ONE OF THE RACIST TEXTS ALLEGED SENT TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN NORTH CAROLINA, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY AFTER LAST WEEK'S ELECTION.
BLACK NORTH CAROLINIANS
GET THREATENING POST-ELECTION
RACIST TEXT MESSAGES
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
On the day former President Donald Trump was officially declared winner of the 2024 presidential election, Black North Carolinians reportedly began receiving disturbing and racist text messages, telling them that they had been picked to work on a cotton plantation, and if they didn’t comply, they “…would be beaten for 15mins straight.”
The messages just didn’t target black North Carolinians. African-Americans across the country reported receiving the racist texts. According to USA Today and other national news outlets, Black college students in several states reported also receiving the texts, which informed them that they “ had been elected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”
Even young Black children were targeted.
Some of the messages were claimed to have come from “a Trump supporter,” though authorities haven’t been able to pin down exactly who sent them, where they came from, or how many were sent.
They only know that the messages began to appear right after the re-election of Trump as president had occurred.
One Black North Carolinian who received the racist text, Tiffy Lattimore of Oxford, said she at first downplayed it because she felt it was “ignorant”and knew “it would never happen.” She then posted it to Facebook, only to discover afterwards that other Black people in other states and at her job had gotten it too.
"How did you get my number?" and "How did you know that I was African American?" Lattimore said were her biggest concerns.
The NC Attorney General’s Office says it is investigating, “…alongside federal and industry partners.”
In Fayetteville, Latasha Gillis said her teenage daughter also got one of the racist texts the day after the election, and expressed concern.
"I definitely think that the outcome of the election is where these messages are coming from," Gillis told USA Today.
Similar messages have been reported in South Carolina, Alabama, Ohio and other states. The FBI is heading the national probe.
The NAACP has denounced the texts.
Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes across the nation, said in a statement that the racist text messages were "…a public spectacle of hatred and racism that makes a mockery of our civil rights history.”
Meanwhile in Durham, Durham police are probing a white nationalist sign displayed in the American Tobacco Campus (ATC) near downtown last Saturday.
The sign, posted by the “Patriot Front” reads “Strong families, strong nations,” with a link to the Patriot Front website. It has been removed.
Patriot Front is identified as a white nationalist hate group.
Reportedly, other banners from the group were witnessed by motorists along I-40 and hanging from the South Parking garage at the ATC.
Thus far, there is no indication of any direct connection between the white nationalist signs and the racist text messages. Some observers have surmised that the texts actually came from Russian or other international adversaries looking to cause racial division in the United States after a contentious presidential election.
If you, or someone you know, have received a racist text message as has been reported, authorities advise to contact your local law enforcement immediately.
-30-
DEMOCRATIC TURNOUT IN NC
BEHIND 2020 ELECTION, SAY
POLITICAL OBSERVERS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
As in the rest of the country on Election Day, here in North Carolina, Democratic voters were outgunned at the polls, with Democratic turnout ultimately less than expected in the end.
Add to that a better than expected turnout of Republicans, and that wrote the book on Election 2024 in the state.
With the hottest presidential election in years between Republican former Pres. Donald Trump and current Vice Pres. Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, political observers expected a strong Democratic Party turnout statewide to help elect Harris be elected the first Black woman as president.
National and internal polling consistently reported that North Carolina, considered one of seven key battleground states, was a dead heat between Trump and Harris since shortly after she unexpectedly entered the race after President Biden dropped in July.
But with North Carolina’s 17 days of early voting came startling news - Republicans weren’t traditionally waiting until Election Day to cast their ballots, but in fact, were early voting in large numbers before Election Day.
In fact, of the over 4.2 million early voters statewide, Republicans were first, followed by unaffiliated voters, and then Democrats in numbers.
At the end of Election Day, the picture became ever clearer.
Even though Trump beat Joe Biden in 2020 to win the state, he only defeated the Democrat then by less than 75,000 votes, or 1.3%. But when the race between Trump and Harris was called by the Associated Press at 11:18 p.m, Trump won with 2.8 percent of the vote.
Trump had won in some counties that Biden took in 2020. Harris won in traditional so-called “blue” counties like Wake and Mecklenburg, but not by as much as Biden.
In Mecklenburg, for instance,voter turnout was only 69%, compared to 72% in 2020. Mecklenburg is also home to most of the state’s black voters. But per early voting, only 51% turned out.
Veteran political analyst Stella Adams warned that urban counties like Durham, Orange and Mecklenburg needed strong turnouts, because their voters were “pure” progressives.
Another veteran political analyst, Thomas Mills, projected that the state needed at least 300,000 more Black voters to cast ballots for Harris on Election Day. Exit polling showed the majority of Black voters did support her here, and nationwide.
But not to the level needed, and Trump defeated Harris in North Carolina 50.94% to 47.57%, thus winning the state’s 16 Electoral College votes.
This is the third straight presidential election where Donald Trump has won North Carolina.
In fact, there is strong evidence that many North Carolinians overall split their ticket, voting for Republican Trump, but then voting for Democrat Josh Stein for governor over controversial Republican Mark Robinson. State voters also supported most of the Democratic top tier candidates in Rachel Hunt for lt. governor, Jeff Jackson for state atty. general, and former Guilford County Schools Supt. Maurice “Mo” Green for state supt. of Public Instruction.
Incumbent Democrat State Auditor Jessica Holmes lost her second bid to be elected to statewide office after being appointed to the post by outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper in December 2023.
North Carolina voters also gave Gov.-elect Stein more veto power over bills he doesn’t like by breaking up the Republican supermajority in the NC House.
Voters in the First Congressional District also voted to retain incumbent Democratic Congressman Don Davis, as did 12th District incumbent Democrat Congresswoman Alma Adams, and Fourth District U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee.
All three Black congresspeople will be returning to a U.S. House of Representatives that is likely to remain in the hands of a Republican majority, as will the U.S. Senate, giving Republican Pres. Donald Trump the Congress he needs to fully carry out his agenda.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment