From Staff Reports

A report providing an update on the widening of Interstate 26 between Asheville and Hendersonville, the proposed I-26 connector through Asheville, as well as other area road and infrastructure projects, was presented by two NCDOT engineers to the Council of Independent Business Owners on April 14 in UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center.

“They’re about 65 percent complete right now” on the mammoth I-26-widening project, Tim Anderson, NCDOT’s Division 13 engineer, told the meeting attendees, about midway through his portion of the road update. “Right now, later ‘24-25, we were thinking,” he said of NCDOT’s current projection on when the I-26 widening will be finished. 

The 30-minute road update, concluding with a brief question-and-answer session, was presented by Anderson, with assistance from Steve Cannon, a fellow engineer.

 CIBO Past President Bill Carroll, chaired and emceed the breakfast meeting in the absence of CIBO President Buzzy Cannady. Attendance was between 60 and 70 people.

The meeting featured one other 30-minute presentation — that was capped by a Q&A session — by Dr. William Hathaway, a cardiologist, who is the chief executive officer of the Mountain Area Health Education Center, based in Asheville’s Biltmore Village. (A story on Hathaway’s address appears on Page A7.)

As for Mullen’s assertion that George Washington helped to draft — and signed — the Declaration of Independence, multiple sources indicated otherwise, including the website mountvernon.org. The sources stated that Washington was busy — and away — commanding the Continental Army and, while highly supportive of the document mostly penned by Jefferson, he neither helped to draw it up or signed it. 

Mullen. a retired political science professor from UNC Asheville, is the chairman of the Asheville-Buncombe County Community Reparations Committee.

The ESA meeting was also available for viewing remotely by Zoom, which is how the Daily Planet covered it.

Opening the meeting was Jackie Simms, president of ESA and one of the organization’s founders 22 years ago

As he was introduced to the ESA meeting attendees, Mullen’s academic and scholarly credentials were reviewed, At UNCA, Mullen taught classes in public policy, American politics and African and African-American politics. 

Specifically, in a press release promoting the meeting, the ESA said of Mullen, “His scholarly activities include chairing panels and presenting papers at meetings of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists; overseeing research projects covering the “State of Black Asheville” and serving in local, state, national and international capacities that aim to improve the delivery of public services to underserved populations.”

Mullen grew up in the mainly black, low-income Watts neighborhood of south Los Angeles, Calif.

Regarding Mullen, the Asheville Citizen Times reported on Feb. 7, 2015. “He went from an all-black elementary school in the projects to the mostly white Loma Linda University in California. He would later earn his master’s and doctorate degrees from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University).” Mullen was recruited to UNCA in 1984, after spending the first three years of his teaching career in Nigeria.

Mullen began his April 16 talk on “Reparations” by noting, with a hint of disappointment, that there were no children present to hear his address, comparing it to Malawi, where he has visited and for which he has fond memories. “In Malawi, an event is not complete without children,” Mullen said, triggering some meriment from the ESA audience when he quickly added, “although their children were... ‘well-behaved.’” 

(Officially known as the Republic of Malawi, it is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south and southwest.)

Next, Mullen said of his efforts as chairman of the local reparations panel, “This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Because there’s no path to follow.. What we’re doing here, I’m sure, is full of mistakes... I’m glad to make mistakes, so the (county) commissioners can learn from my mistakes.

“March was just a challenge personally for me. It was just insane... From a very personal level, the biggest challenges, in my mind, are the challenges that are yet to come.

“Even if we fail, and I think we will fail... but the degree to which we succeed is, itself, valuable...

Continuing, he said, “Over March, I gave media outlet interviews to conservative outlets... Normally, I don’t engage them because nothing valuable comes out of it....

“For instance, I gave an interview to Fox out of Greenville, South Carolina (WHNS-TV “Fox Carolina”) — and it should come out (on-air) sometime in May... I expect the dam to burst” when the story airs....

“Both of us (the WHNS reporter and Mullen) were looking at separate materials” regarding Asheville’s black history “and I’m thinking why am I choking up? 

“You’d think of the Block (Asheville’s historical black business district) as the area surrounding the YMI (39 S. Market St. downtown). 

“If you think that area (The Block) has been destroyed,” as he does, Mullen added, that is the sort of change for the worse for the black community that brings tears to his eyes.

