A 107-page federal indictment of County Commissioner John Wiley Price and three others painted a picture of conspiracy, tax fraud, and nearly $1 million in bribes. Rev. Gerald Britt says that’s not the whole picture. Britt, who’s vice president for public policy at CitySquare, wrote anop-edcolumn in today’s Dallas Morning News about the case and sat down with KERA.
Interview Highlights: Gerald Britt…
…On the John Wiley Price he knows:
“The John Wiley Price that I know is an incredibly savvy and efficient politician. And I think should that picture have to merge with the picture in the indictments, that’s something that I’m going to have to deal with. But I know him personally as well as in his role as County Commissioner and you know, he’s a friend.”
…On how the African American community is responding to the arrest:
“I think to some degree we are all stunned. There are those of us that kind of figured it was going to happen. The government can indict a ham sandwich when it wants to, so an indictment doesn’t mean that he’s guilty. What most of us feel is an incredible sadness that it had to come to this. But you also know he’s not going to go out like that. He’s going to run this out until the end.”
…On the next generation of leaders:
“There will always be another generation to take over. I think that next generation of leaders will probably be more inclusive, to some degree, less likely to see and view issues through a racial lens and who are more determined to show their pride, if you will, through their effectiveness in office or their effectiveness in different areas. And that’s good to some degree. But at the same time, I don’t think any of us can or should forget what it means to be black in America.”
