I was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I love my home. But loving Charlotte also means telling the truth about it. When I was a young teen working at the AMC Theaters in Northlake Mall, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers were there doing security detail, and one officer told me something that stuck with me for years: his partners would get mad when he was “lenient on Black people.” I thought it was crazy then, and hearing what people are exposing now, I am not surprised.

This is bigger than one conversation and bigger than one bad interaction. When police culture allows racist thinking to breathe, Black people in Charlotte pay the price. Families lose trust, young people grow up scared instead of protected, and entire communities are treated like a problem instead of people. We cannot keep acting like this is just a rumor or a misunderstanding when so many people have been saying the same thing for so long.

I am calling on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police leadership to open a full, independent investigation into racist conduct, racist communications, and patterns of bias inside the department, and to publicly share the findings with our community. If officers are using their power differently based on race, that must be identified and addressed, not buried. Charlotte deserves real accountability, real transparency, and clear consequences for officers who cannot treat Black residents fairly.

If you are tired of hearing “do better” with no action behind it, please sign this petition. Sign if you believe Black people in Charlotte deserve to be treated with dignity, fairness, and equal protection. Sign if you want the truth exposed and real change to follow.