Honor Roll of Colored Veterans, Harbinger?

Courtesy Bill Coleman, Bond and Coleman at Honor Roll meeting.

Progress on Honor Roll of Colored Vets

Actions speak louder than words and good actions have good effects. The City of Worcester, organized labor, the Department of Transportation, and the Worcester Public School have acted in a good and anti-racist manner. They and other are cooperating to ensure the restoration of the “Honor Roll of Colored Veterans”.

The Honor Roll was a monument listing of the Black veterans who were in the military during World Two. It was removed by the State during the 1950s and lost.

Other communities rightly have monuments. Recently the some in the Irish community honored the Easter Uprising by the Irish Republican Army against British rule in 1916. This was done at the Hibernian Cross found at City Hall.

The efforts to replace the Honor Roll has been led by James Bond, a commander of a Veteran of Foreign Wars post and by Bill Coleman a long time activist in the City.

In the Black community there is some anxiety whether the Honor Roll would be replaced. It was only a week or so ago that a City Councillor, Konnie Lukes, attacked Bill Coleman for bothering the City Council with his petitions. Another City Councillor, Michael T. Gaffney, has made it his misguided mission to close a Black run social agency among his other actions that some say are racist.

To be fair the project was approved unanimously, including votes by Councillors Lukes and Gaffney

Councillors Bergman has worked on the planning and supported the project. He also supported the placement of a plague honoring Worcester’s first Black City Councillor. Charles Scott.

The City of Worcester will help pay for the new Honor Roll as well as allowing it to be placed on a triangular plot near the Worcester Police Station. The land is on Belmont St.  This is sort of a disappointment as the original proposal was to put the Honor at City Hall where it could be better seen.

Students from Worcester Technical High School will donate labor and build the Honor Roll. The Central Mass. Labor Council, headed by Joseph Carlson,  will help pay for the monument and donate the materials. The Department of Transportation will also contribute to the funding.

Hopefully this will be a good sign for race relations in Worcester that have suffered several hits in recent years. The City forcing Dr. Boone out of the School Superintendency, the political retaliations against Blacklives Matter, and the intransigence regarding police accountability have left a bad taste and ill feelings in the City.

I am thankful for the efforts of Messrs. Bond and Coleman. I am thankful for the support of the City, the State, organized labor, and the students. I know that all are sincere and generous and working for a better society.

The next test for us is harder. There are real problems that have disparately bad impacts on the Black community and other communities of color or communities with low income.

The replacement of the Honor Roll is a good thing in and of itself. Is it also a harbinger of better race relations.