The Improvement Association - Ep. 5
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zero productions in the new york times.

This is the improvement association.

Chapter five, democrats, republican weight, black Green.

It's the democratic primary, february twenty twenty, bleeding carney or CarOlina. There's a flory of canada science stuck in the ground mostly bloomberg boody judge, which is ad. They are not popular here.

But no one cares about the presidential primary much. The race that matters is the county commissioner's race. The bleeding county board of commissioner's is the top governing body, and bleeding cargos been commissioner for eight years.

He's running for real election and he's being chAllenged for his seat. In fact, he's facing the exact scenario that keen horses are always warning about. The mean candidate chAllenging kai deal is black, and there's another chAllenger in the primary who is weight.

Having two black candidates run for the same seat here means they are in danger of splitting the black vote between them and letting the White guy run at the middle, the black guy running against cocktail has been launched to him like a greney by none other. The mini Price, former treasure of the pack, who recently quit in frustration about how a horse on codel were behaving as leaders of the group. It's minis nephew w running against kyi deal.

His name is mark gilles'. Y I found out pretty quickly this election is high drama and high sticks because a win for mark galaxy and a loss for cardell would be a very public blow in a signal that the packs power is in decline. It's early, but the tensor up, the campaign workers are out.

When I get to the polling place, I run right up to Charles, he goes by tojo we go again. I recognized him from the last election. He's usually wearing a track suit and always work elections every single day of early boating. You have .

got a big turn out.

Last year, tojo worked the elites town municipalities hard on the hand code deal side. I remember him saying how he was really trying to get the vote out for these three ladies. This election, the first thing tojo did when I saw him was press a mark galeas py card into my hands and tell me he was done with blading improvement, done with cag tail .

because of doing, and we don't need you, you see how beauty get beat.

He, meaning cadel. A lot of people don't like him. You'd be surprised, token told me. While kadee quote doesn't do anything for the kids, Marks really involved, tojo said.

He runs the dicky youth baseball league, leads the scouts troops was in when he was a kid. Today's sunday source for the polls day. A lot of people are showing up to vote in fancy dresses, church outfits. Tojo gives a car .

to every one .

of them .

who are those dies been no mouth years.

Those two are just .

in gentle a lot of no the years.

The Whiteleaf, yes.

and allow them he's a cooky. They always say IT at a bion and they been wanted to do .

that to run for office. White people like mark, I file away in my head. Mark is here calling out to people joking around.

I know Marks .

fifty two, but looks Younger, quick, with a wide smile and a wave. Intent definitely has the most going on, the most signs. A table would swag on IT the rose of red potato chip bags out that a vote mark galab, lading county commissioner, countys wide mark space on them. They're cool. I had a friend .

of man and just made a up by them does for ma's birthday. And I see him like, so he done for me for that.

So I see so you saw at a birthday party, yeah, I ve ve never seen. I like personally cool. It's very professional .

looking at what I say I was and there heat so far. I mean, I just let them try about and I like at one ladies you could take off for the.

Mark seems sweet, really leading with nice. That is brand i'm getting gets along with everybody type guy. I'm just watching him talk to people. Then mark whispers to me, I propose nothing. I noticed you need to make a .

light of the iconium well, this whole process, and believe me, I want to win. Yeah, I want to use. This is great. What do you mean the stuff they want to go through? Fantis appalled the .

stuff you have to go through, the antics that are pulled. I don't know what he's talking about at this moment. Sure, there are three county commission or competitors right on top of each other here, but IT actually feels less awkward than I would have thought.

Marks tents though. Now I see IT. He does not love conflict. You know, who does kind of love that though? His aunt mini, who put him up to this, she's been telling everyone around her, kidal has got to.

no, this is the first time he eve ve had opposition first time and he's been getting back Scott free and he's telling people many push mark up the room SHE got to make me think some money. I make you spend some money and i'm a work hard to make sure that you don't get back in the sea.

Many and mark are making a bold calculation. Given blade in history, they're betting that mark can get a combination of black and White votes, and IT will be enough to push cardell out.

Mark has a lot of support from White people. I'll tell you that that is true. He has a lot of support from White people. He has a lot of support from black people because White folks and black folks do not like cog deal, and they want to cog deal out of that position.

