-David Crowdert, WRGA News-
Russell McClanahan addresses the Rome City Commission regarding the 1942 Roland Hayes incident during Monday’s commission meeting.
An incident involving a world-renowned opera singer that occurred in Rome in 1942 is still evoking raw emotions 84 years later.
That incident involved Roland Hayes and his wife and a confrontation that started in a local shoe store in what was then the Jim Crow-era South.
The Hayeses were arrested, and Roland Hayes was assaulted, but there is some disagreement over whether it was the police or a private citizen who struck him.
During a general administration committee meeting in August, Russell McClanahan made a request that involves the city acknowledging the alleged wrong done to the Hayes family by the Rome Police and issuing a formal written apology, to be presented to the family by the Rome Police Chief.
Commissioners Craig McDaniel and Wayne Robinson supported action acknowledging the event, but they did not support issuing a formal apology at this time, citing conflicting stories and insufficient documentation of police wrongdoing at the time of the incident.
On Monday, McClanahan addressed the city commission and attempted to present a resolution he wrote to Commissioner Vic Hixon to read.
At that point, the discussion became somewhat heated.
You can view the entire discussion below.
