In Voices last week, Courtney Napier went hard at those condemning the city of Raleigh for removing the Molok trash bins in response to complaints from M&F Bank, the only black-owned bank in North Carolina. We’ll do one more round of letters on this and then—we promise—move on. 

First, someone calling themselves Anti-Racist, who says Napier’s column was “stupid”: “Because a black-owned bank complained, all the white people are racist? This type of attitude is regressive and ignorant. It misuses the term ‘racism’ and diminishes the value of the term in public discourse. Get a life, Courtney. The world doesn’t revolve around you or this miserable bank.”

Van Alston writes that he “told the city when the project first came up that I’d love to have them next to my business. They said that it wasn’t possible because of underground cables. The Moloks were put next to an empty parking lot, which is not owned by the bank.  They can’t even be seen from the bank. You’re wrong. This isn’t about race. It’s about the assholes from the bank who don’t care to be part of the downtown community.”

“The bank has been a part of the community for longer than you or your family have been in Raleigh,” David Moses replies. “You volunteered. Great job! But the city didn’t ask the bank—there was no choice presented. That’s the problem. It’s about respect for an institution that represents more than a corner lot downtown. Black-owned businesses are not guinea pigs that have to put up with whatever the city wants to experiment with. You and I both know that if a different business complained, it wouldn’t have been an issue to move them. And the parking lot is designated for the bank during business hours. I know. I’ve been a patron.”

Want to see your name in bold? Email us at [email protected], comment at indyweek.com or on our Facebook page, or hit us up on Twitter: @indyweek.

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.