A Citizen's Impression of a Political Forum

This election will test the political power of the African American community in Wicomico County, Maryland. A recent political forum sponsored by the NAACP showed some startling differences in a few of the candidates. Most of the candidates for the office of Sheriff did not believe racial profiling exist in our local community, despite the fact that the African Community does. My guest this past week was Harold Curry, a long time educator in the region. He attended the forum. He felt that many of the candidates did not address the issues squarely, though there was a candidate that stood out clearly as deserving his vote. That candidate was one of those persons that was not aware that racial profiling was an issue in the African American and Hispanic communities. This candidate's now absence from the law enforcement milieu helped him to understand why he was not aware of racial profiling. He felt the Sheriff's department has some serious problems with lack of minorities being hired, and when they are hired they quickly exit the department.