—-By Frederick A. Hurst—-Point of View has received many responses to Helen Caulton Harris’ June 2018 article about her late father, Lieutenant Robert L. Caulton, who was denied his promotion to Captain of the Springfield, Massachusetts police force even though he was well qualified and had passed the captain’s exam. I was so touched by the article that I wrote a supportive editorial in the same issue. I felt Helen’s pain and it made me ashamed of all the unnecessary bashing that we do to each other for so many foolish reasons and I felt a need to write something that would make her family know that they were not alone in their quiet and dignified outrage.
Helen called and told us that the Caulton family was going to buy an ad to express their appreciation for Point of View. My initial inclination was to tell her it wasn’t necessary and to suggest that she simply write a letter of appreciation if she so wished. As I thought about it, it occurred to me that it would be an insult and an assault to the dignity of Helen and her family for us at Point of View to dictate how they would show their appreciation. Subsequently, the Caulton family submitted the quarter page, paid color ad of appreciation that you see on this page.
It is the first time that an ad has been featured above the fold on the front page of Point of View in its entire 15 year history. We decided that the ad and the two articles that motivated it are all part of an important news story that includes some other activities that developed as a result.
As I write, a petition is being circulated by others who felt the Caulton family’s pain. The petition calls for Lieutenant Robert L. Caulton to be promoted posthumously to Captain Robert L. Caulton and for the planned new Springfield police station to be named the Captain Robert L. Caulton Police Station. Additionally, the Emmett Till Awards Committee has decided to award the second Emmett Till Award for Outstanding Service to the Cause of Civil Rights to “Captain” Robert L. Caulton by way of a presentation to his family at a ceremony that will be announced shortly.
The Emmett Till Award was established by Point of View in 2017 and the first award was made symbolically to Colin Kaepernick for his courageous demonstrations in opposition to the unnecessary killings of Black folks by the police. The 2018 Emmett Till Award to “Captain” Robert L. Caulton will make him the first actual awardee. The purpose for awarding it to him is to help, in some measure, to right an historical wrong and give some measure of relief to the pain the wrong has brought to the Caulton family. We at Point of View are proud to be a small part of the effort to correct the historical record. ■
