As America continues its dialogue on race, racism, and white supremacy in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and many people who look like me seek to better understand America’s history of racial injustice, I want to share a story with you. Actually, a number of them. (THREAD)

I grew up privileged, with every opportunity a kid could ask for. I attended great public schools; my parents rarely worried about money. I never had to worry about the cops pulling me over without cause.

I'm embarrassed to say this now, but by the time I became a Marine, I thought America was moving beyond much of the racism in its past. In my platoon, we came from all backgrounds, and we didn't care about skin color. We all wore the same color uniform.

Not until Trump came along, harnessing the forces of bigotry, did I begin to see the privilege and naivety of my view. It was part of why I felt called to run for Congress, to fight for an American ideal that my parents taught me to love, that everyone should have an equal shot.

It was then, as I began what became two years of campaigning in Black communities east of Charlotte, that I began to see this truth: racism permeates every part of our systems, institutions, and society. I’d known before that schools were segregated, but now I found myself in...

...rural areas where half of kids were stuck in poverty, where health care access was lacking. In George Floyd's hometown, Fayetteville, a Black church had to post security guards; downtown was even overlooked by an old slave auction site, as if to say, this will never end.

Over the years, through racial gerrymandering, politicians had suppressed the political power of Fayetteville’s Black community. They carved Black neighborhoods right out of the district. This was just one way politicians who promised to help tried instead to prevent change.

Meanwhile, down the road in Bladen County, my opponent's campaign was actually stealing the ballots of people of color! The fraud had gone on for years. But until a few of us fought back, few seemed to care. Most saw these communities as disposable. Let me tell you, they're not.

Here's why I'm writing this. Because - and this is for the other white people still reading - I want you to know what I've learned, what I’m still very much learning, what Black people have always known: all of this comes down to systemic racism.

Since George Floyd's murder, I've been heartened that so many white people have opened their eyes to racial injustice. If you're one of those people, I wish you could have been with me in these towns and churches to hear directly from people how racism has hurt them.

Since that's not possible, I want to try something different. I've asked a couple people from the district to share their reflections on racism, so that I can share them with you. In the coming days, I'm going to post their videos here, unedited.

I'll tweet them out gradually. That way, as the news cycle moves on from George Floyd, these videos might remind you to stay engaged. My hope is that they might also inspire you, as they have me, to work toward the change that America needs.

#nc09 #ncpol #blacklivesmatter

The first set of videos is from Dannie Montgomery, who lives in Lilesville, North Carolina, east of Charlotte. Thank you, Dannie, for sharing your story.

“On May 25, I was sitting right in this spot, and I was watching my TV… And all I could see was my child laying there, my son, George Floyd, just like my child. And then he said, 'Mama, Mama,' and all I could hear was, my child needs me and I’m not there."

“Then I hear him say, ‘You’re killing me.' And this man just continued there. And this other man, standing there like he was guarding the public, saying, ‘Don’t you dare move’... I said, ‘Oh, my God, what kind of world are we in?’ God, Lord, please come soon."

"I said, ‘Honey, that’s too far for you to drive. Things aren’t well out there on that highway...' He said, 'I’m driving an old white car that looks like an old white woman’s driving it...They won’t bother me.' I didn’t have to explain to him that I was talking about the police.”

"Racism, discrimination, all these things must go. But they won't go until white America says enough is enough."