By Garry Blanson
Some people in Monroe, Louisiana, love to try and correct me when I talk about the City of Monroe as being two distinct cities. First, you have the White City of Monroe, then you have the Black City of Monroe. It’s no surprise that “White Monroe” always seems to end up with a much larger share of the city, state, and federal grants, contracts, and funds—while “Black Monroe” is left to settle for the leftovers.
One of the strangest things about the current situation in Monroe is that when Mayor Oliver Ellis first announced his campaign, he reportedly told a KNOE News reporter that one of the main reasons he was running was because many residents felt Monroe was a divided community. He said he wanted to “bring people together over things they have in common, so they could build relationships and address race relations and division.”
That sounded fine back then, but the fact is—he did not come close to fulfilling his campaign promise to unite the Black and White citizens of Monroe. In just the last ten months, the mayor has been at the center of several questionable decisions: spending over $200,000 of taxpayer money on the Reginald Brown case; interfering with the City Council’s authority to select the Fire Marshal by involving state officials; and recently persuading Councilman Doug Harvey to oppose the I-20 Economic Development District’s approval of a $4.5 million deal that would have benefited a Black investor. All of this runs contrary to his promise of unity. It’s no wonder some of Monroe’s leading citizens have initiated a recall against Mayor Oliver Ellis.
But enough about that—let’s turn to this week’s Black Pioneer, Zelma C. Wyche.
Zelma C. Wyche was born on January 24, 1918, in the small town of Tallulah, Louisiana. Growing up in rural Louisiana in the early 1900s, many Black children were fortunate if they could attend school for even one month a year. Much of Zelma’s early education came from hard work on the farm.
In his early twenties, he became a barber by trade but later played a major role in fighting for the rights of Black citizens in Tallulah and for his country when he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. After returning home, he continued his barbering career while also joining the civil rights struggle.
Wyche participated in many protests and was arrested six times. His most serious arrest came after an altercation with a White doctor at a truck stop on Highway 80. Though sentenced to four months in jail, he served only 34 days.
One day, while cutting hair in his shop, Wyche decided to run for Police Chief of Tallulah. Once he qualified, White politicians tried to block his chances by holding a special election—a tactic still used against Black candidates today—which confused many voters. Wyche sued for another election, won his case, and won the next election as well.
On June 26, 1969, Zelma C. Wyche was sworn in as the newly elected Police Chief of Tallulah, Louisiana. He served until June 30, 1978. In 1985, he made one final run for office—this time for mayor—and won with nearly 56 percent of the vote. He officially took office in 1986.
On September 24, 1999, Zelma C. Wyche, “Mr. Civil Rights of Louisiana,” longtime Police Chief and former Mayor of Tallulah, went home to be with the Lord.
How did I come across all this information, you ask? Simple—I read it online, of course.
