Pastor Jack McKinney stepped down from his position as co-pastor of Pullen last fall. In a newsletter article published at the time, he reflected on significant moments in his pastorate. We liked this story of the importance and power of treating “enemies” with respect.
The Pickle Boycott
When I arrived at Pullen in 2000 some of our members and mission groups were actively involved in the Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s (FLOC) boycott of the Mt. Olive Pickle Company. A decision was made that Pullen would host a town hall meeting on the issue and invite Baldemar Velasquez, the head of FLOC, and Bill Bryan, the President of the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, to present their sides of the issue. State Representative Paul Lubke from Durham agreed to be the moderator for the evening.
The only way I could persuade Bill Bryan to attend the meeting was to promise him it wasn’t an ambush. While most of the people who attended were sympathetic to the boycott against his company, I wanted him to feel like it would be an honest exchange of viewpoints.
On the evening of the meeting, one of the other organizers of the event told me Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, was coming and wanted to make some opening remarks. When I met Mr. Kennedy and asked him what he planned to say, he said he was going to endorse the boycott strongly and encourage people to join with him. To his surprise, and frankly to mine, I blurted out, “You can’t do that. I have given my word to Bill Bryan that this isn’t a set-up and if you give the speech you are intending I will be made a liar in the first five minutes of the meeting.”
To his credit, Max Kennedy agreed to forego his speech and proceeded to speak extemporaneously for ten minutes about his late father’s relationship with Cesar Chavez. It was very moving and set the right tone for the rest of the night.
Several years later the pickle boycott was settled between FLOC and Mt. Olive. Bill Bryan sent Pullen several cases of pickles as a way of acknowledging our role in the resolution of the conflict. For several Wednesday night dinners we had good pickles for hors d’oeuvres.
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