Tulia Talks Back
Lloyd Singer
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The image of Tulia portrayed in the documentary is bothersome on more than one level: some are undeniable and some debatable.
Some technical points that are a little misleading (which probably won't matter to anyone who doesn't know Tulia) are the unidentified images of Waxahachie shown in the film. The oil well shown in the opening implies this might be an "oil rich" area. But that oil well is not in Tulia or even Swisher County.
This "sting" was a most regrettable event in many respects, especially that people were wrongly accused and incarcerated. The probability that all of those arrested were innocent is as low as the probability that all were guilty.
I believe that I am representative of most Tulians in my moral beliefs and desire for fairness. We are like most Americans and believe in the "Golden Rule.” Obviously, almost all Tulians had no idea there was an undercover drug operation ongoing. We Tulians certainly did not sic an undercover narcotics officer on any particular segment of our citizenry! Anyone with common sense knows that drug problems are not exclusive to any particular race or economic class and only Tom Coleman can explain the lack of whites arrested. If anyone singled out the African Americans of Tulia, it was Tom Coleman, certainly not the general population. It would be naive to think there are no Caucasian drug abusers in Tulia. Only Sheriff Stewart and ex-District Attorney McEachern (who escaped the film entirely) had knowledge of the operation and can explain everything. We Tulians are, however, stigmatized and falsely depicted as racist.
The efforts by the filmmakers to gain notoriety at our expense are unfortunate. It's true, that uncorroborated evidence rules need to be changed and that juries are sometimes misled by overzealous prosecutors. The filmmakers’ campaign to change these injustices is admirable. Our system of justice is certainly not perfect. The Drug Enforcement Industrial Complex, like many bureaucratic intuitions, may have gotten out of hand. But painting an entire community as racist with your broad brush is not justified. They say that time heals all wounds and it's a shame that this one is not left alone to mend.
Lloyd Singer
Former Manager, Tulia Cable Television
Tulia resident for 43 years
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