I want to beat mark bad that that the people would look and say if you give him a boat, you just wait the boat good .

deal days later, sitting outside the polling place in truck because it's called he's glowering out at mark tent talking .

about him like he's some .

pointless third party candidate .

by a light. Cog dis be .

at different times, both wrists and cog deal tell me that mark gamble is a losing one. White people almost never vote for black candidates down here. That's what they say.

But c deal is clearly anxious about beating mark because if mark in mines approach works and markets elected with a coalition of White and black voters, that means it's possible to attain black political power and bleeding without the help of the pack. That's basically the definition of an existential threat. From serial productions and zoe chase. This is the improvement association, the true story about election fraud.

Cake deals in incumbent who doesn't want to lose his seat, obviously. So just on that score, he's anti mark, but it's not just that he in hors see something more sinister happening here. The first thing who is an ki deal told me when they heard mark was running was mark is basically a front for White people in bladon who wanted get rid of kite deal.

They're also certain that mark, if elected, will go along with the White county commissioner's and set things back for black people in blading county. They talk unequipped about how a mark Victory would be a threat to their community. And I was like, really, how are you so sure? Well, for one thing, kate dale tells me he's looked up Marks campaign finance report and it's full of weight funders, including the clerks, the Greens in the campus, three out of the four weight families that, according to cai dail, run downtown was a bit town. Cadel sees powerful weight people in bladon financially supporting his black rival. You can't help but wonder you .

crowd out the restock in the stuff, but you can't help but do IT. We struggle to get man on the representation, and then you see a White in the viger inject themselves. And to IT you.

why would they do that? The way .

people backing mark, what you do that these .

weight donors can deal saying, are only backing mark galaxie so they can control him. He and horrors don't believe it's even up to mark what kind of commissioner he would be. His decisions would never be his own. At the risk of sounding like a time clancy novel, they believe mark gillespies to be compromised to c deal. This is clear from the way he says White people in blade and talk about mark.

He's a good boy, moves a good guy. He's a real a good guy. They want about me. I want to want, they want .

someone grow. It's deeper than just campaign money though. What makes mark the perfect choice of these White founders to run against high deal inc. Deal opinion is mark's job. Mark runs a liquor store in town, which I was like, okay.

And that is not his store. That store is owe by the town of eliza, a town. Mark managed the store.

and what's the problem with him being, with him managing a store that the city owns?

The people who get in with me for a kind to shake up the system was tom who buy the person would they made? They pay every day and they deal.

says people are still mad at him in Harris for trying to shake up the Elizabeth council last year when they back those three high deal believes people close to the town council then push mark to run against them. Ian cardio theory is, if mark is elected, he'll have to vote the way the town wants him to, because they own the store where he works.

He has no other choice away. What chance does he have? His live hood? He was the list that is job. If he doesn't do what the town but would tell them to do, where is he going go? He could be on a, just now .

calling your opponent a shell for corporate interest that is not new in campaigns. This is different, though, for coda lan, horrors is less of a tactic than a world view. Cadel inwards believe that in order for a black elected official to actually represent black interest at the top of the county here, SHE must be financially independent from weights.

There's no other way. IT doesn an, you can never be paid by a White person. Both codel and tourists have done work for and with weight people over the years.

The point is, never depart on them, don't need them. Financial independence means political independence to caudal. That equation hardly bears articulating so self evident.

I have always known this, he says, cagle says, even when his father worked at the mill for someone else, he had his own side business, fixing cars. His mother had a salon business. Horris is on the same peach.

He likes to talk about his dad owning his farm tobacco, corn, soybeans and a hardware store and a restaurant. Codel says his father, oh, his own business. And he was the model for all the kids and the grandkids.

He always working for that, everything he came from every year. I didn't have to go as White for for that. I heard everything I won't.

Do you come back there for me? And he just told his famous. That was the way to be.

have your own same with politics, cadel says. His uncle told them, look in politics. If someone says they want to give you money, tell them to give you to an organization of the purpose supporting black issues. Black people don't let anyone give you money personally, because if you do, that person will think they own you.

So boy, they brought a great, great grandson, and they put the Price down from a piace of, if you sit there and let them do that, you you ain't no Better than what the White man did to you. Great, great, grander. You had just put the Price on your back, he said to say, and then they didn't have to say about you gotto say about IT.

You can say yes. I know you don't have to. You could say yes or no.

The power to say yes or no. That's so hard of IT for kind deals, county commissioner, and for the pack, especially the no part saying no is one of the packs most important tools on the county commission and what ki dan horris worry that mark would undermine if he's elected. Take, for example, the sales tax.

The sales tax is probably the best illustration of the power of the packs. No, bladen is a poor county. For years, theyve been trying to raise some revenue with a quarter sent sales tax increase.

And for years, the pack has opposed IT, put no on their sample ballot and successfully shot IT down. The sales tax has been a frequent topic of frustration and counting commission meetings like this one time. This is from a few years ago, when the sales tax was being put on the ballot. For the fourth time, a local woman, charliet smith, came up to the mike during a public comment section, surely is propriety of one of the only two media outlets in blading county, blade online in the property owner in the county.

You know, we try to pass the sales tax. This will be the fourth time, and our schools need help desperately um R E M S needs help desperately. Uh and I don't think that it's fair for the property owner to have to fit the bill all the time.

And this is the fourth time that the pet has put in on the ballot to vote against the sales tax. So my question is, why don't you support the sales tax? The members of the path.

New one marries, as this .

is delia blanks.

one of the founding members of the pack. SHE was a county commissioner. Then SHE speaks slowly, gravely, like a judge .

I supported put around the ballot. They called every citizen and playing county should have you right to vote their country. But until this board decides how that money is going to be spent.

I'm against IT one time I was against IT, the second time I was against IT, the first time I will be against IT the next time i'm a mem of the pack and proud of IT. I voted the guest good. I'm proud of IT and i'm encouraging everybody that I can the keepon vote up against them until we can commit ourselves as the heart can be still.

What the pack have been pushing for for years was a public written commitment by the county commission that the sales tax money when he came in would be put towards specific listed goals and would be distributed in an equitable way across the county. In the past, the county has said they dedicate funds to majority black areas, only the later reneging. So the pack thinks that is good reason to dig in.

But to show IT Smith and probably a lot of people at the meeting that day IT seem like the pack was just being stubbed. The county is harting. IT really needs money.

My concern is that IT seems that this pack has a lot of power, and I know I make, so we need to work .

to get a CoOperative ly to do IT.

I would just like to say that I feel like this pack has a lot of power, and I would like to see the sales tax pass so that we can make improvements that black and county needs. I don't understand and why this pack can work together, but our board of commissioners cannot.

In bleeding county, almost every dollar that passes through the county commission is contested, and the money fights often break down along racial lines. The trust level is zero kg deal, says the majority, at least five. That of the nine commissioners is White and lately republican.

For the last several years, there have been three black commissioners, all pack members. So three out of nine, they do what they can with the numbers they have. I saw this clearly when I looked through years of minutes from county commissioner meetings, like the pack members on the commission, constantly asking, where's this or that money going? Is any of IT going to the black parts of the county?

How much what's being allocated for the fill in the blank parks, school building repairs, EMS in majority black area? In that way, if they stay and together, they can at least get things into the public record. Sometimes they can force a compromise or martial the people they represent, the voting black to take action.

Like with the sales tax mark, galaxy cake deals rival in this counting commission election says he'll support the sales tax. No written commitment like the packs been holding out for no strings attached at all. He won't stand with the pack on this.

What's worse, from horses perspective, he worries that mark will provide the White majority on the commission with a sort of shield. Any time he vote with them, i'll have a black person on their side and keep someone tries to call them out for voting against black interest. Horse says he sees this a lot in blind county in a time.

There's a controversial issue .

going on where the.

as a black man said, this is blatant racism. How can IT be when you got a black man sit in there .

to close aboard way? People use him, throw him in front to be like how you could say it's racist with his black.

because we have a black man. This present is bored. I can be racism. In blame county when you find black me, and that are well, like by White people, those White people have their .

black men in a packet only explore.

