Young protestors carried empty caskets around North Carolina’s Executive Mansion as part of a Moral Monday protest led by the NAACP on Sept. 16.
Protesters marched from First Baptist Church on Wilmington Street in Raleigh to the Governor’s Mansion where they circled the grounds while demonstrators carried four empty caskets.
Lauryn Collier, interim president of the N.C. State NAACP chapter, said demonstrators organized to oppose the new state voter bill passed by the Republican-led legislature.
DeMonte’ Alford, the president of the East Carolina University NAACP chapter, helped plan the protest said there is significance in the date of the protest and the caskets used in the processional. The caskets symbolized the four little girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala. 50 years to the date the protest took place.
“The significance of the date and their ages, and its power in history, and 50 years later you know there may not be physical attacks on the young as it was with the four little girls who were killed in the bombing, it’s an attack on voting rights and education on the young people that is happening today,” said Alford.
The News & Observer reported that about 150 people marched in protest. NAACP university chapters from across the state protested, including the N.C. State chapter, joining other state youth groups allied with the NAACP, according to Alford.
Alford and Collier said demonstrators oppose the new voter bill because they think it attacks the voting rights of the state’s youth. They marched in hopes of delivering the message to Gov. Pat McCrory and the state legislature.
McCrory’s office released a statement following the protest confirming that he was away at a Republican Governors meeting in South Carolina at the time of the protest according to The News & Observer.
Collier said it was unfortunate that the governor was not in Raleigh at the time, but she said she is sure he saw it on the news.
Alfords said that he wants McCrory to use his executive authority and call a special session to undo recent legislation, such as the new voter bill, he and other members NAACP feel are unjust.
“The voting bill just passed is a monster bill,” said Alford. “For instance 17 year olds in civics classes aren’t able to register to vote. Students aren’t able to vote on the campuses they attend without fear of losing their dependency status on their parents’ taxes, it’s now impossible to use your student ID as
