Archer Civil Rights Trailblazer Passes Away at 87
Friday morning, Alachua County residents gathered for a funeral to commemorate Roberta “Betty” Campbell Lopez, who passed away on February 11.
In 2006, Lopez became the first Black woman to become a commissioner in the City of Archer. Four years later, she became the first Black woman to be mayor of the city.
In 2012, Lopez gave an interview with the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida (UF).
Lopez told interviewer Marna Weston, "I’ve been active in all sorts of campaigns and all political conversations concerning the elections of our presidents down to just local politicians."
Weston primary asked Lopez questions about seeing the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and political-related questions about her position as a Democrat and support for then-President Barack Obama.
Lopez recalled hearing the famous "I have a dream" speech from King, saying, "I remember walking about five blocks to the mall in Washington to see him and we were very, very close. We heard the entire speech and I just can’t describe that moment. But it’s having an effect on us even now because the memory still lingers and it’s like yesterday... I’m glad I was able to share that moment in that time. For some reason, that particular day, I knew that he felt that he would not be living very long. It was just something in his speech that sent that message."
Recalling King's murder, Lopez said, "I remember when he was assassinated I was coming from work on a bus. Everybody was crying and I’m going up the hill in Northwest Washington and all I could see was smoke from 14th Street where people were so angry, and looting, and stealing, and burning because they were so angry. The only thing I hated about that is that they actually destroyed their own neighborhood, which wasn’t good, but I guess sometimes you don’t know how you’re going to react to certain things and that was the only way they knew how to react."
Weston asked Lopez if she remembered talkshow host Petey Green "on the radio asking people to not loot."
"Oh, yeah," said Lopez. "We heard all the pleas from all the celebrities and well-known people to stop the violence and stop the burning because it wasn’t really helping a lot. He was already dead and there was not a lot we could do about it and why destroy your own neighborhood? My husband actually went on the scene because he couldn’t believe that it was happening, but he didn’t stay very long... he came home to tell me that, 'Oh, I was down on 14th Street' and then he says, 'It’s terrible what’s going on, a lot of angry people.' But I remember not being able to sleep for, looked like days, because it was so devastating to me."
Lopez went on to say, "I think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set a standard for all Black people. Now whether or not they’re following that standard, that’s another story. In other words, he had a dream and I’ve seen so much that we’ve accomplished since that time. But I still think that we have a long way to go. Whether or not Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is satisfied with what’s going on, it would be hard to say because so many things have happened since that time. We have more of our young men in prison, we have more unemployment. So, it would be hard to state and to know what Dr. Martin Luther King would do if he were alive."
Regarding then-President Barack Obama, Lopez said she think if King were alive, he would be proud of what Obama was "able to accomplish in such a short period of time. But I also think that he would have been very, very, disappointed with the lack of participation from Congress and the Senate and the people that he works with."
Weston asked Lopez about her position as a member of the Democratic Party and she said, "I’m strongly a Democrat because I support healthcare, I support community service, and I certainly support economic development, and just in general I support everything that’s gonna help the quality of life for the people in this county... We need to create jobs in order to keep our young people here so that they can build a family and build a community. They should be good paying jobs. We don’t want our people to leave. My children won’t come back because they can’t make the money here that they’re making where they are now... Unemployment rate, just recently... it was up to about 9.2%. Gainesville is not quite that high, but I think one reason for that is because we have the universities, Santa Fe, and other schools. So, a lot of people are employed, but are they making any money? The university for example, you’ve got to have custodians, security, and different things like that which may not be paying a lot of money, but they’re employing people."
Going into more detail about why she liked Obama, Lopez said, "Serving in a small town... a rural town like Archer, I’ve experienced lot of the same things he’s experienced. The jealousy, the rejection, not wanting to cooperate with you to get certain things done, and it’s not everybody it’s just that few. But that few can be very damaging. So a lot of times I’ve listened to him and I’ve really sympathized with him because I can feel being a politician and being Black, living in a small community and dealing with prejudices and all the different things we go through. I could feel every pain that he had, but I tell ya I was proud then and I’m still proud. I just think that we as a people have to back him. I support most of his policies, all of them I should say, and we just have to continue what we are doing. I don’t think we are gonna get anything better. And I have to applaud Chief Justice Roberts for standing up on the Supreme Court to get the Obama Care passed. I think it’s gonna help about thirty million or more people with their insurance. And what I’m experiencing right now, and I’m seeing it even in my own community, there are people there who are not getting the proper healthcare. And one reason is because they don’t have the money, they can’t afford it. So people are actually dying because they can’t go get a physical and when they go, it’s too late. I know two or three people in Archer that that has happened too."
With the interview taking place roughly three months before the 2012 election, Lopez said her biggest fear was that people would not vote, citing a decrease in local polling precincts and a lack of encouragement in the younger generation
Roughly half of young voters (18-29) voted in the 2012 election, which Obama won by a 23-point margin. Obama had roughly 12.3 million young votes, however, this was a drop of about 2.4 million compared to the prior election.
Recalling the night Obama was elected in 2008, Lopez said, "I had several friends at my home and we did something silly. After it was announced, we got into the car and rode all through town with our heads hanging out of the window yelling, 'Barack Obama.' We passed about three or four police officers... and we just knew that we were gonna get canted for that, but we didn’t. They just looked and let us go and we came and we would pass them one time and came back again... I think we were sharing the news with each other, but the telephones were ringing and you could hear the screaming in the background from the kids, the grandkids, everybody. I think that was one time in life when everybody was really, really, happy, even the young people, the kids. They finally had someone that they could look up too... President Barack Obama, sets a good example for our young people. I also think that now, finally, they have somebody that they can look up to and they know that they could become the president of the United States one day. So, there’s no holding back because they can’t say, 'Oh, no I can’t do this because nobody will ever elect me.' They elected President Barack Obama, why not you?"
Lopez's obituary can be read below:
