Race-based controversy revisits Vincent, Alabama, and the town of about 2,000 residents, near Birmingham, takes a firm stance by disbanding its police force

A public forum in Vincent, Alabama (CNN)

 

The small town of Vincent, Alabama, has made national news by disbanding its police department after an officer's racist text appeared on social media. It's not the first time the Shelby County community of about 2,000 -- a 45-minute drive south of Birmingham -- has taken firm and united action when a racially charged controversy arose in its midst. That's from a post at the banbalch.com blog. 

Publisher K.B. Forbes, CEO of the Consejo De Latinos Unidos (CDLU) public charity and advocacy group, notes that the earlier issue, which became known as the Vincent Land Grab, began about a decade ago and reached a peak in 2020. It involved the Big Law firm of Balch & Bingham, and Forbes draws parallels between the two controversies:

Two years ago today, Balch political stooges who supported the alleged whites-only land grab in Vincent, Alabama, were humiliated and defeated in a landslide election  when white and African-American voters united.

Now, this month, Vincent united again and reaffirmed a solid stand against the alleged racism that Balch appeared to have openly embraced a decade ago.

From an NPR report about the police department: 

An Alabama police department was disbanded last week after a racist text message sent by one of its three officers surfaced on social media.

The police chief and the assistant police chief were suspended, city of Vincent Mayor James Latimer confirmed to NPR. Then, the city council voted to dissolve the entire department — a move the mayor is calling “a reversible decision.” The remaining officer subsequently resigned, Latimer said.

The city will be relying on the greater Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to respond to emergency calls during the span of a year, according to the mayor.

 Vincent is about a 45-minute drive from Birmingham. Less than 2,000 residents live there, 85% of whom are white and 12% of whom are Black. Forbes notes that the text in question was about slavery, and that turns his attention to the Vincent Land Grab:

                  As we wrote in 2018:

The CDLU met with residents of Vincent, Alabama who allege adamantly that Balch & Bingham lawyers (and their public relations stooges) spearheaded the strategic purchase of farm land and the fast-as-lightening re-zoning of said land,  and oversaw the lucrative transactions for a client called White Rock Quarries, starting almost a decade ago.

The outrage they allege is that only white land owners were approached for land purchases while African-Americans were not; worse, many of these African-Americans were older, senior citizens, descendants of slaves.

The quarry company allegedly considered moving historic slave graves according to local news reports.

The quarry project wound up being shut down. Now, the police department has learned that residents of Vincent, Alabama, take matters of race seriously.