Believes letters are one-sided

Mr. Blaylock, in your opinion piece in the April 30 “Voice of the People,” you once again spewed your racist attack against J5. I deem it racist because in highlighting that Jabari Edwards, the owner, would be receiving $7,500 for services rendered, you neglected to mention the numerous other vendors who have contracts with the city of Columbus who will also still be paid. This includes a recently awarded contract to Neel-Schaffer for the roundabout which is roughly $100,000. We have never seen you list a name of the owners of that company or any of their personal information. If my memory serves me correctly, I have not seen this information provided by you or The Dispatch for any other company. Under the cover and using the platform of The Commercial Dispatch, you have made it your personal life’s mission to only attack J5. Could it be because it happens to be the owned by a black man? In a previous piece you have even gone so far as to list the property owned by Mr. Edwards in the city and county. We have yet to figure out the purpose of this. Is he corrupt because he owns property? And how does your investigating what Mr. Edwards owns enhance your ability to own and operate your clothing store?

Mr. Blaylock, it has been reported that you go to the tax office on a regular basis to check on Mr. Edwards’ taxes and to see what he owns. In one opinion piece you even talked about the fire chief being his neighbor. Which begs the question, are you riding by this man’s house? Your obsession with Mr. Edwards is concerning. You have even gone so far as to call his clients and spread vicious lies. I ask you, how would you feel if he waited at your store and told your clients things about your clothes? What if he told all the African Americans that do business with your wife, State Farm agent Denise Goode, that you consistently attack four of the most prominent black men (Mayor Robert Smith, Scott Colom, Jabari Edwards, and Kabir Karriem) in their communities?

I believe it is the right of every person to have an opinion and to voice it. But as I stated in my earlier letter I did not see the same fervent effort to call out Harry Sanders. Mr. Blaylock, please understand that what you are doing is not new. PBS just released recently a special called BOSS, The Black Experience in Business. This documentary highlights how black business people haves been lynched by the media for over 150 years. I encourage you and all of the readers to watch this. In doing so, you will realize that there is nothing special about what you are doing. You’re a merely a blast from the past.

Lavonne Latham-Harris

President, NAACP Lowndes County Branch

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.