Editor’s note: This story was produced through a partnership between the INDY and The 9th Street Journal, which is published by journalism students at Duke University’s DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy.
North Carolina’s governor and lieutenant governor don’t seem to agree on anything.
As candidates for governor, Roy Cooper, the Democratic incumbent, and Dan Forest, the Republican challenger, have sparred most bitterly over the response to the coronavirus. And they don’t see eye to eye on another group of issues that are important in this year’s election: systemic racism and police brutality.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers prompted countless protests across North Carolina and lots of discussion about what government can do on the issues of racism, protests and the Black Lives Matter movement. Cooper and Forest have emphasized drastically different messages.
Cooper has spoken out against systemic racism and excessive use of police force. In a press briefing in late May, he proclaimed that “Black lives matter” and urged North Carolinians not to let people who destroy property undermine the message of peaceful protesters.
Forest has focused more on the threat of violence from the protests. He has said relatively little about racial inequality and instead emphasized the importance of law and order. He said he stands proudly with the police.
Forest: ‘We don’t put up with anarchy’
Forest says he will protect North Carolinians when “anarchists” take to the streets. Gov. Cooper failed to do so, he said.
In an interview with John Woodard, a North Carolina YouTube user and podcast maker, Forest said the mainstream media didn’t tell the full story about the disorder in downtown Raleigh in May, when protesters smashed windows and destroyed storefronts. He said the coverage, or lack thereof, essentially gave Cooper a “free pass” to avoid action.
“Not only did he not do a good job, he didn’t do anything,” Forest said.
“[People] shouldn’t have to wonder, when the violence comes to my town, what’s the governor going to do?” Forest said.
In the interview, Forest didn’t spend much time discussing why the protesters were there. While he acknowledged that “there will always be a racism problem,” he cited the nation’s success in eradicating slavery more quickly than other parts of the world.
“I do not believe that the vast majority of Americans think that we have a systemic racism problem,” Forest said.
He said he finds it unfair that a handful of cases of police misconduct around the country have led some to believe that there is a systemic problem.
A Facebook ad from the state Republican Party highlights Forest’s position to “Defend Our Police”
Police officers put their lives on the line everyday to protect citizens, Forest said in the interview.
“We don’t put up with anarchy,” he said, “We don’t want to see our cities destroyed, we don’t want to see our police defunded.”
Restoring law and order is a central part of his platform. “Here in North Carolina, we Back the Blue!!!” says one Facebook ad.
Cooper: ‘People are more important than property’
After the violence in Raleigh, Cooper spoke at an emergency briefing. While he thanked police for working to keep the peace, he emphasized the importance of the protests.
“Today the headlines are not about those protestors and their calls for serious, meaningful change,” Cooper said, “They are more about riots, and tear gas, and broken windows and stolen property. I fear the cry of the people is being drowned out.”
When the mayors of Raleigh, Charlotte, Fayetteville and Greensboro requested state highway patrol and National Guard soldiers to maintain order during protests, Cooper complied.
But he focused on the issues that caused the unrest.
“We cannot focus so much on the property damage that we forget why people are in the streets” he said.
“Let me be clear,” he said, “People are more important than property. Black lives do matter.”
In June, Cooper formed a task force to address racial inequity in North Carolina’s criminal justice system. He also criticized Forest for failing to speak out against racism.
He accused Forest of failing to denounce a racist incident that occurred at 311 Speedway, a race track in Stokes County. Mike Fulp, the owner of the track, posted a Facebook ad for a “Bubba rope” for sale, shortly after a rope fashioned into a noose was found in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage.
Cooper launched an ad campaign against Forest for not speaking out against Fulp, a Forest supporter.
Smart strategies?
Defending the police and promoting law and order is a smart strategy for Forest, who is still behind in the polls, said Mac McCorkle, a former Democratic strategist who is now a public policy professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
But McCorkle said he thinks Cooper has played it wisely. He hasn’t supported defunding the police, which has made it difficult for Forest to label him an extremist.
The unrest has eased since the summer, so the issue has less urgency.
“He needs a specific bill of indictment against Cooper,” McCorkle said, “He needs to be able to really concretely say something that makes people think that Cooper has failed on the job.”
Unless he finds that, Forest faces an uphill battle.
“The race seems very static, very stable,” McCorkle said, “and if it stays that way, Forest is in trouble.”
Support independent local journalism. Join the INDY Press Club to help us keep fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle.
“I do not believe that the vast majority of Americans think that we have a systemic racism problem,” Forest said. I couldn’t agree more; most white Americans are blind to the fact that we do have a systemic racism problem.