{"id":14043,"date":"2024-10-23T20:08:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T20:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=14043"},"modified":"2024-10-25T21:09:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T21:09:13","slug":"a-trump-supporter-in-blue-durham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/10\/23\/a-trump-supporter-in-blue-durham\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trump supporter in blue Durham"},"content":{"rendered":"
When Harley Walker put up the first Trump sign on his front lawn in 2020, the neighborhood rejected it like a bad organ transplant. Within days, someone approached it, ripped it out, and replaced it with a new sign.<\/span><\/p>\n
It read, \u201cNO WHITE HOODS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Walker was jarred. He wasn\u2019t a racist. He spent his career as a DJ, mixing a diverse blend of genres into his shows. He voted for Obama.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
But, he wasn\u2019t surprised. The shameless disrespect, the constant assumptions \u2013 after all, this was why he\u2019d left the Democratic party in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n
That night, he ordered 50 more Trump signs. When they came, he strung them up throughout the neighborhood: intersections, telephone poles, and on the surrounding streets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cI think they got the message not to mess with my signs again,\u201d Walker said.<\/span><\/p>\n
***<\/span><\/p>\n
Walker lives in Durham, one of the most Democratic counties in the state, and his particular neighborhood \u2013 the 36th precinct \u2013 is among the most Democratic in Durham. Less than a fifth of Precinct 36 voted for Donald Trump in 2020. Walker is a red dot in a blue sea.<\/span><\/p>\n
In some ways, he blends in with the rest of Durham. He\u2019s 61 years old with a slight southern drawl and an eager smile. He lives just off of Martin Luther King Parkway. He\u2019s gay.<\/span><\/p>\n