Feb. Issue (1)

February 18, 2021
The Spectator | www.vsuspectator.com Page 3
News
Photo Courtesy of The Mary Turner Project
The memorial was erected to recognize Mary Turner and many others who were victims in Lowndes and Brooks County during a lynching spree in 1918.
Mary Turner Memorial vandalism shows disrespect
Alora Bethay
Staff Writer
aabethay@valdosta.edu
Subject matter and opportunity
These are the two most
important factors Captain Stryde
Jones at the Lowndes County
Sheriff’s Office has looked at
regarding his investigation of the
Mary Turner memorial in Hahira,
Georgia.
In October 2020, the Mary
Turner memorial was removed
due to extensive damages after
it was shot over 20 times and hit
with off-road vehicles.
“This wasn’t the first time it
was vandalized; it was shot a few
months after being put up,” Jones
said.“But this is the first time it’s
been damaged enough to warrant
it being taken down.”
The memorial was erected
to recognize Mary Turner and
Jonnie Brewer
aSSiStant Copy ediotr
jasheehan@valdosta.edu
On Feb. 3, VSU students
and faculty received an email
regarding the campus becoming
a distribution center for the
COVID-19 vaccine starting next
week. However, this doesn’t mean
the vaccine will immediately be
available to students.
Students may have noticed a
survey immediately upon logging
into MyVSU. The survey was
created to determine and who
does or doesn’t want to receive
the vaccine.
Phase 1A+ includes those apart
of the health services staff, VSU
police department, counseling
center, community therapy,
nursing faculty and students in a
clinical setting, athletics medical
staff and trainers and those 65
years of age and older.
Phase 1B includes COVID-19
residential life, food delivery
personnel, custodial and
disinfecting personnel, education
students who are student teaching
for K-12 and all VSU employees.
Phase 1C includes students
between the ages of 16 to 64 with
many others who were victims
in Lowndes and Brooks County
during a lynching spree in 1918.
An article written by Walter
F. White, the assistant secretary
of the NAACP in 1918, explains
that, “Hampton Smith, whose
murder was the immediate cause
of the holocaust of lynchings, was
the owner of a large plantation in
Brooks County.”
Smith was shot by his
employee, 19-year-old Sidney
Johnson after Smith severely beat
him because he claimed he was
too sick to return to work.
Mary Turner spoke out about
the murder of her husband Hazel
(Hayes) Turner. Hayes Tuner
had been arrested in connection
with Johnson and was placed in
the Quitman Jail. For reasons
unknown however, Hayes was
being moved to a different
location but was taken en route
a medical condition that increases
their risk of severe COVID-19.
Phase 2 includes all VSU
students. Being in phase 1A+,
students can expect a wait on their
turn for the vaccine.
Dr. Robert Smith, provost
and vice president for academic
affairs, says the purpose of the
phases is that there is a small
fraction of doses compared to the
number of Americans who could
potentially be vaccinated.
“The CDC (Center for Disease
Control) has recommended to
all 50 states and the District
of Columbia a tier system,”
Dr. Smith said. “The state
then, in turn, have made minor
medications to that system, so
currently GA is in tier 1A+.”
Dr. Vince Miller, vice president
for student affairs, said the
COVID-19 task force for VSU
hope the vaccine will be available
as soon as Monday, Feb. 8.
“The challenge is that all the
vaccines are distributed through
public health, so the lengthy
process – even to be able to allow
us to be a part of the process – is
controlled by the public health,”
he said. “They allowed us to
submit our order this week and
and lynched about three and a half
miles from the town, according to
White’s article.
While both Mary and her
Husband had worked for Smith,
Mary publicly denied her husband
had any involvement with
Hamilton Smith and later said she
would request warrants for those
responsible for his death. Her
words angered the mob who then
set out to “teach her a lesson.”
Mary attempted to flee when
she heard the mob was after her,
but was caught, beaten, set on fire,
hung and shot multiple times.
