North Carolina has always been my home, a place that I love more than anywhere else. Our food, our culturally diverse history, the beauty of the landscape that ranges from majestic mountains to beautiful beaches, and even our rich contributions to music, literature and art have been overshadowed the past few years by our state leaders' atrocious policies. Our once progressive state has been sent back into the 1950's with the General Assembly's and Pat McCrory's policies that resemble modern day Jim Crow. They have decimated our public education system, wiped out unemployment benefits to nearly nothing for the thousands struggling to find decent waged jobs, raised taxes on lower and middle class families, destroyed our reputation with the passing of the horrid and infamous House Bill 2, unconstitutionally reworked voting districts, and the most recent blow comes with the passing of a law that restricts police cameras as public domain. These are only a few of the questionable decisions made by North Carolina's leaders. Slowly but surely they have begun to strip North Carolinians of their fundamental rights as citizens.
To add insult to our severely injured state, our beacon and largest city, Charlotte, has recently become the site of protests and violence over the shooting death of Keith Scott, a black man, at the hands of police officers. This is just one of several police involved deaths of black men this year alone in the state. Almost simultaneously as the first ever National Museum of African American History and Culture was opening in Washington, D.C. the protesting of the murders of a black man was occurring in North Carolina. Ironically, the museum prominently features the famous Woolworth counters from the Greensboro sit-in that is only a little more than 90 miles away. Though it's saddening that many people are openly expressing prejudices and bigotry what is even more maddening is that many people are willfully sitting idly by as these injustices are taking place. As far as we have come, it's frightening that the progress made by our forefathers is being gradually being stripped away.
As bleak as it may appear, encouragement comes from the thousands of young adults of all races and backgrounds that are protesting, leading voter drives, volunteering to assist underserved and underrepresented communities, and who are entering the political arena to make genuine changes that benefit everyone and not just a few. The presidential elections have encompassed much of the media outlets but it is necessary that everyone pay just as much if not more attention to local and state elections. These elections are far more impactful to the daily lives of citizens and usually that impact can be felt immediately. Read and look into policies and platforms that candidates run on, make informed decisions, and then VOTE in your best interest.
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