Under the Dome podcast: Black History Month with lawmakers who are living it

This month on our North Carolina politics podcast, Under the Dome, we are celebrating Black History Month by taking a closer look at Black history, Black lawmakers and legislation in North Carolina.

On the new episode for the week of Feb. 6, 2023, host Dawn Vaughan interviews state Sen. Natalie Murdock and Rep. Vernetta Alston, both Democrats from Durham.

Murdock and Alston are both younger lawmakers, born after the civil rights movement. They talked about their own family histories, how they learned about Black history and what it meant when they decided to run for office. They also shared why they think there aren’t more Black women lawmakers.

Murdock’s family history dates back to slavery, and she grew up in Greensboro. Her grandmother started a cafeteria workers’ strike.

Murdock has been involved with the North Carolina Freedom Park project downtown, which will open later this year and celebrate the Black experience in the state.

She said the Legislative Black Caucus, in which both Murdock and Alston have leadership roles, also supports the stalled plans for a monument to African Americans on the state Capitol grounds.

“I think it was a missed opportunity. I think with the reckoning we’ve honestly had nationwide, it really, really should be there,” Murdock said.

Alston said that during Black History Month, “we rightly celebrate so many leaders, so many people who broke barriers, who were first and were very accomplished in their lives. And I think that it’s absolutely essential to do to celebrate in Black History Month,” Alston said.

“But I think because of where I’ve come from, where my my family’s come from, it feels equally as important to lift up the the incredibly important contributions of just Black workers,” Alston said.

Alston is also one of few out LGBTQ lawmakers in the legislature, and the first out LGBTQ Black woman. On the podcast, she talked about what she described as a “one of the first really impactful moments for me, my potential as a role model” when in 2019 she was dis-invited from speaking during Black History Month at her Catholic school alma mater.

Legislation on how to teach Black history was part of the vetoed 2021 anti-Critical Race Theory bill that would regulate how race is taught in school. Republican leaders plan to bring the bill up again this session.

Listen to why Alston calls the legislation “dangerous” and “ultimately a political distraction.”

Murdock called it an attempt to “whitewash history.”

“I just don’t don’t think that that should be the top priority for the way that we educate our children, and we look forward to reminding folks that our American history isn’t always pleasant. And that’s OK,” Murdock said.

Headliner of the Week

There’s much more to the discussion, plus Vaughan, Murdock and Alston’s picks for Headliner of the Week. Hint: there will be sports and animals.

Plus a new question for lawmakers who are guests on the podcast: What do you like at the Legislative Cafeteria?”

Listen to our latest episode below and catch up on previous episodes. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Audible, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon Music and Stitcher.