I grew up in Camp Hill and have watched the steady decline of my hometown. The decline has been a result of economics and a long history of poor leadership. In the 1960’s and 1970’s there were still a number of businesses on main street but most of these businesses were owned and operated by older people. As these people died off so did their businesses. The lack of employment opportunities due to the shutting down of several businesses associated with the textile industry and the only school often being rated as the lowest performing school in the state contributed to more people leaving the town. The lack of tax revenue makes it difficult to maintain the infrastructure of a small town, but Camp Hill’s leadership has squandered grant funds intended to improve its infrastructure over a span of more than forty years.
I would love to see my hometown return to the small town of my youth. The condition of the streets and the city’s water and sewage systems and the lack of maintenance of the public areas and buildings makes the town unattractive to outsiders. The inexpensive cost of land and a few houses over the past few years has attracted a few new people to town but will they stay? Grant money seems to be the best source of money to repair the infrastructure, but the work must actually be done. The people of Camp Hill do not have the money to invest in the town’s rebuilding. Your labeling of outside investors as “planter class types” has negative tone against anyone wanting to invest in the town.
The rise of the communist party in America during the Great Depression relied on the party making promises to impoverished people that could not be kept. The promise that everyone would be treated equally and provided for has never been fulfilled by any communist country. The appeal to sharecroppers in the south and poor factory workers in the north make sense but never brought about the changes promised. The recent attention on the story of Ralph Gray as told by his brother in “Hammer and Hoe” and in communist publications leave many questions unanswered about these events (see Hammer and Hoe by Robin D. G. Kelley, Notes pp. 248-249). Ralph Gray was undoubtedly killed, and his body was dumped on the steps of the Dadeville courthouse. This act cannot be condoned in any way. The undisputed fact that preceded this tragedy is that Ralph Gray shot the Tallapoosa County Sheriff and a deputy. Communist publications were written as propaganda to promote their agenda and all sources in “Hammer and Hoe” can be traced back to communist publications. I have read articles from the New York Times and other newspapers published during the time of these events that are laced with Ku Klux Klan talking points which bring into question their account of the events as well. I suspect the reality of what happened lies somewhere between the two stories.
In my opinion, the Tallapoosa County sheriff and deputies beating people during the first meeting does not justify Ralph Gray shooting the sheriff and deputy, and Ralph’s murder is not justified by him shooting the sheriff and deputy. It is possible that everyone involved was wrong. Regardless, I do not believe that Ralph Gray should be honored as a hero any more than the people responsible for his murder.
Ok. Beautiful thing about this country is that we are all entitled to our opinions. Propaganda buried the story years ago and I have no doubt it will be applied to any modern day examination. Fact is the KKK led the fight against the sharecroppers and any communists who had came down to help workers in those days. Ralph Gray was confronted on his own land gathered lawfully with other organizers. He was shot, lynched, burned and dropped on the courthouse steps where local landowner John J Langley- the man who originally cheated Ralph out of a check- was said to have spit upon his dead body. The fact you sought to both sides this knowing the power dynamics at play at the time is an interesting choice to make.
I grew up in Camp Hill and have watched the steady decline of my hometown. The decline has been a result of economics and a long history of poor leadership. In the 1960’s and 1970’s there were still a number of businesses on main street but most of these businesses were owned and operated by older people. As these people died off so did their businesses. The lack of employment opportunities due to the shutting down of several businesses associated with the textile industry and the only school often being rated as the lowest performing school in the state contributed to more people leaving the town. The lack of tax revenue makes it difficult to maintain the infrastructure of a small town, but Camp Hill’s leadership has squandered grant funds intended to improve its infrastructure over a span of more than forty years.
I would love to see my hometown return to the small town of my youth. The condition of the streets and the city’s water and sewage systems and the lack of maintenance of the public areas and buildings makes the town unattractive to outsiders. The inexpensive cost of land and a few houses over the past few years has attracted a few new people to town but will they stay? Grant money seems to be the best source of money to repair the infrastructure, but the work must actually be done. The people of Camp Hill do not have the money to invest in the town’s rebuilding. Your labeling of outside investors as “planter class types” has negative tone against anyone wanting to invest in the town.
The rise of the communist party in America during the Great Depression relied on the party making promises to impoverished people that could not be kept. The promise that everyone would be treated equally and provided for has never been fulfilled by any communist country. The appeal to sharecroppers in the south and poor factory workers in the north make sense but never brought about the changes promised. The recent attention on the story of Ralph Gray as told by his brother in “Hammer and Hoe” and in communist publications leave many questions unanswered about these events (see Hammer and Hoe by Robin D. G. Kelley, Notes pp. 248-249). Ralph Gray was undoubtedly killed, and his body was dumped on the steps of the Dadeville courthouse. This act cannot be condoned in any way. The undisputed fact that preceded this tragedy is that Ralph Gray shot the Tallapoosa County Sheriff and a deputy. Communist publications were written as propaganda to promote their agenda and all sources in “Hammer and Hoe” can be traced back to communist publications. I have read articles from the New York Times and other newspapers published during the time of these events that are laced with Ku Klux Klan talking points which bring into question their account of the events as well. I suspect the reality of what happened lies somewhere between the two stories.
In my opinion, the Tallapoosa County sheriff and deputies beating people during the first meeting does not justify Ralph Gray shooting the sheriff and deputy, and Ralph’s murder is not justified by him shooting the sheriff and deputy. It is possible that everyone involved was wrong. Regardless, I do not believe that Ralph Gray should be honored as a hero any more than the people responsible for his murder.
Clay Moore
Ok. Beautiful thing about this country is that we are all entitled to our opinions. Propaganda buried the story years ago and I have no doubt it will be applied to any modern day examination. Fact is the KKK led the fight against the sharecroppers and any communists who had came down to help workers in those days. Ralph Gray was confronted on his own land gathered lawfully with other organizers. He was shot, lynched, burned and dropped on the courthouse steps where local landowner John J Langley- the man who originally cheated Ralph out of a check- was said to have spit upon his dead body. The fact you sought to both sides this knowing the power dynamics at play at the time is an interesting choice to make.