the meeting that he opposed adding a second white member to the board when the school system’s population is overwhelmingly black.
“You may think whatever you wish to think on this issue, but I’m looking at a school system that is 93.4 percent African-American, Negro, colored, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I’m looking at the white population (in the city’s public schools) — 6.6 percent, including the other people that may, excuse me, pass as white that are not white.”
In an interview with the Commonwealth earlier Tuesday, Jordan initially described the district as “99.9 percent black.”
He said during the council meeting that Clay had told him about Johnson’s volunteer work at the center.
“That’s well and good,” he said. “But let’s look at the equation. Let’s look at balance. You’ve got qualified African-Americans, ladies with children in school that need to be put on this board.
“It doesn’t make sense to have only 6.6 percent enrolled in the public school system in Greenwood, Mississippi, and you have 40 percent of the policy-making board of another race,” he said. “This race has not sent their children to the public school system.”
“I’m like Lincoln. I have malice against none, but this isn’t right. It isn’t right at all,” he said.
He said if the situation were reversed, whites wouldn’t stand for it.
“If we were only 6.6 percent African-American in the school district, you wouldn’t give us 40 percent black, no way,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
Mayor Carolyn McAdams said Johnson is qualified for the position, which has been vacant since January.
“We may have 74 percent African-Americans in this city, but I really don’t see it that way. I look at it as Greenwood, Mississippi,” she said. “You have to have support from the African-Americans, you have to have support from the Hispanics and we have to have support from the whites. That’s how I look at it.”
According to the 2010 census, Greenwood’s population is actually 67 percent black.
McAdams, who is white, said focusing on race has hindered the city’s progress.
“I don’t look at it as, ‘You’ve got so many here, you’ve got so many here, you’ve got so many here,’” she said.
McAdams had previously nominated two black men for the fifth seat on the School Board. Her initial recommendation, Bruce Turner, was rejected by the council’s black majority in January. In September, McAdams nominated Andrew Powell, but the mayor said there was enough negative talk about Powell that he withdrew his nomination before the council could vote.
“I’m bringing you a candidate today that is out there helping children,” McAdams said. “She knows what’s best for the children.”
Jordan was the only council member to speak on the appointment.
Later, Ward 4’s Charles McCoy, one of four black council members to vote for Johnson, described her as an outstanding person.
“I think Mrs. Johnson is going to be an asset with the School Board,” he said. “She’s dependable. She’s looking out for the welfare of our boys and girls.”
Ward 5’s Tennill Cannon, who had earlier praised the influence of the mentoring group’s center on the children in his neighborhood, said he had met Johnson during her work as a volunteer.
“I think, at this point in time, it is good to have a person that shows that kind of commitment,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
