With Election Day behind us, the mayor of Carrboro is now sharing details behind the decision to leave up Black Lives Matter flags on the Town Hall Building despite requests from the state government.
Mayor Lydia Lavelle shared her thoughts with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck, as well as through a statement on the town’s website, about leaving up the flags at the polling location during the early voting period and Election Day. The North Carolina Board of Elections notified the town of complaints from some voters on October 28, who reported the flags as violating the required 50-foot buffer zone around a polling site’s entrance. After the Town Council met and decided to leave the flags in place, the state elections board reportedly later shared a statement saying the Town Hall building could be removed as a voting location if the flags remain in perpetuity.
Lavelle said she reviewed the state laws set in place to prevent voter intimidation and electioneering at polling sites, in addition to talking with the town attorney during a closed session meeting.
“I think it’s a stretch to say that flags expressing support for Black people constitute political activity or constitute making people feel intimidated,” the mayor told 97.9 The Hill on Friday. “Different people feel different ways, so you could have a couple of people who feel that way. But the question is at what level does the [discomfort] spill over into a violation of the statutes or law. I feel we are on very strong legal grounds for what we did.”
The Black Lives Matter flags, which were hung at the building’s entrance in late July to show solidarity during a nationwide movement against racial injustice, are just a few of the several flags Carrboro often hangs from the spot. Lavelle said the town often uses the area to highlight values important to the town, but such messages are not explicitly political.
“We fly the pride flags, we fly gun violence awareness flags,” she described. “We, as a governmental entity, are allowed to express our views and they also represent the values of our town. They’re not partisan, they’re not election-related activity, they’re not intended to cause voter intimidation. The idea [is] to express support for our Black community members by saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ As I expected, every member of the council feels the same way I do: that the flags were going to stay.”
The Town of Carrboro initially intended the Black Lives Matter flags to be a placeholder gesture of solidarity until plans for several murals denouncing racism and highlighting racial justice. Lavelle said Friday the town had “every intention of putting those words on a town building,” with a mural plan for the town parking lot in place and 11 other locations also in consideration for additional artwork.
Ultimately, the Carrboro mayor acknowledged the North Carolina Board of Elections has the authority to designate where polling places can go, saying town leadership will hold discussions about what do in the future now that voting in the 2020 elections is complete. She said the request of the state elections board to take the flags down through the end of the early voting period instead of through Election Day was an “interesting” one and she hopes the location does indeed remain.
“Town Hall is the traditional voting location of choice for many,” Lavelle explained. “It’s a longstanding Election Day voting site and we want it to continue being a place where citizens can celebrate their right to vote. We don’t want people to be intimidated. I would say that 99.9% of people who vote at Town Hall felt a sense of pride and felt that the values represented by our building represent the values of our community.”
Lavelle’s full statement on the Black Lives Matter flags at Carrboro Town Hall can be found on the town’s website.
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The Socialist Enclave of Carrboro. Should be named an UnAmerican City with a sister city in China.
I find Lavelle’s comment, “I think it’s a stretch to say that flags expressing support for Black people constitute political activity or constitute making people feel intimidated,” disingenuous in the highest order, especially after her repudiation that some voters may feel intimidated or distrust in the equitable ballot handling of this site! While she claims that the “Black Lives Matter” movement is not political and simply expresses “support for Black people,” the following statement was made by “Black Lives Matters” on November 9: “We worked long and hard to ensure we did all we could to vote Donald Trump out of the White House — we succeeded.” (Source: https://blacklivesmatter.com/) Obviously, the BLM has/had explicit political motives, which were well-known and widespread. Lavelle’s own entrenchment in her personal politics of choice has eroded her ability to see clearly without explicit bias in her representation of all members of her community and the values they support. Unfortunately, it is just another example of long-standing liberal bias and discrimination against certain members of a diverse community who hold differing political values and further contributes to divisive rifts between these political divides. This is not behavior befitting a town government official, even one pretending to stand for equality, tolerance, and acceptance.