There's the only explanation when .

IT comes to mark. And some others in bleeding horrors says they were born that way on the wrong side. It's like math for him, incontrovertible. Also, IT gets really personal.

You have some guys in living town, some men in lifton. I am the parent.

clean houses for .

the rich people.

and they'd be friend ded.

They were friends with their children. They grew up together.

I was kind of shocked by this that mark's mom's job could be another piece of evidence that mark was compromised. Horis assures me he's not looking down at what Marks mom did for work. Horse says he's just saying this tells you something about mark as a politician.

Mark always been tight with White people. I best tourist about this a few times. What I conclude from that.

what does that mean about mark that his mom was me? Mark and White people, people, they group the other up. If the mama was IT made, he got to be around White people. They befriend each other. So markets were at the minister is not a black person like me.

They say that that i'm the White means before, or the White means whatever.

Mark just isn't surprised by any of these attacks. He's lived in his whole life. He's had this job at the liquor store for twenty years. He's heard this stuff and he says it's politics.

You mentioned to me before that they said that because I worked for a tabler. As for to work for abysses story, that acting we control .

that that crowd to blame.

improving crowd. Anybody who's not part of organza that runs for office, they going to work hard against him. I don't care where they .

work in regards what .

some people to back thinks. IT was not White people to asked me to own IT was back. People expertly run back. People, they are tired. They could.

You run.

And IT was several. IT was not wanted to IT was several of us communion.

IT wasn't like, did mac cambell call you and say we want to take cag deal out?

Asked me to run in this car deal. And I don't like calling his name, but as his favourite thing, he's told everybody. But regarding what he say, no, I was asked by like people to, right not mr. Cm in his fame, who's ve known all my life, grew up with his boys once they found out, then they supported me, but they did not ask me, everyone, and there's nothing wrong with the install .

ting me for Marks part. He's like that rich, having horrible kadee, accused him of being controlled by his weight supporters. That's exactly the sort of control the pack exerts over its candidates. The candidates the pack endorses have to vote the way the pack wants, or they won't get endorse the next time. That's the packs mean criterion for whom .

they choose any about the control OK. That's what I think anybody that things like they think and and votes the way they worked them to vote no matter what where this issue is really not nothing you should be voted against. But because the cat don't support IT, then you are not that support.

Like, for example, as sales tax, right?

The sales tax, that was a bright thing to do, but they encourage people to vote again because he was not designed way. They exactly warned for mark.

the sales tax are straight forward. The county needs the money. Mark doesn't automatically distrust with other county commissioners, say if they say i'll go to schools, he believes them and he believes it'll be done fairly.

Mark was actually a county commissioner once before, and while horrible lives to say that mark always voted with the White majority back then, I looked at his past votes and saw that sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. Mark says he's an independent thinker he doesn't like with just one group. And even though he's running as a democrat, he doesn't a line with just one party either.

I know, I know a lot of people. I've been A A lot of people, actually very bad design. I don't keep the democrat, republican, White, black, Green, airbuses assia MaaS.

Unless I do something me to prove a minor. Not yes, they are republicans to support me. I get my size and republican people, yours they say, can you put that sana.

who say.

people that owned probably, where are the republican sign that they ask me to put the sign up there and republican boats or just as good as democrat.

those for mark, those signs are the perfect symbol of how he plans to be as commissioner, building coalitions, not behold, into any group in particular, open to everyone. And I mean, everyone.

Is anybody watching a whole thing on one hundred part?

Could you imagine if that was me.

a trump campaign event, and bladen erik trump was the featured speaker. I ran into one of mark boosters, ray brit RAID bread of the furniture store and the ballot of the nursing .

home ballots. I look forward to working with mark. Spec will be a commission. You think so, mark, I will be a commissioner.

Ray was one of the incumbent running for reelection for the county commission himself. He was in a good mood, seemed relaxed by the zone reelection chances. He was like, if I lose and god has answered my wife's prayers ray was saved at the prospect of mark galaxy being on the board, the insight about who we d probably replace.

I'm looking forward to his personality is attitude and to help everybody. And I can get more with that than I can chicago. And I say that would all the respect, but know when things aren't working is time to make a change. And I think people have seen is time to make a change.

And IT wasn't so much raised enthusiasm for mark, but the way ray character is mark that I noticed as a black guy who won't only be looking out for black people, that's the kind of thing that makes worse and .

code deal suspicious and we can do things for this county and party won't have anything to do with IT race won't have anything to do with humanity, will a lot to do with IT.

Ray told me he thought people in the county were tired of he's done, was raised .

assessment more .

about who's done or isn't done after the break.

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Okay, it's time to talk about, will you lunch in the storefront where the pagets card's office, there's very little decoration? There's a Whiteboard in this laminated poster. IT looks like a manifesto on an old school .

ll A S cog deal about IT. I get somewhere.

The poster is an export from a speech supposedly given in Virginia in the seventeen hundreds by this White guy mean, Willy lunch, talking to other sleeve owners, but had to solve their, quote, quote, problems with sleeves, how to control them? The Willy lunched speech is unknown thing spent around people, quote IT rappers rap about IT sk ale's agree, IT is definitely napped from three hundred years ago.

The consensus was probably written by someone in the eighteen sixties IT resonate caio thinks what's on this poster explains absolutely what is going on right now between himself and markale sy in the commissioner race. He's like, look at the whole picture. This election is just part of a much larger, older.

Look at this. You look at the me more right?

Codel spreads the poster with the speech on IT out on the table and starts reading IT. To me, this part is offering specific advice about how the best main control over and slave black people by turning them against each other.

Don't forget, you must hit the old black. There is the Young black males, the Young black males against the old black males. You must use the dot skinner slaves again st.

The light skinned slaves and the lights can this leaves guess? The dots can IT. You must use a female verses, the male and the male versus the female was wrong with that stand that you don't see happen today.

没有 没有， you tell .

me about that. You see more Young man, and is only he is yang. You have made a Price lady, right lady male again to make a female every time to see the my positions out there. They keep the type of playing going old time.

You think that's like a .

design of the design library interest? Yes, that's what is that's .

the way IT is.

That's the way IT is always been.

The world situation with mark is just totally ignorant and other place. Leave that really nice thing alone and start thinking time to have changed.

Mini Price has a different view. For one thing, he does not believe that taking money from weight donors makes her nephew into some sort of pn in the White master plan. The pack takes money from weight people all the time.

He says it's not different. Voters aren't to see IT is different. Many sees no reason why mark should be embarrassed about where the bulk of his campaign money came from.

He wants to make everything about black and White. And so those horse, that's the impression that I get from them, really, they have that mentality that you know, if a White man and give you something, you know, you got to do what he have a he tells you to do when you get in that position. But that's not the way that I see IT. That's slave room man. That's a slave room mentality like they think that you know black is is back in slavery time and is not you may think that we in slavery, I means some time to act like our trees like that, but it's not slavery anymore .

with slavery mentality. Look, can you define that for me? What is that?

What i'm saying? He's like a White man. And you know, you got, they are working for the White man, and you share rop, and you ve got to do what he .

say is he tells you to do this. You gotta do IT is you? Mini Price and tourists in cake deal are not that far apart in age or experience.

They've overlapping histories when IT comes to dealing with race and racism around here. And then they all left the area. They went live. Their ult lives far from bleeding colney for many years, those years away landed them in very different places.

When IT comes to the fundamental issue of when, how, even if you can trust and work with weight people, when horror's were calls his time in the army serving all over the world, he talks a lot about the racism he experienced from weight officers, even though obviously they were all supposed to be on the same side. When mini talks about new york city, where he lived and worked for eighteen years, he tells stories about hanging out with co workers, mostly wait, getting a coke after work, going out to eat SHE mean friends. SHE had a good job.

SHE got promoted. SHE built a life on the idea that he could work with weights people, be the boys of weight people and get what you wanted. SHE finally returned to bleeding county.

With that mindset intact, you can see IT manifested outside the charter school SHE founded recently. Engraved on a stone outside is not mining's name, but the need. Mac cambell SHE needed help with the schools gym, and he got a donation from rich White mac, the same cambell who's given money to a nepo Marks campaign horse on cogdell.

