SALISBURY, Md. -- There is a new vision to understand and heal from past racism in Wicomico County. It is from multiple county organizations who feel City of Salisbury officials have not done enough.
The Wicomico NAACP, Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative and Maryland Lynching Commission would like to see the city ramp up its efforts. Frustrations for those groups stem from 2022, when the city said they would form an advisory committee to look at the city's racist past and figure out the best ways to move forward.
Well, that committee has not been fully formed and a single meeting is yet to be held. The unfulfilled promise is why Monica Brooks, President of the Wicomico NAACP, said the city has dragged their feet after installing a memorial for Matthew Williams back in 2021.
Williams was lynched in Salisbury in 1931.
"We believe that the process has taken way too long, there seems to be some traction that was starting to happen but it's been tabled for a very long time," said Brooks.
It is a message echoed by James Yamakawa, founder of the Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative.
"It took almost a year for that TRUTH Committee to even be announced and then after that it kind of sat and languished for about equally as long," said Yamakawa.
The traction Brooks is referring to, and the TRUTH Committee Yamakawa mentioned, is the Truth, Racial Unity, Transformation and Healing Advisory Committee. The groups purpose would be to recognize the city's racist past and advise city officials on how to heal those wounds.
A year later, the committee is yet to have its first meeting. The City of Salisbury did provide WBOC with a statement:
"The City of Salisbury has read the joint press release from Monica Brooks (President of the NAACP), James Yamakawa (Founder of Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative and TRUTH Committee member) and Dr. Charles Chavis (Commissioner of the Maryland Lynching Commission) and look forward to rectifying any miscommunications. The TRUTH Committee is a resident advisory board that needs 7 members to have a quorum and begin official meetings; a total of 5 individuals have applied and been appointed to the committee thus far. These boards and committees have the responsibility of reaching out to various community members and interested parties to join the boards and we are excited to be so close to having enough seats filled on the TRUTH Committee for them to start meeting. This board brings the opportunity to advise the Mayor on steps forward and for community healing to begin.