The following joint statement of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee (CRC), the Community Building Initiative (CBI) and Mecklenburg Ministries (MM) is in reaction to the issues that have surfaced as a result of the process to appoint a sheriff in Mecklenburg County. As human relations organizations, our individual and collective missions require a community process of communication, examination, understanding and healing. Some in the community have questioned whether this current situation will set back race and ethnic relations to which we would answer,

"Yes -- if we let it." However, we can choose to see this as an opportunity for us, as a community of many voices, to honor and address our real differences around real issues. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter to the communityand sharing it with others in your network.

"Salting the Roads" - An Open Letter to the Community

The current turmoil surrounding the process to appoint a sheriff for Mecklenburg County has resulted in charges of racism, allegations of discrimination, an escalation of racial and ethnic mistrust and political jockeying by some elected officials and community leaders. This singular event has polarized many in our community along racial, ethnic, geographical and political lines. It causes us to ask, "What's in the ground in our community?" that has again been stirred to the surface with such a toxic effect. This situation can surely escalate if perspectives and emotions are not acknowledged and addressed.

During the past weeks the weather in Charlotte-Mecklenburg has presented us with the prospect of freezing rain, sleet, snow and ice. In preparation, the City and State undertook an aggressive and effective campaign to prepare for these inclement conditions by salting the roads - a proactive strategy to deal with potential difficulties and reduce the chances of us harming one another and ourselves. In a similar spirit we believe that Charlotte-Mecklenburg has a unique and timely opportunity to "salt the roads of community" and address the divisive issues that have so quickly surfaced with similar dangerous implications.

In our current context, salting the roads means we acknowledge that this is a complex issue and that understanding the underlying causes, real and imagined, is complicated and multi-layered. There is no easy fix. However, as a community we can develop short and long term strategies and forego our tendency to dismiss or demonize one another because we disagree.

There are many views, voices, and perspectives in our community. We need to listen to them all. We call upon politicians, public officials, business and non-profit executives and the faith community to lead the way, opening the lines of communication between people of differing viewpoints and helping us understand that other points of view may be as compelling as our own.

Individual and collective examination requires that we ask ourselves why this particular situation disturbed some of us so deeply and why it expanded so quickly into a divisive community issue. Is it a window into a larger issue? The answer to this question will tell us much about who we intend to be.

At some point soon a decision will be made about who will be the next sheriff of Mecklenburg County. When this happens, we must be ready to deal with the consequences of that decision. No matter what happens, feelings will be hurt, accusations will fly, tempers will flare, and emotions will run high. Despite all of these reactions, our community should seize this moment as an opportunity to confront historical realities, understand present day inequities, and envision future possibilities of the community we want to become.

As children, our parents often responded to pain in our lives by telling us that "this too will pass." The same might be said for Charlotte-Mecklenburg regarding its process to appoint a sheriff - or of icy roads that need salting due to inclement weather. If we are true to our history and our tradition regarding tough racial issues, eventually this situation will "pass" and the wounds it has caused will scab over. However, without honest examination, they will not heal properly. People will not forget. The toxins embedded in the ground in our community have been released and others still remain in the soil beneath our feet.

Let's make this a time in which we acknowledge and examine the toxic substances in our soil that have been so easily disturbed by this situation. They cause great damage to our community and will again if we do not address them. Let's salt the roads with honest questions, candor and open dialogue that address the poison of racism, intolerance, hatred, exclusion and apathy that saturates the ground beneath us.

We urge you to engage your family, friends, neighbors, congregations and associates - both within your comfort zone and across difference - in dialogue around how and why this particular issue has exposed levels of mistrust and misunderstanding. The path towards equity and inclusion is beneath our feet when we venture to communicate about difficult issues, raise awareness, foster understanding and model behaviors that strengthen the community we occupy together. As individuals and organizations that are committed to this community, we welcome input from interested persons and potential partners.

CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE

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Chapin A. Ferguson, Chairman

Willie Ratchford, Executive Director

COMMUNITY BUILDING INITIATIVE

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Claude Alexander, Leadership Team Co-Chair

Peter Sidebottom, Leadership Team Co-Chair

Dianne English, Executive Director

MECKLENBURG MINISTRIES

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Sidney Lockaby, Board Chairperson

Maria Hanlin, Executive Director