See that stone with cambodian name on IT. The donation, the cynical, a way to control her. They figured that's why she's now trying to take cog deal out because she's beholding to mac cambell in cambell has IT have for cake deal to them.

To clear case of Williamson action mini says SHE isn't feel control. SHE feels like SHE got something done through connections, just like a lot of people do. SHE wishes horsing cai deal would take another view sometimes, for instance, look at mark relationships with weight people differently as a possible advantage in getting things done around here.

If they had a different would take a different attitude approach and just try to get along with mark.

IT could be .

a whole lot different. IT could be a whole lot different if they would just get rid that and mostly that they have in them and tried to deal with more because market is open to dealing with him. But they're not open to dealing with him because they think that he's going to be the White mean little talking.

And that's not true. But he he's been dealing with White folks all of his life, all of his life. He deal with him. He knows how to do with them.

On election aid, they figured there will be a ton of people at the board of elections to see how this big race plays out. But no covet has made this election night called and isolated. Instead of gathering at the board of elections, the counties decided to hold the election results.

Watching party in the middle school gym or social distancing. When I get there, it's only reporters. Charley smith, with blame non line, would spoken up about the sales tax and that county commission meeting a few others.

Me, there's three county commissioner spots open, five people running high deal. And mark could both lose. That's a possibility. Also, they could maybe both win code alle. Mark could both end up on the county commission together after this long, bitter campaign.

There's a big screen in front of the gym that keeps updating as results come in from the various precincts. Finally, cogdell person looking distracted. He's the only canada here.

He pulls up a folding chair to the top of the key, run a baseball court and ask me, where is that? Well, you're behind mark and ray. I'm saying .

and this and this can be IT be why you .

feel that .

it's worse.

He says, you'll be alright. And cardinals lake, how do you figure that? Cardell looks a little stressed, holding the phone loosely to his year, eyes fixed on the results.

Horror gets into detail about what areas have voted. What's been counted basically says, just wait, that looks like you're down, but the black areas haven't come in yet. Horse is like a coach shaking the shoulders of his man like you're still in the game.

But red bread and mark glassy seem to be running away with IT c deal in this. Republican David golden are vying for the last open spot on the commission. There are very few votes between kag deal and good in cag deal is ahead for the moment.

Charlet Smith with blade non line SHE sees this as imminent Victory for cogdell and comes over to get his comment. She's got her phone up. Horion tal, she's doing a facebook live.

Narras SHE wanders around the gym. mr. Ky, deal, you're in the lead right now, he said.

People in your seat so far highly feeling about the race.

Good race. I'm really good and i'm say, yeah washing SHE was going and see who coming in here was three more yeah see where .

what's .

your goal .

if you get reelected? Have you worked within you?

It's awwww, Charlotte is talking a cag deal as if he's the Victor. But cag deal seems kind of freak .

out while he vaguely .

this political goal is conomo account like a wiz. There might be tween out the door, but I think I might be right.

does he is not that he looks upset, it's that the mist of is part of his face is totally absent, the part of used to, he doesn't want to make jokes. These numbers watching, what if they don't add up, not just for him personally, but what if they don't add up for the whole thing? The pack, the limited power, they've managed to rest out of a system that really is stacked against them. Finally, all the breezes are in, and all of us, about ten of us there. Just watch the projector.

This is .

to .

make a break IT.

It's worse again, my deal is in by fifteen votes fifteen vote win. I can hear horrors on the other end dam then bastard to than best ards they .

were shooting at .

me hard code deal says I didn't see a coming horsager I told you they were going at me as hard as they could c deal says, I don't know whether it's gna hold .

up or night .

to reckon so yeah, like I said, three seats, five people running. Cogdell won by a hair, but mark was into and by a lot more votes. On the hour long drive from lizabeth town to my hotel that night, mini called to talk about just that.

I held my microphone up to the speaker with one hand while driving. SHE sounded cacked. Mark win was her Victory too.

I am. This is me. I are you.

are you a good mood?

I mean, a very good mood my day. You can be.

He got a lot of votes among .

four hundred more. And after you, you got two blacks on there. And coal word about three, both. And mean, how down for me?

For the record, minani has never said to me that code deal being on the board is fine with her. Mini keeps careful track of voting patterns as because he can just like the pack, who do you think voted forum a asser? Did you get a black weight coalition.

black and White, black and White vote for more Young and, oh, bloody Young people want for .

if she's right, this would be something remarkable in this county. Black and weight voters putting a black county .

commissioner into you, did you?

That's tourist calling me. On the other line, they make a best to mini and click cover, even though ki deal kept a seat horse as via is like the polar opposite of minutes to mark black votes from code day, I guess, is my question.

Read that a future proud.

Well, how did he get to this point? You think .

many times she's been very restructured to worst organization? Yeah, i'm going to meet right now. We have a math. What we do is be on big group if I just drawing board to swap forest starts .

listing off the stuff kg deal does when he's not running for office, working with file and getting the records exported, helping people get funding to rebuild after back to bag hurricanes. Here A S course about ky deal, how is doing?

He has a feel down, you know, no, he put them to try their help on people, especially people color for them to just turn on him like that. Yes, we just hearing, you know. Yes, be.

By the time I got back to my hotel room, horse was still talking, repeating himself, worrying. I almost never hear him sound vulnerable. He talks about how he just wants to help black people down here where he's from, and why don't they want his help?

He said. It's so sad to step back for for mobilization is a step back for black people in my colony. But I only say, IT to you all I can do keep five.

This is how we can do. We didn't say mr. He takes, yes, do I bless you? Have a nice night, okay, and thank you tomorrow. Okay, 是 okay。

Two years ago, when horrible first called me down to bleeding, he and kadee were, in theory, they're out to get us, take us down. And now here we are. Liquor says the mess.

You can draw a direct line I have from the cheating allegations that have dog the back for years to the hearing and rally about the twenty eight team congressional race to democratic candidate, the emotion y distancing himself, and in the pack, which then LED to a crack up, within the pack, which LED to a deliberate splitting of the black vote and Marks election engineered by the former pack treasurer. Me Price horsing cogdell couldn't possibly predicted this exact sequence of events when we first met. They just knew something dad was.

And after mini's big success, the question I had was, if the pack falls apart, does that matter? Is its voting black still the best way to build black political power and badding county? Is the pack still technically necessary? One way to think about that is to look at whether racially polar ized voting is still the norm in blanding county.

A while ago, I had the same guy who did the study back in one nine hundred eighty seven around when the pack was formed, where White voters still only voting for White candidates. Can you look again and tell me how much has changed here, actually, and how people vote? His answer was, not a lot.

Not a lot has changed a set of a handful of elections from the last ten years that I could find of a White versus a black candidate. And blading county, he sent me back the results with this bleak conclusion. If these contests are representative of all those taking place recently in the county, IT appears that voters are approximately as polarized today as they were forty years ago.

If that's the case, boris and cogdell know their corner of north CarOlina, the pack, and its voting black is still a big deal, and IT seems still necessary. But the voting black is just people, and people are online and particular and egotistic. And there, what makes the voting black powerful and vulnerable? It's like the cheating allegations kicked at the pack and found a horn, its nest, everyone inside got agitated and jumped up and zoned around in different directions.

Mini went on the attack more than cogdell dug in. People split. And I don't know if kite deal in horris can keep everyone together or if people will splinter further, especially since the suspicion and bladen, the suspicion of cheating, the suspicion that someone's getting away with something that's not going away.

I submitted to you this last quick story call IT the epilogue this past election, the mark galaxy, on november twenty twenty, and went through all the complaints filed at the blade and board of elections sauce m. Familiar names in there, including jane, pete, Bobby ludden, bob, wrote up a complaint about cogdell for improper voter assistance. Nothing ever happened.

I heard nothing was done. So I call the blade board of elections and talk to the current director, Chris Williams, who investigated the complaint himself. He said he gone over to the polling place, talk to the pull judge. He said he had an seen cag tail in there. He then drew a diagram of the polling place, determined this was very unlikely to have happened the way bob described IT and Chris wrote at all that the election board members considered IT and decided nt to hold the hearing. So this being blade in county, i'm sure that's the end of that.

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