The Hernando County Democratic Party is calling on the Hernando County Board of County Commissioners to adopt a resolution explicitly denouncing white supremacy and white nationalism in Hernando County. Far from an exhaustive document, the Hernando County Democratic Party supports the following submitted resolution. While a great deal of reflection and commitment lie ahead, such a resolution is a vital step in recognizing and rooting out racial injustice within our local community.  

A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF HERNANDO COUNTY, FLORIDA, DENOUNCING WHITE SUPREMACY AND WHITE NATIONALISM IN HERNANDO COUNTY. 

RESOLUTION 2020 – 
 
WHEREAS, the 14^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws;” and  

WHEREAS, the Florida Constitution reads that, “No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability;” and 

WHEREAS, the Armed Occupation Act of 1842 facilitated the genocide of indigenous populations in Florida at the hands of white colonists; and 

WHEREAS, by 1860 almost half of Florida’s population was enslaved, and the enslaved population of Hernando County numbered in the hundreds; and  

WHEREAS, the Brooksville courthouse was burned by white supremacists in September 1877 to obstruct an investigation into the murder of former County Commissioner Arthur St. Clair; and 

WHEREAS, the Equal Justice Initiative documents Hernando County as the third highest county in the nation in terms of annual lynching rate from 1880 to 1940; and  

WHEREAS, Brooksville is named after the segregationist congressman who nearly beat to death an abolitionist senator, while numerous Hernando County landmarks commemorate racists and slaveholders; and  

WHEREAS, white supremacists have used Brooksville as a rallying point, including when the KKK donned their hoods in its streets in 1922, when Jerome Brown ran the KKK off in 1988, and when white nationalists openly threatened peaceful protesters in Brooksville as recently as this year; and  

WHEREAS, racism, xenophobia, and historical revisionism are commonplace on local social media and in hometown publications; and 

WHEREAS, white supremacists have been arrested in Spring Hill as recently as this year; and  

WHEREAS, white supremacy and white nationalists are the greatest domestic terrorism threat, with 67 hate groups tracked throughout the state of Florida; and  

WHEREAS, people of color are disproportionately targeted, arrested, and murdered by police; and 

WHEREAS, people of color invest their labor in Hernando County as small business owners, teachers, coaches, nurses, veterans, religious leaders, and essential workers, even as their communities are routinely marginalized in county planning and investment; and 

WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners, currently an all-white body, has a responsibility to dismantle racist power structures which disenfranchise people of color; and 

WHEREAS, Black Lives Matter.  

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HERNANDO COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AS FOLLOWS:  

SECTION 1. The above stated recitals are incorporated herein.  

SECTION 2. The Board of County Commissioners hereby denounce white supremacy and white nationalism within Hernando County. 

SECTION 3. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption.  

You can download a PDF version of the resolution here.