"The issue is that this might be one of the most important presidential elections in our lifetime, because that [Supreme] Court is the determiner of justice in our nation," attorney A. Dwight Pettit warned those gathered for the Harford County NAACP's annual Freedom Fund banquet Sunday.
Pettit was the featured speaker at the banquet, held at the Bayou restaurant in Havre de Grace, which also featured brief remarks by Harford County Barry Glassman, who said he is looking forward to strong cooperation between his county and Baltimore City, because a mutual friendship with State Sen. Catherine Pugh, who is expected to become the city's next mayor.
Pettit, who became the first black student at the segregated Aberdeen High School after his family challenged Harford County's continuing school segregation policy in a lawsuit that began in 1958, urged the attendees to stay especially vigilant about the Supreme Court in light of the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13.
With the court evenly split between conservative and liberal justices, the country's highest court is on the verge of joining a dangerous trend in "a nation that is attempting to move backward," Pettit said.
"When you consider that three of the Supreme Court justices... are over 75 years old, the next president of the United States will, in fact, appoint not one but possibly two and possibly three justices, for life," Pettit warned. "The next president of the United States will determine our destiny, our children's destiny, our children's children's destiny."
While black leaders were celebrating black mayors, Congress people and even a black president, "something was happening in America," Pettit said as murmurs of agreement came up from the audience. "America was silently and quietly rolling back the clock."
The theme at the 55th annual banquet was "Our Lives Matter, Our Votes Count." Pettit was among those reminding the more than 100 attendees and guests that this year was especially crucial for the black community.
Clarence Davis, a former state delegate from Baltimore who presided over the banquet, mentioned the 102 unarmed black people killed by police nationwide in 2015, in light of the controversy over the Black Lives Matter movement.
"I never knew a day in my life outside of the threat of terrorism. I was born in Georgia, and the [Ku Klux] Klan could do whatever they wanted to," Davis, who was born in 1942 in Wilkes County, Ga., said.
When he moved to Maryland, it was the "same thing here," Davis said. "They just wore blue."
"Almost every disturbance in this country has been about violence against the African-American community," he said, while cautioning, however, that the relationship with police is a double-edged sword.
"We need the police, believe me," he said, explaining he knows a young man in his neighborhood murdered four people, some in broad daylight, and "it has come to the point that people would rather live with that kind of violence, rather than deal with the terrorism and violence of the police. We are in a bad situation."
Cooperation with city
Glassman mentioned his support for Pugh, who won last Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary election in the city, which is tantamount to being elected in November. He tied Baltimore's future to Harford's.
"She is one of my closest friends, so I am hoping that is going to pay well for Harford County, too," Glassman, who is white, said of Pugh, who is African-American. He called her "a hard worker" and "one of the greatest legislators," who can make a difference for both Baltimore and Harford County.
Glassman said he hops to "work together regionally to lift everybody up" as he moves his own administration away from "cutting ribbons" to building stronger families, "not necessarily stronger buildings."
Pettit, who gained national prominence after litigating the Pettit vs. the United States discrimination case his father, who worked at Aberdeen Proving Ground, brought against the federal government in 1973, said he was "not going to be partisan" but former president Ronald Reagan's administration launched "a state of mind that maybe we [African-Americans] had come too far, maybe we had accomplished too much."
"The Civil Rights movement was not fashionable anymore because, as people were saying, we had made accomplishments," he said. "We entered into an era when the conservative movement was pitted against the progressive movement of this nation."
Pettit said he is concerned about affirmative action being rolled back, as the concept "is not about giving somebody something they don't deserve," he said, noting he was hired under former president Richard Nixon's administration to defend affirmative action.
"Affirmative action was the opportunity to be at the table; affirmative action was the opportunity to diversify in our educational system," he said.
Awards bestowed
Besides hosting Pettit as guest speaker, NAACP leaders gave out scholarships and several awards to local community members.
Genae Hatcher, a Patterson Mill High School senior and one of the scholarship recipients, urged everyone to not be complacent.
"It is not an option anymore," Hatcher, who is the student representative on the Harford County Board of Education, said.
Dennis Golladay, the outgoing president of Harford Community College, received the organization's Education Service Award.
"This really means a lot to me. I stand here accepting this award as a white boy, which is maybe what my wife calls me when she is mad at me," Golladay joked before explaining his wife grew up in rural Alabama, where "they had to watch while the KKK rode through their neighborhood in their robes and hoods."
One day, Golladay said, they recognized one of the Klan members as a local grocery store manager and boycotted him until he went out of business.
"This is very, very special to me," he said about his award.
Luke Erickson and David Woods, of Mountain Christian Church, received the Religious Service Award, and Nathalie Mullen James received the first "Freedom Fighter" Award.
Three teenagers were also recognized with an Award of Excellence: Edgewood High School senior Nia Johnson, Aberdeen High School senior Andre K. Rush Jr., and Edgewood High School senior Malik Rayshard Bodrick.
Tim Wills, who recently left for a position in Alabama after serving as executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, received the Community Service Award but was unable to be present to it.
Timothy Knox, who welcomed attendees at the start of the banquet, said "it's exciting times" for Harford's NAACP and urged everyone to stay engaged.
"As you know, not everyone is willing to march in Ferguson, [Mo.], but everyone can support the causes of justice and peace," Knox said.