CAIRO — Grady County commissioner LaFaye Copeland said she and other African Americans in the community believe white people in Grady County have shown “no remorse” for the loss of black lives in America.

“And if they have, I have not seen it or heard about it,” she said. “And if they have, I apologize and forgive me.”

Copeland made the comments in a Facebook Live video she posted Saturday.

Black residents in Grady County have experienced a “long history” of social injustice and racism, and those attitudes are still alive and well in the community, Copeland said in the video. The county commissioner asked why white business owners across Cairo and Grady County haven’t spoken up about recent protests over racial injustice, noting that African Americans contribute much to the local economy.

“We have suffered and died at the hands of racism in Cairo, Grady County and surrounding counties,” she said in the video. “Why are the white business owners silent?”

Copeland said she supported recent protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. While not definitively stating an opinion on some gatherings across the nation that have turned violent, the county commissioner said when it comes to “violence, stealing and scheming,” African Americans have “learned from the best.”

“America looted,” she said. “America looted when they got here.”

Blacks, Copeland said, were forcefully brought to America in chains to be sold as slaves on land which whites conquered from natives.

“They are used to having their way by any means necessary,” she said of whites. “So when President Trump promised to Make America Great Again, who was it great for, and when?”

Black people in America are dying in “mass proportions” due to racism, the county commissioner said, and the recent protests across the nation are a reflection of years of pent-up sadness, humiliation and frustration.

Racism still exists in Grady County, Copeland said. One of the major sources of present day local injustice in she cited is disparity in criminal sentencing for young black males as opposed to their white peers. Whites are more likely to receive more lenient sentences for crimes of equal severity, Copeland said.

“Sometimes our kids think because they’re friends with whites, they ride together, they go to school together, they eat with them, that they’re the same,” she said in an interview, “but when it comes to police and court involvement, they’re different.”

Copeland applauded younger generations for speaking up where she said their elders could not. The county commissioner said older Americans have failed to speak frankly about racism to their children in a misguided attempt to keep it hidden.

“We didn’t want them to experience the same things we did in the late ’50s and the late ’60s,” she said. “We didn’t think this would be happening in 2020.”

As the only elected African American official at the county level, Copeland said she felt a need to speak up after receiving calls from constituents, particularly younger people, asking why county officials had not made any comment on the recent nationwide unrest.

“They were just keeping silent like nothing ever happened,” she said. “Even four ex-presidents of the United States came out and said something.”

Copeland said she wants to create future videos at least twice a month with advice for black residents on subjects such as what to do when stopped by a police officer.

Activism is nothing new for Copeland, who first joined the NAACP at age 20. The now 63-year-old commissioner said she still considers herself a community activist.

“I’ve been out there,” she said. “This is nothing new to me.”