“I have no idea what is going to be on TV. But I was trying to tell the truth. First up, we’re living too close. Sometimes you can’t see. Sometimes you need to back off. That’s how it is with segregation. You don’t see it because it’s too close.

“The approach to reparations is part of it. In your addressing of reparations, why is the first response I get from white conservative media: ‘Why should we pay for something we did not do?’ and ‘That was then, this is now — and I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Then, Mullen asserted, “If we improve health care, schools, infant mortality — guess who else’s life improves? I’m not just talking about black children. If I can’t talk about that… Guess who else ain’t going to get no money?

'We have to back off and understand that the different parts of the community are part of the same community. It’s so difficult to put on a bumper sticker, he said with a laugh.

“I’m talking to people (conservative media) that I don’t want to talk to. I’m just about wiped out.

“This thing that I brought, ‘The Reparations: The Healing of America’ by the Rev. Ozie Lee Hall Jr. — this is the title (of the book) that we asked every reparations’ commissioner to read.

“The reason I’m using notes is, what I’d like to talk to y’all about, is not what reparations really are, but the challenges I face in reparations — and how I respond to it.

“The reason I think Asheville and Buncombe County will fail with reparations is because” of his experiences with “some of the ministers in town I’m working with now. 

“There are those who are stepping forward and looking to help one of the most vibrant black institutions in the city — the PEAK Academy.” (Mullen is a board member of PEAK Academy.) We want to make sure 50 percent of our children, teachers and staff are black.

“We have churches and ministers stepping forward to help facilitate that. Most are not. Some are.”

As for U.S. blacks in general, “How about that we were healthier before Medicare” and other federal programs? Mullen asked, rhetorically.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about the challenges that I face. First of all, there is money needed for reparations and power —  who to go to before they (whites) change their minds?

“I’m fully expecting history to always play out as it always has” in U.S. history between blacks and whites, with blacks coming out on the bottom.

“I truly believe capitalism has evolved to the point of facilitating resources that provide for reparations. For every one dollar of wealth owned by black people, white people have 10 dollars.

“How do we address that?” he asked, rhetorically.

“I think about those hotels downtown. I think about the leveraging of money to build those things! It’s a combination of private and public resources working together.

“The point of it is, nobody loses money. It’s an economic model that feels like perpetual motion. Nobody loses money. In fact, people walk away with a profit.

“What I want to do is talk to people who do that — and see if we can have an evolution of an economic system that benefits the whole.

“One of my last classes at UNCA was global science fiction,” he said, adding, “If people live on Mars, there will be people working and there will be a lower class.

“To resolve these damages done by slavery, segregation… why would these models work?” the ex-professor, again, asked rhetorically.

“We need to learn how these models work. Because they work. Housing, education, health care... Why can’t we do that for reparations? This is the other thing – this power-broking thing?

One again, Mullen asked, rhetorically, “How can I extend education to suddenly educate black children... So I look at the PEAK Academy and see that something happened, way back in the day.”

He then noted that PEAK Academy enrolled 91 children this year — and more than 200 (are expected) for next year — and they’re still signing up. 

“We’re looking at a black-governed, black institution for black children,” Mullen said with a smile.

“You can’t trust white institutions. Hold them accountable. It gets real interesting when you start talking about health care, housing” and other major concerns with whites, compared with blacks.

While white politicians often tell the black community that “I’m here to represent you,” Mullen said a better response from blacks is: “Let’s talk about financial stuff.”

As for the federal Civil Rights Act, Fair Housing Act and other such legislation that some would say were passed long ago to help the black community,” Mullen vehemently disagrees with that assessment. “It’s just not important,” he said.

Repeatedly, he said, “I asked the question: ‘Is there overt discrimination?... I asked the question. Is there overt discrimination?..’ I can see it.”

To that end, he said, “Black people are paid, on average, about a month less per year of salary” than whites.

He added, “There’s a building over there called the Chamber of Commerce, with a whole lot of ‘suspects’ in it.” Mullen’s reference was to his efforts, which proved to be futile, to obtain demographic information by race from the past. Not only did chamber officials claim not to have the information “they didn’t know who I should call.”

