“Segregation and economic apartheid have been standard operating procedure for all my life in Asheville, and that has not changed.”
Tag: racism
Showing 1-21 of 35 results
Readers shared views on development, politics, the environment and more in 2019
How did Xpress readers process all the local news and changes this year? Here’s a look at the topics that generated the most commentaries, letters to the editor and online comments in Xpress in 2019.
McHenry, Buncombe residents clash at Riceville town hall
The 10th Congressional District representative’s constituents challenged him on issues including climate policy, Israel-U.S. relations and the behavior of President Donald Trump at his annual Buncombe County town hall on July 31 at the Riceville Community Center.
Letter: Racism with a capital ‘R’
“How despicable to think that a grown woman cannot make her own statement about her interpretation and experience regarding working with President Trump.”
Parsing the R-word: The Gospel According to Jerry
“I was shocked and dismayed by the optics when, while watching the Michael Cohen congressional hearing, Mark Meadows, our own 11th District representative, paraded an African-American lady before the assemblage like a life-size cardboard cutout.”
Let’s join forces to create a truly healthy community
“The only way we can ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve optimal health is to work together with a shared and well-coordinated commitment to improving our community’s health.”
Letter: We must learn how to talk to each other again
“Somehow our country has devolved into a land that when we disagree with one another’s politics, race, gender preference or religious choice, some of us feel it’s all right to kill them. I missed the meeting when this was agreed on as a rational form of dissent.”
Kids Issue 2018: Stopping racism
“There is a pretty big problem in Asheville. It’s racism.”
Blazing crosswalks
ASHEVILLE, NC
Conference to focus on economic inclusion, equity
The third annual conference, “Bringing it Home: Building a Local Economy for Everyone,” will take place on Oct. 7 at the YMI Cultural Center in downtown Asheville.
Letter: Asheville has long history of institutional racism
“Very little has changed here since I was co-captain of the first integrated Asheville High football team and learned much about how Asheville has stacked the deck against nonwhites, and frankly that has not changed nearly as much as it should have over the years.”
Letter: Rededicate the Vance Monument
“The monument is directly on the site of the old courthouse where the slave auctions were held. It is the exact location where blacks were sold into bondage. It has always been apparent to me, and yet I have never heard one person suggest it, that the monument be rededicated to them.”
Letter: Stop glorifying Confederate monuments
“There is a difference between memory and celebration, and most Confederate monuments are less about memory and more about the celebration of white supremacist control.”
Letter: Local media need greater diversity
“I am writing this letter to ask that both readers, listeners (radio), watchers (TV), editors and owners of various area mass media look at their staffs and their coverage for bias in hiring and coverage based on a failure to diversify their hiring and coverage.”
Tactics for change: YWCA schedules a month of Stand Against Racism events
YWCA associations across the country are holding Stand Against Racism events during April. Asheville’s Stand events, united by the theme of “Women of Color Leading Change,” run throughout April, culminating with the campaign’s multiday signature event, Stand Against Racism, which takes place April 27-30.
Starting another riot
Black lives matter: Enough is enough
“Yes, my friends, all lives do matter. But until white America realizes that black children are loved by their parents the same way you love yours, we are all in trouble. There’s a gaping hole in this country created by racism, and it’s waiting to be filled by something. It is we Americans, black and white, who will decide what fills this hole.”
Letter writer: Xpress coverage priorities need reboot
“Asheville has too much of a legacy of racism. Please Mountain Xpress, help this mostly white community face up to the neglect of our oppressed neighbors.”
Letter writer: Living with the burden of racism is not right
“At what point do we as Americans connected by our living in the same country finally say we all will make sure that not another child is left parentless because of our categorical prejudices.”
Letter writer: What can white people do to support people of color?
“If we demand change at a local level, we can change the ethos of law enforcement agencies across the country.”
Author David Gilbert challenges racial assumptions in modern music
“The idea that black people and white people have distinct music and culture has its roots in racist thinking.”,” says author David Gilbert. It’s a concept he delves into in The Product of Our Souls: Ragtime, Race, and the Birth of the Manhattan Musical Marketplace. Gilbert holds a book launch and discussion at Malaprop’s Saturday, Nov. 14.