Last Saturday my daughter, granddaughter and I had a little yard sale out under the big oak tree at the end of my driveway. We invited our neighbors across the street to come “set a spell,” to visit with us. We had a good visit, talking about our lives and racial relationships. Mr. Terry Thames, known as “BoJack” to many people in Newton County, summed up the difficulties in just one long sentence, “What makes it hard or difficult is, you have to be politically correct, morally correct, and you have to be sensitive to other people’s feelings as to what may set them off, what may upset them, and still get your point across; and that’s so hard to do because I have no idea what may set you off.”
He continued, “This situation here is so complicated. For you and me, it’s not as bad. I grew up in Little Rock. Went to school with probably 90% whites. I can relate to both. I can come over here and talk to you with no problem. To be somebody of importance and to get up in front of people—if they say the wrong thing, if you say “black” out of context, you’re fired. Just saying “you people.” That can make you lose your job. One or two words in a thirty-minute speech.”
As I talked to him and his lovely wife Jerrica Thames, I realized I had been led to get their story into the paper this week. Terry Thames was born February 9, 1971, and Jerica Hickmon, from Union, was born August 18, 1983. His parents are Eddie Payton from Columbia—uncle to the famous Mississippi football player Walter Payton—and Beatrice Thames. Jerica’s father is Jerry McDonald, deceased, her mother is Stephanie Hickmon, and her stepmom is Geneane McDonald.
Having graduated from Beulah-Hubbard High School in 1989, BoJack attended both East Central Community College and Southern University in Baton Rouge on basketball scholarships, two years each. He played for the NBA in the Philippines in 1993 for a season before returning home to work for McMahan Construction Company from 1995-2005. He then began his own company, Thames Stucco Company, which is his primary occupation today. He presently works part-time with the Sheriff’s Department.
Jerica and BoJack had met each other around town at different times, having a bit of communication, then decided to begin dating. They were married October 5, 2019, and their children are Payton, who graduated from NCHS this spring, Jared, a senior there this year, Jeryn, a sixth-grader now, and Terry Jeyce, or T.J., who will be three in July.
Jerica Hickmon graduated from Union High School in 2001, attended ECCC then graduated from Mississippi State University in 2006 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, and an emphasis in Psychology and Child Care. She taught at Head Start from 2006 to 2014. In 2014, Ms. Hickmon began teaching Special Education at Carver Middle School in Meridian, continuing for five years. In 2018, she was awarded her Master’s in Special Education and in 2020 a Specialist’s degree in Educational Leadership, both from William Carey University. Jerica presently teaches in the Union City School District.
In 2015, BoJack began working for the Newton County Sheriff’s Department, and went through the Mississippi Delta Police Academy. He was the “Top Cop” in his graduating class of thirty, at the age of 44, competing against many men a lot younger. As we talked about policemen and the problems the country is facing today, BoJack commented about the hiring of individuals, “With the Police Department, there’s absolutely no way to check a person’s heart.”
He is a “people person,” who told me, “I just love people.” He spoke of his motives when going out on a call, “I’m coming to help. Black or white, I don’t know. Just the address. Whoever it is, I’m going to help.” His boss, Sheriff Joedy Pennington, told me, “BoJack is a fine man, no doubt about it. He will do anything for anybody.”
We agreed that there is a need for more training for police, which means a need for more money going to police departments, not less. My eyes have been opened to the fact that there must be police reform in America, and I am thankful for the Executive Order that President Trump has presented this week toward that.
I asked the Thames to email me a short synopsis of their thoughts and feelings on the situation we are currently experiencing in our country. I appreciate their sending me the following paragraph.
“We do not speak for the entire Black community, but in our opinion the discussion of racism in this country is overdue. Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner (to name a few) were all unarmed black men and women who were killed by police officers. George Floyd’s death brought attention to the injustice and inequality that blacks face every day in this country. Racism should not be a black vs. white issue, this should be an issue of racist vs. everybody.
“1 John 4:20 says, ‘If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath notseen?’ People are not born racist-they are taught to be racist. Now is the time for Whites, as the majority in this country, to take a stand and speak out against racism even if it costs them to lose relationships with friends and/or family. We leave our White friends with this message from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.’”
In the communication on my front lawn Saturday, I heard several stories of ways my new friend BoJack Thames had been hurt by racist attitudes and deeds. I do not agree that we need to apologize for the actions of others, but we can try to do better and be better friends and neighbors ourselves, walking in the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Thames both became Christians as children, growing up in the church, being taken by their parents. Desiring to become a part of their church, they were asked a series of questions by their pastors, to determine if they knew the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed it. Upon the profession of their faith, they each were baptized in water. The Thames now attend his childhood church, Midway Baptist Church, and hers, Union Grove Baptist Church in Union.
I believe this short article has skimmed the surface of problems our country is facing. There is no way we can solve them here, and I am aware of that. However, I heard a preacher say recently that communication is the best way to preserve unity and love among Christians. We Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ, black and white, Hispanic, or other, must be willing to bear each other’s burdens, to love each other as Christ loved us, to forgive as the Father has forgiven us, to reach out to the ones the Father places before us, in our path, as our neighbors. (The Good Samaritan parable, Luke 10:25-37.)
