CUEE radio ad helps alienate Black Crow radio host

About that CUEE radio ad, Rob Harder wrote for Valdosta Today today, “Morgan Freeman” CUEE Ad Fires Up Debate
A new radio ad from the Community Unification for Educational Excellence, Inc (CUEE) has sparked a lot of controversy in the few days it has been running in local media.

…

The ad, voiced by an actor who sounds like Morgan Freeman but is not, encourages Valdosta city residents to vote “Yes” on school consolidation November 8th. The commercial claims that Valdosta schools are “once again segregated” and ties the success of the vote to Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision.

Callers to the Chris Beckham Show, which airs from 3PM to 6PM each weekday on WVGA 105.9 FM, were overwhelming in their condemnation of the ad.

Yes, that’s what Chris Beckham told me when I talked to him today. I’ll be on his radio show on WVGA 105.9, tomorrow, about 4PM.

You can hear the radio ad in the Valdosta Today article.

The article contains this priceless quote by the real Morgan Freeman, albeit in a slightly different context:

These people are lying.

Among the quotes is this one by Sam Allen,

CUEE has stooped to a new low with this ad. I think it’s offensive and I think they feel that the citizens of Valdosta are stupid if they believe this. Dr. King’s dream had nothing to do with school consolidation in Valdosta and it’s shameful that they are trying to put those two things together.
Yeah, pretty much.

It seems that CUEE has managed to alienate even a Black Crow radio host. First, some of a statement CUEE provided Black Crow:

“The goal of the Vote Yes Committee is not to inflame our citizens or divide us from the important task of educating all our children. We strongly encourage all our citizens to take a deep breath, lower the rhetoric and have a meaningful dialogue leading to the vote on November 8th.”
Oh, excuse me, that was the Vote Yes Committee, not CUEE. What exactly is the difference, anyway? Does anybody know? And does anybody know where their money comes from?

Anyway, I’m not sure that pro-“unification” group got the reaction they wanted:

In response to the Vote Yes statement, Chris Beckham told ValdostaToday.com, “I also hope citizens look at all of the available information, including the possible financial ramifications, and make an informed decision. We have been having a meaningful dialogue about the subject for several months on our program every day.” Adding, “The CUEE committee “inflamed” citizens when it phrased the ballot question in a way that Lowndes County citizens, who would be equally affected by consolidation, are not allowed to have their voice heard.”
Or, as I put it: taxation without representation.

-jsq

One thought on “CUEE radio ad helps alienate Black Crow radio host”

  1. Barbara Stratton

    CUEE can attribute the source of this ad to another committee all they want to. I know that I personally overheard Rusty Griffin telling Myrna Ballard about the ad last Thursday night at the CUEE Education Task Force meeting which I attended as a concerned citizen. Rusty was very excited about the ad & said he expected it to greatly enhance their campaign to unify the black community for consolidation. I told Sam Allen what I heard, but neither of us knew what would be in the ad until it aired Tuesday. Rusty said he had to get a final OK so I was hoping that person would be smarter, but evidently not. Another thing I noticed at the meeting where everyone but me was part of the task force only two people out of the fifteen were from the black community. How does that represent the diversity they preach?
    I personally appreciate all the times over the past months Chris Beckham and Frank Barnas have facilitated interviews and call-in discussions for both sides of the consolidation issue. I was on Frank Barnas’ show last Monday & have called in several times including twice Tuesday on Chris Beckham’s show. They are always considerate listeners & very professional moderators. We are very fortunate to have them and the Black Crow enterprise in our community.
    We first saw the cheap shot racist innuendo tactic appear in a Valdosta Daily Times staff editorial. Within a few days the VDT stated they were no longer supporting CUEE (as had been so very evident to all in the preceding months). Just my opinion, but I read between the lines that someone on staff had gotten in trouble for that editorial. Now here we are again with CUEE itself blasting racist propaganda hoping to “unify the black community” to their side. I think they are the true racists for attempting to manipulate the vote their way by undermining the intelligence of the black community and hoping to divide both races trust and allegiance from our common goal of educating our shared children within the safe nurture of local community schools. We need to remember that it is important to give our children wings and roots.

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