Due South

Black Rural voters are not a monolith, and more insights from a community organizer

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Election workers prepare and package absentee ballot requests at the Wake County Board of Elections office in Raleigh Thursday afternoon September 15, 2022.
Jonathon Gruenke

North Carolina’s March 5th Super Tuesday Primary is less than two weeks away. We explore, consider, discuss, and maybe even deconstruct, a narrative of one of the most reliable and predictable voting blocks in American politics: Black voters.

Black rural voters care about similar issues to any other Black voters, or any voters at all for that matter, guest Cynthia Wallace says. Through focus groups, community events, door-knocking and polling, Wallace and the New Rural Project try to listen to what voters tell them they care about. She says many younger Black men who grew up in rural places are less conservative than older Black men in the same communities.

Guest
Cynthia Wallace is co-founder and executive director of the New Rural Project, an organization focused on elevating the voices of young and marginalized residents.

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.