{"id":4157,"date":"2020-10-05T11:23:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T11:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=4157"},"modified":"2023-08-16T16:49:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T16:49:34","slug":"i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Woolworth\u2019s store on South Elm Street marks the start of downtown Greensboro. Its lunch counters, the catalyst of a national wave of sit-ins in 1960, are part of civil rights history that pulses through the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sixty years later, there are new signs in downtown Greensboro that the movement for racial justice is still underway \u2014 and unfinished. The words \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d are everywhere, including South Elm Street, painted onto the asphalt between February One Place and Washington Street.<\/span><\/p>\n

In North Carolina\u2019s 6th Congressional District, which includes Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, some voters will be carrying those words to the polls this year. The recently redrawn district is predicted to vote overwhelmingly blue \u2014 <\/span>Kathy Manning, the Democratic candidate, is highly favored<\/span><\/a> \u2014 but for some of its Black residents, whose desires are neither monolithic nor zeroed on police, words are not enough. Wary of sweeping campaign commitments, they are seeking material improvements for their communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like nothing\u2019s changed. I feel like it\u2019s just more in the spotlight,\u201d V. R. Baker, who has lived in Greensboro for 23 years, said. But national protests following the police killing of George Floyd have shifted her perspective. \u201cDemonstrating was beautiful because it woke people up. It was like an earthquake that woke people up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the George Floyd situation came through, it just opened up old wounds,\u201d said Jaye Webb, chair of the Greensboro Criminal Justice Advisory Commission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the Triad area, the wounds are deep and many: the 1979 killings of five residents by the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party during a march supporting Black textile workers where police failed to intervene, the 2018 police killing of Marcus Deon Smith, the 2019 killing of John Neville in Forsyth County Detention Center in Winston-Salem, long-unmet needs for basic community care and investment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPoliticians, they say a lot of things, but they don\u2019t necessarily act on them,\u201d Ryan Upton, a junior at North Carolina A&T State University, said. \u201cYou can say it in front of us, but then when we\u2019re going back to work and living our everyday busy lives, it\u2019s like, okay, who really is doing it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The candidates have staked out distinct positions on the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement after Floyd\u2019s killing, Manning wrote: \u201cToo often, too many act as if black lives don\u2019t matter. They do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her campaign has neither discussed race further on its website, nor run Facebook or Google ads about race, according to online databases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During an interview with The 9th Street Journal, Lee Haywood, the Republican candidate, said: \u201cI\u2019m for \u2018all lives matter.\u2019 Yes, Black lives are included in there as well, but all lives matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His campaign has not discussed race further on its website, though his first \u201cissue\u201d is public safety. His campaign has run one Facebook ad about the Black Lives Matter movement, which reads: \u201cI belong to the oldest Black Lives Matter group in the nation: the Republican Party!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The candidates have not made clear what actions they plan to take in office against structural racism and police brutality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manning supports a ban on hogtying, the police practice that killed Smith and Neville, and she endorses the Justice in Policing Act, the House Democrats\u2019 police reform bill, which she called \u201can important first step\u201d in a statement without enumerating subsequent steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Haywood does not have a public plan. \u201cThe Republican Party, we\u2019re not promising the Black people anything,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not promising any checks. We\u2019re not promising any freebies. We\u2019re going to leave you alone as much as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In this moment of racial reckoning, though, Black voters say that they are not asking for \u201cchecks\u201d or \u201cfreebies,\u201d but for the government to repair systemic problems and tangibly serve communities in need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is so deep-rooted. I would say, focus on mental health, expanding public education and the resources that it has, and also trying to secure these families that may not even have a place to live,\u201d said Demetri Banks, a senior at A&T, referencing the low-income neighborhoods surrounding the university. \u201cIf we focus on that, everything will trickle down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Black voters interviewed by The 9th Street Journal said that when defunding the police is mentioned, it is about a need to realign budget priorities and redistribute funding to properly address social gaps.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Defund the police,\u2019 I feel like, is a stretch because they\u2019re still needed, but I feel like if you\u2019re going to give the money and resources to one emergency field, you should give it to the other,\u201d said Christopher Slade, who has lived in Greensboro for 19 years. \u201cIf you have the resources to invest in police, tear gas, rubber bullets, then I feel like you should be able to invest in hospitals and help COVID research.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Joy Kirk, who has lived near High Point for three years, has worried as much about her children\u2019s interactions with the police as she has about her children\u2019s safety after a recent rash of shootings in Greensboro and High Point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the system wasn\u2019t set up the way it was and designed for us to fail to begin with, there would be less Black-on-Black crime. But that justifies someone else, that\u2019s held to a higher stature, to shoot and kill us?\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Webb\u2019s work with the advisory commission, community members have urged broader investment in employment opportunities, healthcare, and crime prevention programs such as midnight basketball.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we can allow police to police the police. I think if we don\u2019t make moves on that, we could see the next Minneapolis,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Webb and the commission, those moves involve increased transparency: repealing laws that could conceal police misconduct, establishing nationwide police decertification records, and making records about police personnel and correctional facilities widely accessible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not in the matter of defunding the police from existence. I think it is reappropriating funds into other opportunities that would allow for communities to have resources,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully, our elected officials will understand not only that this is the right time, and that it\u2019s not going away no time soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Woolworth\u2019s store on South Elm Street marks the start of downtown Greensboro. Its lunch counters, the catalyst of a national wave of sit-ins in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[19,135,214,226,279],"class_list":["post-4157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election-2020","tag-2020-election","tag-election-2020","tag-police-reform","tag-race","tag-u-s-congress","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race - 9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Woolworth\u2019s store on South Elm Street marks the start of downtown Greensboro. Its lunch counters, the catalyst of a national wave of sit-ins in…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-05T11:23:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-16T16:49:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-05T11:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-16T16:49:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\"},\"wordCount\":1057,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"2020 election\",\"Election 2020\",\"police reform\",\"Race\",\"U.S. Congress\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Election 2020\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race - 9th Street Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-05T11:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-16T16:49:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\",\"name\":\"9th Street Journal\",\"description\":\"We cover Durham (and North Carolina politics)\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"9th Street Journal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg\",\"width\":869,\"height\":104,\"caption\":\"9th Street Journal\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/author\/kalley-huang\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race - 9th Street Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race - 9th Street Journal","og_description":"The Woolworth\u2019s store on South Elm Street marks the start of downtown Greensboro. Its lunch counters, the catalyst of a national wave of sit-ins in…","og_url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/","og_site_name":"9th Street Journal","article_published_time":"2020-10-05T11:23:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-16T16:49:34+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race","datePublished":"2020-10-05T11:23:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-16T16:49:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/"},"wordCount":1057,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["2020 election","Election 2020","police reform","Race","U.S. Congress"],"articleSection":["Election 2020"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/","name":"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race - 9th Street Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-05T11:23:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-16T16:49:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/05\/i-feel-like-nothings-changed-black-voters-seek-change-through-triad-congressional-race\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018I feel like nothing\u2019s changed\u2019: Black voters seek change through Triad congressional race"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/","name":"9th Street Journal","description":"We cover Durham (and North Carolina politics)","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization","name":"9th Street Journal","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg","width":869,"height":104,"caption":"9th Street Journal"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/author\/kalley-huang\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}