Letter: ​Stand with NC HBCUs protest violence

TO THE EDITOR:

Yesterday a man was lynched.

Black Students at Historically Black Colleges are tired of police violence; students believe that there is a war on Black America. In response to the endless war on Black people, Black University has called on HBCUs across North Carolina to speak in opposition to police violence.

In 2015, the police killed 306 black men, (that doesn’t include all the queer and trans folk as well as the black women), this year the police have killed at least 193 black men.

Yesterday, Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man was murdered by the police who mistook his book for a gun.

When did reading a book warrant a death for black people?

Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old black man was murdered by the police because he was having car trouble and called on his public servants to help him.

When did car trouble warrant death for black people?

Trye King, a 13-year-old baby boy was murdered by the police for playing with a BB gun.

When did a child playing with a BB gun warrant a death for black people?

We the students understand that there is a war on Black America and refuse to allow the devalue of black life continue. We stand with the resistance of the people in Charlotte as they fight back against the police state.

We are also aware that they are not isolated incidents and police violence is a national epidemic. Black people have died at the hands of the Durham Police Department, the Raleigh Police Department and so many more and they are not held accountable. We say no more, we charge genocide. We say stop the war on Black America. Stop the war on HBCUs.

We are demanding that our institutions administration speak out against the war on Black America.

We are demanding that our campus police speak out against the deplorable acts their peers are committing across this country.

Join our HBCU students across the state as we stand in solidarity with the family of Keith Lamont Scott.

North Carolina A&T State University/Bennett College

Delaney Vandergrift

Nhandie Smith

Azuree Bateman

North Carolina Central University

Rebekah Barber

Ajamu Dillahunt

Elizabeth City State University

Kiana Rivers

Shaw University

Acacia Cadogan

Winston-Salem State University

Jaylon Herein

Fayetteville State University

Elliot Jackson