After a recent visit to North Georgia, I wrote this short editorial to the Gainesville Times to respond to the many racist street signs I came across. They didn’t publish it. Imagine that…
Navigating Hall County
The nightmare continues…
Vacations can be so exhausting. Our tires just couldn’t turn fast enough. We were so tired. If the Dallas to Atlanta flight wasn’t enough, the drive to Hall County was enough to push us over the edge. Not too long after we got to the county line, our navigation system became the keeper of white supremacy. Sign after sign began to warn us that the past is not past in these parts. For out of the naming and keeping of things, the heart of the community speaks. By the time I arrived at “Jim Crow Rd.,” I was left with little doubt of where I was.
While you might claim booming development, growth and progress…I am here to tell you that the signs tell a different story. The signs tell stories of slavery, lynching, segregation and brutal intolerance. God tells us that we shall be judged based on our love for our neighbors. There is nothing loving about maintaining signs that mock the pain of others. There is nothing loving about signs that continue the violence of racism. There is nothing loving about these street signs.
So, why keep up the hate?
Hall County can be saved from the past.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
Theologian
Denton, Texas
*I was bombarded with different explanations for these road signs. Regardless of their origin, they are racist now and should be removed immediately.
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