Letter From The STJ
10-24-09
Letter to the Editor that ran in the Saturday, October 17, 2009 print-edition of the Selma Times Journal:
Dear Editor,
While I generally disagree with the assumption “it takes a village to raise a child;” I am firmly convinced that we should all do our part to prevent village idiots from having a hand in raising our greatest national treasures. With that said, I strongly urge voters in Selma to reject any candidate that supports the Freedom Foundation and its leaders.
Two people who are running for the Board, Mrs. Frances Coles and Dr. Margaret Hardy have given very public support to Mark Duke and the Freedom Foundation. Mrs. Coles is a near-daily caller to the Freedom Foundation’s radio program, Real Talk and has consistently voiced her support for the Freedom Foundation. Dr. Margaret Hardy serves as a trustee of the board of trustees of the Freedom Foundation.
The president of the Freedom Foundation and founder of the House of God cult, Mark Duke, has on many occasions spoken of African-Americans, particularly those who live in Selma in the most disgusting racist manner; even going so far as to suggest that whites in Selma who didn’t want a black mayor should vote for him. While he was spouting his outrageous anti African-American bile from one side of his mouth, he was degrading Selma’s white folks from the other.
Additionally, Mark Duke along with his one of his two live-in “spiritual partners,” Shawn Samuelson (who serves as the chairperson of the Freedom Foundation), believe and teach that God told them to go against the clearly biblical and morally standardized and culturally acceptable mores of marriage.
I do not personally know or have association with either Mrs. Coles or Dr. Hardy, and I am not suggesting that they are not fine upstanding members of the community; but their very strong public and vocal support of those who have used such vile and divisive racist comments from the pulpit of a supposed “church” along with a complete and utter disregard for the institution of marriage make them, in my mind, completely unfit for the high calling of the Selma School Board.
I support these ladies’ right to run for the Board, but I urge the good folks of Selma to use their right to vote to say NO to them and any other person who supports the Freedom Foundation. Your children are far too important to leave their education in the hands of those who have shown such poor judgment in their support of racist and separatist religious leaders who blatantly defy the moral standards of the community – and that’s exactly what the leaders of the Freedom Foundation have done and continue to do.
The statements expressed in this letter are my own private views as an individual citizen, and do not in any way reflect the opinion(s) and/or view(s) of the non-profit organization that employs me.
Allan McConnell
Birmingham, Alabama
