Last week we experienced a terrible tragedy in Wadesboro when one of our citizens was deliberately and heinously attacked by four young men who were seeking to rob him, subsequently losing his life as a result of this vicious assault. From the moment we received the call till the moment we made the arrests of those responsible, the men and women of this police department, alongside those at the sheriff’s office and the SBI, worked tirelessly as a team in the pursuit of justice. Sometimes justice can be elusive and can hide her face in the dark for long periods of time before she comes to light; however, that was not the case in this investigation.
The speediness of this was not a result of anything other than hard work, professional investigation and cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the community. Unfortunately, there are those in our community who would like to say that there were other motivations behind this, mainly race. This tragedy occurred in the wake of the terrible attack in Charleston, S.C., and the controversial issue of the Confederate Flag being removed from the grounds of South Carolina’s Capitol. Additionally, the ripples of Ferguson and Baltimore are still in our midst as well. It seems that as a nation we are becoming more and more divisive along the lines of color, and this is a tragedy in and of itself. I received an email this week from a concerned citizen who told me that I should call this murder what it is: a black on white crime. He stated that had the roles been reversed, everyone in the country would have been here in Wadesboro protesting white on black crime and hatred. On the other hand, I was approached in one of our local businesses by a concerned African-American man who told me my department solved the crime hastily only because it was a white victim, and had it been a black victim, the case would still remain unsolved. I’ll let you decide what this citizen and the other citizen are suggesting. In both interactions, it is clear to me that everyone is wanting to make this crime, and the speediness of its investigation, about race when the truth is much simpler than that.
The truth of the matter is this was a crime committed by mankind against mankind. The color of the skin of the perpetrators and victim is irrelevant; irrelevant to my department and how we conduct the investigation, and irrelevant to the scope of this tragedy. At the end of the day, a human being lost his life at the hands of other human beings. We do not believe that this victim was targeted because he was white, or that the offenders committed the crime because they are black. It disheartens me to see that the integrity of my department and those who we work alongside being challenged without due cause. With all that is going on in our nation, there are intense emotions of hatred and disgust residing in many of us, and as a society we have become increasingly sensitive to matters of race, sometimes trying to see an underlying truth which does not in fact exist.
I have lived in Anson County my entire life; it is my home and I absolutely love being a part of this community and living here. Becoming the chief of police for this department has been, and still is a blessing. As a black man myself, I acknowledge that where I am today would not have been a possibility had I been born in the generation before me. It was those of that generation who stood up for equal rights and peacefully marched and protested for equality, of both white and black complexion, that have made it possible for me to be where I am today. I refuse to allow the isolated incidents our nation has endured these last few months erase all that has been accomplished, not just abroad, but here in our community as well. It pains me to see so many people angry with hate-filled hearts because of the actions of a small handful of people. I believe in our nation, I believe in its people, and the actions of a few do not define the hearts and minds of the many. It is blind suicide to allow the hatred of those who do not represent the spirit of our nation to corrupt your consciousness and soul.
In church this past Sunday my pastor delivered a message about what to do in life when things start becoming difficult and overbearing. Prayer, he said, is the answer for everything. So prayer is indeed what I am doing. My fellow Ansonians, I am praying that we come together as one community — not the black, white, Hispanic or Asian communities, but as Ansonians, as North Carolinians, as Americans, as fellow human beings. I pray that we choose to love one another, despite our differences, and not let what happens around us, which is caused by the few, to affect us all. In lieu of this I am in the process of scheduling a day for concerned citizens and local community leaders to come together and discuss the issues at hand.
We must always remember that people depend on us, especially children, to make decisions and take actions to ensure the continued prosperity and freedom of our community, state and nation. It will be impossible to ensure this while divided; we must be of one accord. Hate is not something a person is born with, it is something that they are taught. We are all born without any hate, without any biases, without any predetermined opinions. We are born with nothing but pure love, but somewhere along the way we are taught by those around us to be biased, to think that others not like us are worse than us, that we should hate those with differences, instead of doing what should be and is natural: love them.
My department has and always will remain a department that seeks justice without bias, without hate, and without predispositions. If a crime occurs we will investigate it professionally and thoroughly with dignity and respect to all parties. I understand people will have their own opinions, and they are entitled to them, but we will continue to do our jobs to the best of our abilities, serve and protect our citizens, and uphold the constitution of this state and nation, as we are and have sworn to do.
Thedis Spencer
Wadesboro Police Chief