By Ed Reynolds

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September 28, 2000

Council President Pro Tem Aldrich Gunn supervises today’s meeting in the absence of President William Bell. A resolution commending the Birmingham Pledge Task Force, MSNBC, and Newsweek for their participation in the Birmingham Summit, a two-day conference designed to promote racial harmony, is the first order of business. Gunn tells the Council that his third child was born the night the bomb killed the four young girls at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Mayor Bernard Kincaid, who has refused to sign the Pledge because it fails to stress actions over words, notes that this [recognition of the Pledge, including its author, Bill Rotch] is an “awkward moment for the Mayor.” He reminds the Council that Birmingham has come a long way, emphasizing that he is working with officials of the Pledge to “take action steps,” which he believes will make the document more concrete.

Councilor Jimmy Blake explains his “no” vote on the resolution, insisting that the Pledge demands “we not sit quietly when we see things that, in my judgment, are not acting or behaving in a manner that’s going to reduce racism but, in fact, might inflame racism.” Blake further condemns those whom he regards as “blind in one eye.” He elaborates: “They can see black but they can not see white. They can see racism in white people but they refuse to see racism in black people.” Blake reassures everyone that he opposes racism by both blacks and whites. The councilor further condemns the presence of Johnnie Cochran and Al Sharpton at tonight’s town hall meeting on racism at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Blake refers to their presence at the meeting as “outrageous,” prompting Councilor Sandra Faye Little to shout “point of order” to quiet Blake. He then goes on a tirade about last week’s Council meeting that addressed minority hiring practices by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, referring with disgust to what he called attempts to “hold UAB hostage.”

Councilor Bill Johnson, whose wife is actively promoting the Birmingham Pledge, says that Blake’s comment about the UAB racial hiring discussion proves that “it’s [racial discrimination] there. It’s under the surface all the time.” Blake responds to Johnson: “I very much value the Birmingham Pledge,” stressing that it will only work if “we’re not hypocritical as to how we apply it.” Blake reads a line from the Pledge to illustrate his point: I will discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity. “I am a white guy who’s saying, ‘Hey, this is a two-way street,’” explains the councilor. “And by showing that kind of disrespect, Mr. Johnson, you are . . . ” Johnson immediately interrupts Blake, calling him “out of order because this item’s over!” Blake slips in a final word, shaking his head, saying to Councilor Gunn, “Mr. Pro Tem, our order in this chamber seems to be racially motivated sometimes.”

Approximately 20 residents living near the Birmingham International Airport are present for a public hearing on the formation of a permanent task force seeking solutions to unbearable living conditions created by airplanes flying over neighborhoods. “Just imagine if you lived out in the area and had 80 flights flying over your house every day,” Councilor Johnson tells the Council. Gunn reduces the traditional three minutes each citizen is allowed to address the Council during public hearings to one minute. Objections echo through the council chambers. Justifying the time reduction as necessary because of the large number of people desiring to speak, Gunn notes that “nobody lives any closer to the airport than I do.” An airport neighborhood resident shouts, “Yeah? Well why don’t you represent us like you’re supposed to?” An angry Gunn calls for a police officer to remove anyone else who speaks out of turn again.

Councilor Lee Loder joins Johnson in protesting Gunn’s one minute allotment. A vote is taken on how long to allow residents to speak, but Blake’s temporary absence from the chambers gives Gunn the majority he needs to enforce the one-minute rule. Gunn then agrees to give each speaker a five- second warning when their minute is up. Councilor Johnson is obviously disgusted.

Included in residents’ complaints about the airport is the dumping of excess fuel by airliners before landing, which neighborhood residents blame for respiratory ailments, leukemia, and cancer. One woman says even the animals are acting out of character. “Birds don’t sing and nest like they used to. And the squirrels act nutty,” she explains. Another resident invites councilors to live with her for a week to observe the deplorable conditions in which she and her four-year-old daughter live. An elderly woman warns that future airport extensions will be keep residents from sleeping day and night. “You think we’re living in hell now? Just wait until they start more expansion,” she says. She also notes that there are “children that have been in their yard playing, putting things in their mouth. Down the road those children are going to have diseases and sicknesses that will be traced back to the airport.” Local radio talk show host Frank Matthews, who has been an airport neighborhood resident for a decade, issues a threat. “I firmly believe that it takes a revolution to get a solution,” Matthews says, noting that residents could be relocated for $10 million. “We’re gonna make you understand the way Miami does things. Therefore, I threaten you [the Council] this morning that we will take our cars early one morning so you won’t know when it will happen, and we will line them up and stop people from getting into that airport!” Gunn responds that this action would likely land Matthews in jail.

After the neighborhood representatives have finished addressing the Council, Johnson explains that the primary goal of the task force is to open better lines of communication between the Airport Authority, the community, and elected representatives. Mayor Kincaid expresses his support for the task-force resolution, acknowledging that residents are certainly justified for feeling ignored, as the Airport Authority did not hire a public-relations representative until earlier this year. Councilor Blake demands that the Airport Authority reveal its future expansion plans, noting that the Council should be included in whatever decisions are made regarding expansion.

Councilor MacDermott is critical of pilots, noting that even though the airport is not in his district, the airplanes fly directly over his house. “Stray pilots like to see how close they can cut it [flying too close to his home].” Councilor Pat Alexander, who is on the Airport Authority, promises she will do everything in her power to bring the Authority and residents to common ground.

Determined to get the final word, Councilor Gunn says that no one has lived near the airport as long as he has. He suggests that the Council hold a meeting there with the Airport Authority present to “hear your [neighborhood residents] whims.” To illustrate his empathy with the neighborhood, Gunn recounts his own personal airport nightmares. He repeats a story he frequently tells about the afternoon in 1944 when he watched in horror as a skydiver’s parachute failed to open at an air show. &