Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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4 NOVEMBER 11-17, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Well, no doubt, I was not the only one that was sad and disappointed at the Fayetteville Observer's Thursday, Nov. 5, article written by Andrew Barksdale (Some See Divide in City Vote Totals). Here, he interpreted Mayor Nat Robertson's 673 vote victory over challenger Val Applewhite as proof positive that our community is divided along racial and economic lines. Barksdale shamelessly expounded on our communities "apparent" divide between well-to- do aristocratic white Fayetteville citizens living in exclusive high-class neighborhoods to poor and lower- middle-class black Fayetteville residents living in segregated parts of our community including the newly annexed West Fayetteville area. How absurd. He also made sure that everyone understood that Robertson is a white male registered as a Republican who lives in the Terry Sanford High School area while accentuating that Applewhite is a black female registered as a Democrat and lives in the city's middle-class western suburbs. As he reported, Applewhite's campaign was based on the platform of inequality as she touted that there was a major disparity of income and wealth among Fayetteville residents, and that was unacceptable. In reality, she lost the mayor's race because her base of likely voters did not buy into her radical and racially-charged conclusions. Barksdale's attempt to paint that as a foregone reality is the type of racial divide this community does not need or want. And, the Fayetteville Observer's Executive Editor Michael Adam's sloppy left-handed mea culpa only added insult to injury. Barksdale is a talented reporter; however, he is not the boss. He has at least two newspaper editors above him that must approve and sign off on his stories. Hence, once printed, the story no doubt also representing the position and opinion of the newspaper. Well, here's a newsflash: Val Applewhite's inequality platform, even when supported and reinforced by the Fayetteville Observer, doesn't make it truth or a Fayetteville reality. Far from it. What it does indicate is that they all are out of touch with the residents of the community. Fayetteville Observer Editor Michael Adams, in response to reader backlash, tried to soften the article's intention and purpose. He tried to walk it back in Sunday's newspaper and justify the purpose for it. His article, "Story Didn't Show Reporter's Insights" came across only as a weak, left-handed mea culpa. "We are sorry, but....." ! This begs the question: Do our daily newspaper editors (Adams and Tim White) even live in Cumberland County? In closing, I do live in Fayetteville and I stay in touch with its residents. I can tell you unequivocally that I sense no racial divisiveness, hostility or bias among the residents that I come in contact with in all my daily social and business events. I only experience and witness divisive negative and destructive behaviors in our daily newspaper and liberal talk shows and when inept individuals find it politically convenient and self-serving. Reality check: Fayetteville is now at a critical crossroads with a new Chamber president, reorganized City County Economic Development Board, Downtown Fayetteville Development, PWC issues and the all-important parks and recreation referendum. There is absolutely no room or time for divisiveness. This is crunch time! Now, more than ever, our community needs vision, perseverance, cooperation and most importantly, leadership. On Nov. 3, whatever the circumstances, the voters have made it clear on what they want and expect from their elected officials. Now, let's get it done. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN We Must Stop Promoting Divisiveness by BILL BOWMAN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Jeff Thompson jeff@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Sara Smith art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Karla Allen karla@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com Melissa Zalaznik melissa@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publi- cation consideration, but assumes no responsibil- ity for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910-354-1679 for more info. November 12 Mostly Sunny November 13 Mostly Sunny November 14 Sunny November 15 Sunny November 16 Partly Cloudy November 17 Partly Cloudy THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 72 HIGH 67 HIGH 58 HIGH 60 HIGH 60 HIGH 62 LOW 48 LOW 41 LOW 36 LOW 38 LOW 44 LOW 46 Now, more than ever, our community needs vision, cooperation, and leadership.