Newsletter Subject
FWD: Lifting up voices who've experienced racism
From
danmccready.com
Email Address
info@danmccready.com
Sent On
Tue, Jul 7, 2020 07:31 PM
Email Preheader Text
Together, let's work toward the change that America so desperately needs. Dear {NAME}, In my last em
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Together, let's work toward the change that America so desperately needs.
Dear {NAME},
In my last email, I wrote to you about my project from the last couple of weeks — to use my social-media platform to lift up voices from North Carolina’s 9th District who’ve experienced racism.
As this project comes to an end, I wanted to make sure you had a chance to see these powerful videos. [Click here to watch them.](
For those of you who are white: I hope that these videos will cause you to reflect. And as the news cycle moves on from George Floyd, I hope they‘ll inspire you to stay engaged.
It’s on all of us to keep up the fight for racial justice, now through November — and beyond.
Dan
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[Dan McCready for Congress]
Dear {NAME},
As America continues its dialogue on race, racism, and white supremacy in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and many people who look like me seek to better understand America’s history of racial injustice, I want to share a story with you. Actually, a number of them.
I grew up privileged, with every opportunity a kid could ask for. I attended great public schools. My parents rarely worried about money. I never had to worry about the cops pulling me over without cause.
I'm embarrassed to say this now, but by the time I became a Marine, I thought America was moving beyond much of the racism in its past. In my platoon, we came from all backgrounds, and we didn't care about skin color. We all wore the same color uniform.
Not until Trump came along, harnessing the forces of bigotry, did I begin to see the privilege and naivety of my view. It was part of why I felt called to run for Congress, to fight for an American ideal that my parents taught me to love, that everyone should have an equal shot.
It was then, as I began what became two years of campaigning in Black communities east of Charlotte, that I began to see this truth: racism permeates every part of our systems, institutions, and society.
I’d known before that schools were segregated, but now I found myself in rural areas where half of kids were stuck in poverty, where health care access was inadequate. In George Floyd's hometown, Fayetteville, a Black church had to post security guards. Downtown Fayetteville was even overlooked by an old slave auction site, as if to say, white supremacy will never end.
Over the years, through racial gerrymandering, politicians had suppressed the political power of Fayetteville’s Black community. They carved Black neighborhoods right out of the district. This was just one way politicians who promised to help tried instead to prevent change.
Meanwhile, down the road in Bladen County, my opponent's campaign was actually stealing the ballots of people of color! The fraud had gone on for years. But until a few of us fought back, few seemed to care. Most saw these communities as disposable. Let me tell you, they're not.
Here's why I'm writing this. Because — and this is for the other white people still reading — I want you to know what I've learned, what I’m still very much learning, what Black people have always known: all of this comes down to systemic racism.â¬
Since George Floyd's murder, I've been heartened that so many white people have opened their eyes to racial injustice. If you're one of those people, I wish you could have been with me in these towns and churches to hear directly from people how racism has hurt them.
Since that's not possible, I’m trying something different. I asked a few people from the district to share their reflections on racism. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been posting their videos to my social media, unedited.
[Click here to see their stories.](
[(
My hope is that, as the news cycle moves on from George Floyd, these videos will serve as a reminder to stay engaged. I know they’ll move you, as they have me.
I’ll post more videos this week. [Take a few minutes to watch one of them today, and then check back later this week for more.](
Together, let’s work toward the change that America so desperately needs.
Yours in this fight,
Dan
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Paid for by McCready for Congress
Dan McCready is a former member of the United States Marines. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Marines or the Department of Defense. This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Click [here]( if you'd like to unsubscribe. We try to send only the most important information and opportunities to participate via email. To support Dan McCready with a contribution, click [here](.
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