It was this horrific event that
began several anti-lynching
protests all across America.
Though lynching is illegal today,
the Senate has yet to pass the
Emmett Till Antilynching Act
purposed by representative Bobby
Rush from Illinois in 2018.
The bill named after Emmet
were told we should receive them
early next week.”
According to Dr. Miller, the
uncertainty of not knowing the
exact day VSU will receive the
vaccine causes a challenge in
scheduling appointments on
campus.
Dr. Smith says the Department
of Public Health (DPH) has
received fewer doses than wanted.
“Here in Lowndes County,
the Department of Public Health
is distributing the vaccine as
well as some pharmacies and
South Georgia Regional Medical
Center, and the Department of
Public health started cancelling
appointments a week and a half
ago because they didn’t have
enough vaccines,” he said.
Dr. Smith said the process is
fluid and open, so the DPH can’t
know what is going to happen
until it happens.
VSU will be receiving both
the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine
next week, according to VSU’s
COVID-19 vaccination plan.
VSU does not have control
over when the phases begin or the
amount of vaccine is received.
Dr. Miller says the Georgia
Department of Public Health has
Till, a 14-year-old victim of a
brutal lynching in 1955 would
make lynching a federal crime in
America.
There may be no explanations
for the destruction to the
memorial, though several
organizations like the Mary
Turner Project have come together
to not only educate people on the
significance of these monuments
but to implore people to educate
themselves on the history of their
country.
“We should bring them up
because these events remain one
of the most gruesome cases of
racism and racial terrorism in
this nation’s history, yet they are
omitted from the history we teach
our children. We should bring
them up because Mary Turner’s
murder remains one of the most
horrific crimes committed against
a human being in this nation’s
an application through Georgia
Registry of Immunization
Transactions and Services
(GRITS), which is the data
base for vaccines, including the
COVID-19 vaccine.
“There were a number of steps
to be taken to verify we were
a functioning facility, that we
had the storage capacity, and
our individuals were trained on
distribution and handling the
vaccine,” he said.
The application process had to
be completed in order for VSU
to be approved to distribute the
vaccination, and it required those
leading vaccination efforts to
go through training and receive
a certificate before submitting
the application, according to Dr.
Miller.
In order to carry out the
vaccines, VSU had to have the
proper, laboratory grade freezers
to keep the vaccines in the right
storage.
“They are specialty equipment
that’s used in science and medical
labs,” Dr. Miller said. “We
probably invested $20,000 in that
equipment.”
Dr. Miller said the federal
government is providing relief
history. And last but not least, we
should bring these events up so
we can face our collective past in
order to see how it might affect
the present and the future. Please
help us do that.” -Mary Turner
Project
Denying history so that we can
feel comforted in the present is
something many people choose
to do, and the destruction of this
memorial is proof of that.
A monument recognizing a
painful part of the South’s history
is being attacked because the
belief in that history is optional.
A large part of honoring Black
History Month is educating and
understanding that history.
To learn more information on
the Mary Turner lynchings as well
as other historical events visit
http://www.maryturner.org/
VSU becomes distribution center for COVID-19 vaccine
funds for higher education
institutions for COVID-19
management, so VSU is intending
on submitting that expense for
reimbursement.
The vaccine is free of charge
for those at VSU.
Dr. Smith says it’s important
to note that things are rapidly
changing, and students should
stay tuned for any changes and
news.
Wyatt Brady, a junior public
relations major, said it’s a good
idea that VSU is becoming a
distributer for the COVID-19
vaccine.
“It’s really cool to go to a
college that cares about the
community and its students
enough to take on such a big
task,” Brady said. “I am excited to
see how much VSU offering the
vaccine helps the community.”
Social distancing, wearing
masks and reporting cases is still
important and required alongside
the vaccine becoming available.
More information on the phases
and scheduling can be found at
https://www.valdosta.edu/healthadvisory/covid-vaccines.php.