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** Hi,
John.
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Over the last few months, our country has endured a health pandemic that has taken the lives of over 100,000 people while also decimating our economy; we’ve watched as people have filled the streets across the country to protest an unequal system that led to the death of another innocent black man at the hands of the police; and through it all, many of our leaders, especially the president, have failed to provide an adequate response. Given all of that, I wanted to briefly share some personal thoughts on the protests, and update everyone about how you can be more involved through November. I apologize that the beginning is a little personal, and if you want to learn about how you can help, you can skip to the end.


I recently became a father, and I have quickly learned that I will always be worrying about my son Jack. However, my concerns for Jack are minor compared to many parents in this country. For example, I'll never worry that the police will harass, injure or kill him, even though he has done nothing wrong; or that one day he will be killed while out on a job, or going to buy skittles. I'll never worry that a random person will call the police because they believe that he fits some general description of a criminal, or that he won't get a job because the interviewer has a bias against people that look like him. These things -- as well as hundreds of others that I can't begin to imagine -- will never worry me because my son is white.


These last couple of weeks have served as a reminder for many in this country that despite some changes over the last fifty years, our country is still failing to rectify the incalculable damage of one of our country's original sins: slavery (the other sin being the theft of the entire country from native americans). Despite the protestations of many well-meaning, and not so well-meaning, white people, systemic racism is a scourge on our society, and until it is eradicated (and people no longer need to protest to show that black lives matter!) our country will never be able to truly be successful.


Now, the most obvious sign of this problem is the treatment of non-whites by the police This is not a new phenomenon, but with the advent of camera phones, it has finally become easier to prove. This problem must be addressed on a national and local level.

Locally, the actions of the Raleigh City Council over the last few weeks have been mixed. Their initial response was a little disconcerting, but they recently passed a law banning the use of choke holds, as well ensuring that the Raleigh PD complies with the eight policy recommendations of Campaign Zero. While this is a good start, we still have a long way to go. Time will tell, but I encourage you to reach out to your council person and urge them to implement new reforms that matter the most to you. There is no one solution to this problem, but to date, our current council has seemingly failed to recognize that there is even a problem.

Now, racism in this country neither began with Donald Trump nor will it end when he is removed from office. However, having a president that is not a racist, sexist, misogynistic, pseudo-fascist, will go a long way to allowing our country to begin to heal. If Donald Trump is re-elected, our county may never recover. While it is an overused trope in politics, this year it is actually true: this is the most important election of our life. With that in mind, the Wake County Young Democrats are going to work tirelessly over the next five months to defeat Donald Trump and elect Democrats up and down the ticket. Here is how you can help.

How: Phone banking. Given the ongoing Covid epidemic, this election is going to be a little different. We will likely not be able to knock on doors or have a lot of in-person meetings. However, that does not mean we can not reach out to voters. The Wake County Democratic Party is currently conducting two phone banks a week, and we will help them in their efforts.

When: Beginning in August, the YDs will host a weekly phone bank. In preparation, we will have several training sessions in June and then have at least one or two phone banks in July.

If you are interested: Please send me an email at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Even if you think you will only be able to participate a few times, we still need your help. Wake County is probably one of the most important counties in the country, as we have the opportunity to seriously affect the election in one of the few swing states. But to do it, we need your help!

Thank you,
Zach Padget
President, Wake County Young Democrats

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