Photo by Cameron Healy
A debate over Gulfport’s racial history resurfaced at the Jan. 6 City Council meeting, as officials disagreed over apologizing for the city’s sundown town reputation.
Mayor Karen Love, City Manager Jim O’Reilly, and some council members have argued an apology is unnecessary because discriminatory practices were never codified into City law.
Meanwhile other council members said acknowledging harm, even without formal laws, could help heal community wounds and reinforce that all residents are welcome today.
Addressing Past Wrongs
Love said the City addressed historical discrimination by adopting its Human Rights Ordinance in 2005. She described it as a decisive corrective action.
“The City and the residents are not one and the same,” Love said. “This council is not responsible for the bad behavior of past generations.”
Love read from the ordinance, which bans discrimination based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and other protected characteristics.
The ordinance declared discriminatory practices a menace to public peace and welfare and commits the city to eliminating discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
“What a City can do with past wrongs is fix them,” Love said. “I feel that is exactly what this City did in 2005.”
The mayor urged residents who believe discrimination is occurring today to contact her directly so the City can address current violations.
“I’m not going to do battle over things that happened 60 or 70 years ago,” Love said. “If there’s a problem today, email me.”
That’s not all that happened at the Jan. 6 Gulfport City Council meeting. Read about 49th Street, Vulnerability Assessments, Lincoln Cemetery, and what we overheard.
Photo by Cameron Healy
Council Divided on Whether an Apology Would Help
Ward IV Council member Nancy Earley questioned whether apologizing for actions taken before the current council would provide meaningful benefit.
“I know how I live my life and how I treat people,” Earley said. “I’m not sure apologizing for people long before me is helpful.”
Ward II Council member Marlene Shaw responded that acknowledgment itself can promote healing, regardless of who held office when harm occurred.
“I’ve heard from enough people to believe recognizing past injustice could help heal wounds,” Shaw said. “History helps us understand the present.”
Vice Mayor April Thanos (Ward I) said acknowledging past harm does not undermine the city’s progress or its commitment to inclusivity.
“The Human Rights Ordinance is fabulous,” Thanos said. “But, it doesn’t preclude acknowledging what happened before and recognizing that history.”
Ward III Council member Cosi Jackson said she would support a statement recognizing past injustices and affirming they will never be repeated.
Was Gulfport a Sundown Town?
Community Response Highlights Lived Experiences
Public reaction has remained strong following earlier coverage by The Gabber Newspaper. More than 1,300 comments were posted on The Gabber Newspaper‘s Facebook page about a previous story discussing Gulfport’s “sundown town” history.
Many Black residents and former residents shared personal accounts describing racism, threats, intimidation, and being warned or chased out of the city.
One reader sent The Gabber Newspaper a letter to the editor about an incident she says she will never forget. St. Petersburg resident Deborah Jackson shared that in the ’70s, a Gulfport police officer yelled to her and her friends: “N******, you know you’re not allowed to cross 49th Street after dark.”
“I remember that day like it was yesterday and I’m 62 years old, and will never forget it,” Jackson wrote. “Not many African Americans lived past 34th Street South back then, and definitely not in Gulfport. In my opinion, an apology definitely needs to be said.”
Several commenters agreed that the absence of acknowledgment causes ongoing harm. Some argued that dismissing lived experiences reinforces trauma rather than allowing collective healing.
Taken together, the comments reflect a divide between those seeking acknowledgment of lived experiences and those emphasizing legal history and current governance.
Love reiterated her focus on present-day policy, despite repeated public requests for acknowledgment from residents who described harm tied to past racism.
Codification Disagreement Remains Central
Love said apologizing could wrongly suggest the City formally endorsed discriminatory practices, which she said the council never approved.
“The City never codified it,” Love said. “They never found any of that behavior acceptable. The city council cannot govern individual people’s behavior.”
However, historians note that sundown practices often relied on intimidation, social norms, and informal enforcement, making written ordinances unnecessary for exclusion.
Photo by Cameron Healy
Love also suggested renewed debate stems from criticism surrounding the Historic Lincoln Cemetery, which she described as unfounded and misleading.
“I do not think this would have come up in 2025 or 2026 except for all the negative press about Lincoln Cemetery,” Love said. “Which is all BS.”
“It has come up before,” Thanos responded.
Thanos brought up the sensitive topic back in 2020. She told The Gabber Newspaper that former Ward III council member Yolanda Roman also brought this up that year.
No Consensus Reached
City Attorney Andrew Salzman said he could draft language for council review, but requested clearer guidance from elected officials.
For now, Gulfport remains divided on whether an apology or acknowledgment best addresses the city’s racial history while defining the city’s present values.
The Gulfport City Council’s next meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m.
The Gabber Newspaper? We Go There
In 1968, our founder, George Brann, started The Gabber Newspaper, then called the Gulfport Gabber, to hold Gulfport City Council accountable. Read more of our city council coverage, and learn about our policies on reporting, fact-checking, and funding.