After another pause, Mullen said, “As you chill on that, let me give you a couple more... Philosophically, I taught Africana studies. My courses looked at institutions and processes — and the history. I saw that America’s history was couched in contradictions. I had students I had to literally walk through because they didn’t just believe it...

Later, he added, “We’ve had data collection since the end of Reconstruction.” Among the studies, were of “the Philadelphia negro” in 1896 — and what happens to black people who leave the rural South? It’s really interesting stuff....”

Next, Mullen asked, rhetorically, “How do you deal with this double-character of America?

“I fear the body politic cannot harbor that kind of change... These manifestations are not just individual actions….

 In an apparent reference to white Americans, Mullen said, “The whole idea is your empire fell. You have your money, but your country is broke.”

An unidentified man then asked about “the ‘puppet-masters’ — and how to handle them?”

Mullen replied, “That’s where I’m going... The seat (of reparations panel chairman) is requiring certain behaviors. It just wasn’t good enough... I have found that there is universal understanding of hardcore data. There ain’t no trying to change it... This is data… A database approach takes time to examine the data.

He added, “The reparations commission has wonderful meetings with interactions, but not much gets done.That’s why we’re seeking data.”

An unidentified woman expressed a concern that only “students are collecting the data. The other thing is... some of the data are things we don’t identify with — such as North Carolina (black) farmers.

In response, Mullen said, “I learned they get screwed. But it’s not something that we normally read about.”

He then returned to topic, saying, “The reparations commission is broken up into subcommittees… The questions they are generating are very clear on what they’re wanting to find out.

“We’re talking in the 1970s, who was sterilized?

An unidentified man asserted, “That doesn’t say the data doesn’t exist — maybe it’s just not seen. It’s a matter of changing the narrative.”

Mullen replied, “What we did (maybe seven or eight years ago) … I said, ‘Let’s do the math, by race and by gender, throughout Asheville city… the amount of money earned by median income households in the city. The total median income did not exceed that of one billionaire.’

“My way of sharing is we can leverage… That’s how I see it. So scarcity doesn’t even ring a bell...

“One more thing… What are the reparations for enslavement and segregation? I don’t know.”

While his family roots are in Mississippi, “I’m from California,” Mullen said. “The trauma when I go back to Watts... It’s gone... 

“My family fought in various wars — and they don’t have anything. What’s that? That’s what I’m suggesting — white discrimination has held back American blacks throughout history.

 â€œI’ve been asked about help. What can I do about this? One of the major things needing seriously addressing is community education. People don’t know any of this. Community education, I’ve found, is vital.

“There reality, as white students, is not the same reality as (for) black students.

“I honestly need help. I’d honestly like to get groups together to get a racial justice coalition, defining what reparations are and why you should care, in the most accessible language possible.. public service announcements... We need hard copies... And we need them unsanctioned — and not running through the city” bureaucracy.

An unidentified woman asked, “How do we build in our children trust in anybody in government?”

Mullen replied, “One of the justices in Tennessee was in the airport talking and someone caught them (on video) talking, and one of them was holding the hand of Joan Baez,” the folksinger/far left activist.

An unidentified white man said he “had more of a reflection than a question. There was a trust of the elders years ago in Asheville, when the Stephens-Lee and Lee Edwards high schools were here — and segregated.” 

An unidentified black man asked, “Trauma makes us stop. When we go to the old neighborhoods and they’re gone. We freeze up. Do you have any ideas on we can go forward?”

In reply, Mullen said, “Everything from the neighborhood changing to funerals I have to attend — my response became anguish.”

“It’s not just unfair, it shouldn’t exist. That’s why I’m still doing this five years after I retired. It’s got to change. That’s why I look at my granddaughter. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. My other granddaughter was born just in time to begin in kindergarten when PEAK Academy opened… If we don’t do this, we know what will happen.

“I have to do this, even if I’m tired. I’ve got to do it.”

An unidentified white man asked, “How do you avoid ‘separate-but-unequal?’”

Mullen answered, “We’re not looking at integration. We’re looking at pluralism — how black and brown children should be educated.

“Once you get a charter school going, you’ve basically got a private school using public money... Look at PEAK Academy. We’re resistant to integration....” Mullen said in concluding his presentation and the question-and-answer period that followed.