Tulia Talks Back

Tulia Resident (anonymous)

The movie is honest and truthful as a lesson to all of us that we should be sure that when someone is sent to jail it is done correctly and justly.

When you arrest that many people you have a huge responsibility to prove that they are guilty. If you really look at the drug problem, it’s all over the country. It’s everywhere, not just in Tulia.

The drug sting happened here because the community was nervous about their kids and they were trying to protect them. That’s why Swisher is a dry county; residents have seen the problems with alcoholism in a small town and they’re afraid their kids would have problems. It’s the same with drugs. The law enforcement was afraid the younger generation was going to have a problem with drugs and that’s why they put those people away. So the intention was good; they thought if they got rid of the people who were doing drugs they might save the town. And then the law enforcement got this federal money and they wanted to prove something, they wanted to do something drastic. But they didn’t think enough about what they were doing and they overreacted.

The people they arrested were an easy target: they were poor, some didn’t have jobs or had problems with drug and alcohol addiction already. The people arrested were an easy target and the law enforcement knew no one would stand up for them.

If there were 39 whites with drug problems, out of 46 people arrested, would they have taken the same action? It would have been different. Because in a small town everyone knows everyone and they never would have done what they did.

Tulia Resident

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Hear from James M. Wilterding, M.D., a former Tulia resident >>