Written by: Dan Besse
4/19/2007

Mr. Hunt has received a pardon of innocence and compensation, however inadequate, from the state. This year, the City of Winston-Salem issued a formal public apology for its part in this injustice, and reached a financial settlement with Mr. Hunt and his family.

I have seen how Winston-Salem has grown for the better as a community even during my time here. Yet this case serves to remind us of the violent racism which is a part of our society's past, and which still can erupt to trouble our present—and which continues to show its impacts in the unacceptable deprivations that too many of our people still suffer today. A commitment to justice requires that we work today to overcome these lingering effects of an unjust past, and ensure a better future for all of our people.

I commend the N.C. General Assembly for its apology on behalf of our state for the horrors of slavery and institutionalized racism. It can help simply to speak the truth. Sometimes, though, that is not enough. When there are people today who continue to suffer from these sins of our past, then action is required—action to ensure equal opportunity for all, in education, health care, and economic opportunity.

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