Pubdate: Sun, 14 Jan 2001
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2001 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas   75265
Fax: (972) 263-0456
Feedback: http://dmnweb.dallasnews.com/letters/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
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Author: David Stevens, Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Note: David Stevens is an Amarillo free-lance writer.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas)

GROUP'S DESIRE TO HELP REVEALS RIFT IN TOWN

Friends Of Justice Aids Those Arrested In Drug Bust

TULIA, Texas - Six children call a three-bedroom trailer home. For the
time being, they're also calling on LaWanda Smith for help.

Two of the kids are Ms. Smith's own; the others belong to friends sent
to prison in an undercover drug operation that ended last summer with
the arrest of 43 people. All but three were black.

A small group based in Tulia, calling itself Friends of Justice,
believes the July drug bust was unjust. The arrests have resulted in a
lawsuit filed by the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, and
a Justice Department investigation into the incident could take as
long as a year.

But Friends members say their mission goes beyond complaining about
the drug bust. They have distributed food, clothing and cash to those
directly affected by the arrests.

"In plain old coffee shop language, we want to help the people that
have been hurt by this. We want to help them in the courthouse and in
the grocery store," said Charles Kiker, a retired Tulia minister
leading the Friends.

In this divided community, the Friends' efforts have not always been
welcomed, especially by those who believe the drug bust was justified
and that the Friends members are a bunch of outside agitators.

Where the Friends members see Ms. Smith as someone who has given of
herself, others view her as part of the drug problem. She was
convicted of one count of delivery of a controlled substance in the
sting and under a plea agreement received a probated sentence.

Ms. Smith, who works full-time at a local department store, said she's
getting by. She's had to borrow a bed and there's not a lot of money
for anything beyond essentials. Some of the kids, Ms. Smith said, have
outgrown clothes that she can't afford to replace.

"They [Friends members] got their troops together and got Christmas
for the kids," said Ms. Smith, a single mother. "Without them, I don't
think I would have been able to afford anything."

Support From All Over

Mr. Kiker said the group has given food and clothing to about 20
families and 50 children. He says the group's members include a mix of
people without political agendas, as well as drug-law reform advocates.

Some support has indeed come from outside the area because of the
media attention the Tulia case has received, Mr. Kiker said. Donations
have ranged from bags of groceries to more than $4,000 in cash since
mid-October.

Mr. Kiker said some cash has been deposited in commissary accounts of
the 22 people still imprisoned by the sting and more than $300 was
used to pay off a credit card with which his wife, Patricia, purchased
supplies for family members of those imprisoned.

The majority of the money, about $3,000, remains in a Friends of
Justice bank account while plans are formulated for its use, he said.

Focus On Race

The drug operation and the controversy that followed have divided this
Panhandle farming community, Mr. Kiker said.

"I have a good friend I was visiting with ... but when I mentioned
this, he became uncomfortable and the subject was changed," Mr. Kiker
said. "I guess they don't want to be associated [with the Friends]
even in conversation."

Tulia resident Sue Riddick said many in town view Friends members as
agitators.

"My frustration is they're pushing so much on the racial deal. I know
there are whites [dealing and using drugs] who did not get caught that
should have. But these people are trying to cause a racial division in
our community that has not been there," said Ms. Riddick, a CPA who's
lived in Tulia more than 14 years.

Others say authorities have been unfairly scrutinized.

"They have insinuated that the sheriff's office conspired against
these people," resident Donna Malcom said. "The sheriff is a good,
community-minded man. I've seen him myself hand money to people on the
street that needed a little handout."

She said not many in Tulia have supported the Friends because other
area agencies and churches offer help to anyone who needs it,
including the families affected by the undercover operation.

"I haven't found anybody who is against helping [families of those
arrested]," she said. "I don't know of any church opposed to doing
what they can to help. They're not here to help just those blacks, but
they're here for everybody that needs help."

Ready To Leave

Ms. Smith said the community's attitude about the sting has made her
uncomfortable. She said she plans to move to Odessa and live with her
mother as soon as she can.

"If I could snap my fingers and disappear, I would have already done
it," she said. "The only thing holding me here are the kids. They're
waiting on their moms."

Ms. Smith said she hopes the children's mothers will be released from
prison early this year. Both had been sentenced to two-year terms for
delivering a controlled substance.

Ms. Smith had faced four charges of delivery, but said she pleaded no
contest in exchange for a three-year sentence of deferred
adjudication. She now says she was innocent of the charges but agreed
to the plea because she feared she would go to prison if brought to
trial.

The ACLU lawsuit alleges that the sting targeted "undesirable" blacks.
An estimated 10 to 17 percent of the community's black population was
arrested.

While officials have repeatedly denied allegations of racism, Tulia's
black community remains skeptical.

"What they did was they decimated the black community ... into
oblivion, really. They about wiped this place clean [of black
adults]," said Sammie Barrow. He said two of his brothers and two of
his nephews were among those arrested during the undercover operation.

Mr. Barrow, 48, said the black community is appreciative of the
Friends' efforts. But he said the charity is only a partial fix.

"You can only depend on people's generosity for so long," he said. "We
need a long-term solution."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake