Sunday, August 2, Mayor Nancy Vaughan and Councilmember Sharon Hightower participated in a discussion with A.J. Morgan, who was an organizer of the protests in Greensboro on May 30 and May 31 that ended in vandalism, fires and looting as well as protests at Friendly Shopping Center, Battleground Avenue and Wendover Avenue in June.
The discussion was hosted by Zithobile Nxumalo, also known as Dr. Z, and held by Onyx Urban Radio.
Morgan, who is credited with organizing the protests on May 30 and May 31, has said that he left before those protests became violent.
Vaughan talked about how frustrated she was with the response of the white people in Greensboro to those protests and riots and the fact that they were “inconvenienced.”
Vaughan prefaced her remarks by saying that when she said we, she meant “white people.”
Vaughan said, “I’ve been frustrated by the response to the protests and the riots that happened after George Floyd and I think when people think of the sit-ins we have a tendency to romanticize it. That it was only for one day and four good looking African-American guys that sat at the lunch counter and it like happened in a day and the people downtown weren’t inconvenienced.”
She said, “It was a big deal and it was a big inconvenience.”
She added, “We had people complaining about being stuck in traffic and being inconvenienced for a little while and they are missing the bigger picture.”
Vaughan said she read a post that, “”Our jewel of Friendly Center was shut down” and that was just the epitome of white privilege. It was like missing the whole message.”
Vaughan said that she thought white people were afraid they were going to have to give something up and afraid of having to pay higher taxes. She said, “Ultimately it is a pocketbook issue that they are going to have to give some money up.”
The video can be viewed here:
No, Nancy, it was an issue of the destruction of people’s property and disruption of business by rioters, the lack of care or concern by government officials to whom we are forced to pay taxes and then didn’t do the duty of protecting the property and the citizens of the City, watching City officials grovel to the rioters who were disrespecting police trying to protect property being destroyed (including the Civil Rights Museum where those “four good looking African-American guys” sat years ago peacefully demonstrating for their cause), listening to the ongoing drivel from City and County officials like you saying that “we white people” are racist and privileged, thereby owing everyone else something to atone for those sins. You, Nancy, should remember that you are white and saying all this will not protect you when they have control because they are racist and hate you only because of the color of your skin.
We weren’t merely “inconvenienced”, we were appalled that the behavior being exhibited was allowed, excused, encouraged by people who are paid with tax money to run our government and enforce our laws. These were not protesters, these were rioters who destroyed buildings, disrupted traffic on streets and highways, disrupted business operations all of which is unlawful and you are tasked with protecting. Play politics by saying these things to appease specific groups if you want, but it doesn’t make it right.
You are wrong, Nancy. There were people of all races who are unhappy with what has happened. We “white people” are frustrated by you, the City Council, the County Commissioners, and how you are handling the politics of these riots and protests.
VERY accurate and well said.
Well said, perhaps someone will read this to Queen Nancy and her court
Excellent! I couldn’t have said it better!
Amen very well said
I could not agree with you more. She is one of the worst mayor’s this city has had and that’s saying a lot. Lawlessness is not acceptable behavior for any color and I am sorry that I was in the area when we got inconvenienced because this man would have spoken back. Just saying .
Why do you think so many people are moving out of Greensboro? Idiot Mayor and City Council. What happens when they lose the tax base?
Let’s hope Nancy Vaughn is history in next election, one of the worst mayors in Country
AMEN to that
Breaking the law is breaking the law … no matter how you justify it!
Protest peacefully… or face the consequences……
I have never been aware of any mayor or political position having the authority to “allow” anyone to break the law….
How dare you!
Amen! It’s racist for HER to think that only White people have issues with rioting, blocking traffic, and harassing innocent people. I’m assuming she didn’t watch the videos of the protests. I’m sick of the pandering and it’s time for a new mayor.
Totally agree Ms Gregson, at NO TIME should anyone (Black or White) show sympathy for criminal activity. It Is NOT a racial issue, it is “CRIMINAL ACTIVITY” and should have been dealt with as such. Since violence and disruptive behavior is the only thing that the rioters understand then it should have been met with overwhelming force. Numerous arrests should have been made. If necessary and required, the National Guard should have been used along with The State Highway Patrol, Various Sheriff’s Departments, and whoever else could have been used to gain absolute control of the situations and arrests made. The so called “Inconvenience” was more than that, it was Blatant Criminal Activity, and presented a Safety & Security issue. Every time riots, protests, etc result in damage to property, the Taxpayers are expected to pay the bill, this is because the ones disrupting, destroying, and assaulting, do NOT pay taxes, and in all probability are already living on the taxpayers dime, whether it be on welfare, or college assistance (Paid by the Tax Payers) or whatever means. Politicians need to get it thru their thick heads that “CRIMINALS” are not the ones who elected them nor the ones who are paying their salaries !!!! Protect & Serve the Ones Paying The Bills, NOT the Criminals !!!
Well stated and believe most tax-paying people of this community feel the same way!
Speak for yourself. This white person 100% supports the protests.
Thank you. It could not have been stated clearer. I am ASHAMED of this mayor.
Not sure Nancy understands the longer term damage to downtown. We used to love our downtown. For years we watched developers and business owners invest downtown to bring it back to life. A week ago I was walking with three friends in the 300 block of South Elm. Out of nowhere a man approached and threatened to kill us, not just us but “your president.” Guess he thought we were Trump folks but none of us were wearing red! We won’t be going downtown again anytime soon.
Aren’t riots romantic? Gee, how sweet of Nancy.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!!!!!
THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE ULTIMATE IN PANDERING!!!!
One more example of why I’m glad I moved out of the Peoples Republic of Greensboro. What’s even more amazing is she undoubtedly sat there and spouted that steaming pile of horse hockey pucks with a straight face.
Serf and peons of the PRG, rise up.
In regard to Vaughan’s response, I am reminded of the old (and true) statement: “If not for nonsense, some people would have no sense at all.”
Alternate realities abound among our city “leadership”, but we’ve known that for quite some time, haven’t we?
Tha-row up! Defend & recall the City Council. November may be the best chance. I don’t see Mr. Morgan in the photograph, Por que, Sharon?
Obviously, I didn’t watch the video. Now I have. Mr. Morgan, having said he organized the demonstrations, is an accessory to numerous felonies. Arson, assault, vandalism, hay mas. So where is the Prosecutor?
what riots were y’all at because I stood right next to AJ at a majority of them and I didn’t see any fires, criminal activity or destruction. If we’re being honest, it wasn’t until Police vegans to completely turn their backs on the protestors and instigate arguments and try to provoke situations that I saw things began to go down hill, & that was the police, not the peaceful protestors.
If you were not there protesting with us. If you were not there fighting for change or making this world a better place, keep your key board warrior opinions to yourself.
Protest are why we have the rights in this county that we do. Until you understand that, I’m gonna need all the white people who are upset to sit down and educate yourself properly.
The right to peacefully assemble for any purpose is guaranteed by the Constitution. I agree with you.
White people are not your enemy, any more than black people are mine. There are always a few that don’t respect our Country, our citizens, and our rights. And just a few are trying to tear our Country to shreds. When this Fall comes, I would urge you to vote Conservative, if you want to preserve your rights, and make your own decisions about how to run your life.
Congratulations, AZ, you are now a “keyboard warrior”, just like the rest of us. Free speech! The Rhino furnishes us a forum for anyone to express a view, a forum that hardly exists in the mainstream media, or many newspapers in our area.
Perhaps Mayor Vaughn should declare a “Summer of Love” for Greensboro – better yet, why doesn’t she move to Seattle? She ultimately was the one that allowed the violence to escalate Downtown but instructing the Police Force to stand down.
None of the protest led by AJ eneded with vandalism, rioting or fires. No ones has ever been arrested at any of his protest get your facts straight. You sound like another racist bigot, I’m a white male I see now why our city of Greensboro is like this it’s people like you who stir controversy around the wrong issues.
Mr. Taylor, Apparently you have never stood before a Riotous Crowd, throwing rocks, bottles, clubs, molotov cocktails, bottles and jars filled with urine, being spat upon and even having feces (both animal & human) thrown at you. Well I have and I can tell you it is extremely scary, and knowing that your leadership both civilian and law enforcement, wants you to stand down, and only act is physically assaulted, excluding the aforementioned. How about the video of the blocking of the street on Battleground and the “Peaceful” Protesters beating on cars and damaging them, is this activity acceptable? This country was founded on protesting and yes even violence, but NOT towards its own citizens and its own property. And as far as No one having been arrested, this is somewhat correct because the Greensboro Police “Were Ordered NOT to make Arrests” simply for rioting, or damaging of property. You consider this OK? Well sir, I surely hope you see the light before you becoming a working man with a home and family to protect, then maybe you will under stand what this means. I would also suggest that maybe you should apply for the Greensboro Police or the Guilford County Sheriffs office and make the changes you seem to have in mind thru being on the other side, change from within!
See. They got us all insulting each other because we disagree. Divisiveness and chaos is what the LEFT wants.
I’ll tell you why people were frustrated, Nancy, you liberal idiot. It was because of the knee jerk reaction, which lead to these riots, before all the facts were in. Now that the body cam video has been made available on the internet, everyone is frustrated because the media lied to them, instigating the riots, while people like you, along with the rest of the city council, still can’t bend over backwards far enough to appease the violent “protesters”.
When people act like out of control maniacs, I don’t care what color their skin is, it’s wrong. It’s wrong to break the law.
You want to make this about money, Nancy?? Then I promise you, for the rest of my life, I will not spend another penny of my money in your beloved city. Everyone else in Greensboro that pays taxes would be smart to leave, and let the unrestrained violent masses have it.
You want people visiting shops, bars and restaurants in downtown Greensboro? Then you need to stand up to the rioters. Protesting is one thing, and is protected by the Constitution. Destruction of property is not. People will not go somewhere where they’re scared of being assaulted.
The people that voted you in, Nancy, are getting just what they deserve!
And what did she mean by, “Ultimately it is a pocketbook issue that they are going to have to give some money up.”?
Is that all people? Taxpayers only? Property owners only? And, for what reason?
Will anyone ask her these questions?
(notice the lack of masks in the photo, by the way)
How in the world would Ms Vaughan expect people of any color to react? Those businesses were owned by a variety of skin-toned people. Would she want everybody to simply sit back, watch the rioting and destruction occur, and agree with the method that those who participated were using to express their “peaceful” protests. Yes, people were inconvenienced. And yes, they were hurt financially. But you can sit in your tower and be judgemental, when it did not inconvenience you or hurt you financially. Your statement is not one that a person elected to represent all of the people would make. It is a statement that comes totally out of the far left side of liberalism. Lots of people will be glad to see your rein end. And you used to be a great leader.
Nancy, I am going to tell you…that for ALL OF YOUR BOWING DOWN, AND KISSING FEET…You are ridiculous, and I hope WILL NOT BE IN OFFICE FOR LONG!!! I will say, I have no problem with “PEACEFUL PROTESTING”, but when BUILDINGS are burned and citizens are harassed, at the Wendover exit, that goes into Friendly Shopping Center, (if they had jumped on my truck, it would not have gone well for them), I will protect myself, my family and yes POLICE Officers. And as for you allowing BLM being painted on streets, is another way of pandering! You must remember, that you are the Mayor of Greensboro, and like it or not, we have ALL COLORS, including WHITES, that live here, and you are supposed to represent ALL OF US!!!
You can see what most of Greensboro’s problems are. We need to clean house and vote in with a little bit of a brain. Yes some of our problems a is money and the fact that you take from us and just give it away. And if you think that this crap is so romantic ask the people up and down the streets that have to pay to have their places repaired after their romantic.
I live in High Point, but I can not believe how any person thinks it I is ok to vandalize businesses and cause those ownersTo lose income. We could all do better with our treatment of all races. We are sending the wrong messsage by standing by and watching all the destruction Going on in America. Have folks lost their minds!!! God help us please.
Nancy, were you on the “SHINE”at that meeting!!!!!!
I feel sorry for you folks in Greensboro.
A “Woken” Mayor, and a city council where most of them have their heads up their poterior.
We are all born ignorant, but one has to work hard to remain stupid.
Right! You can’t fix stoopiditity.
Exactly why people are moving to Raleigh Durham not Greensboro.
Hopefully Nancy days are numbered till Election Day Idiot Mayor
Nancy, how rude and discriminatory of you to imply the recent rioters who stole, looted, set fires, frightened people, and destroyed livelihoods were not good-looking.
But I guess I’ll be rude right there with you, as I ALSO don’t they were good-looking.
I’ll tell you how they looked to me…they were/are the faces of evil, not caring who they harmed; or whose businesses they destroyed; or who they physically harmed; or whom they kept from getting to their jobs or picking up a child or an aging parent; or whom they prohibited going to the hospital for an emergency or to have a baby; or whom they frightened.
And what about the hourly worker who was sent home because of the rioters and protesters, losing wages that put food on the table? Were those all inconvenienced white privilege people? And Friendly Center caters only to “white privilege”? When is the last time you were there?
It is an insult to the black community to assume that they all approved of the horrendous things that happened in our city.
To quote Mark Robinson, “I am the majority.” What majority is that? It’s not the black majority or the white majority, as people like you say to promote your divisive rhetoric. It is the majority that follows rules, that believes in law and order, that believes in the Golden Rule, that respects my neighbor who acts in a respectful manner, that attends church when permitted. It is the people of this city whose safety and well-being you have abandoned. ALL of us.
Actually, I don’t know if you’re running in the 2021 mayoral race. But if you do, here’s one vote you can surely count on not receiving. Too bad we can’t vote you out tomorrow.
Thank you Susan ! Well said. It is clear it is for the Mayor to go!
Nancy,
Can not wait for the next election so we can throw our idiot mayor out of office! What have you ever done except let certain other members of the city council run roughshod over you. You can’t even run a meeting!
There or not, A. J. Morgan is responsible for the riots he organized, along with all the other rioters. Where is the Prosecutor?
This is the height of stupidity!
When arson, looting and destruction are approved the city is about finished. I do not live in Greensboro (Thank God) but I do have to come for business purposes occasionally. Believe me I will “get-out-of-town” just as soon as I can. Race relations which have been making steady progress for more than 50 years have been kicked back for almost all of that time. The fault lies squarely with the rioters who confirm a stereotype that had been almost totally erased and worse, with a mayor who sees destruction of property and threat to lives as acceptable.
Greensboro, both black and white will pay the price for Ms. Vaughn’s incendiary statements. The only ones holding more responsibility are the voters who make such tragic decisions as her election.
What world does this woman live in?!!
Why not we make a “friendly” protest at her house? Because we are better than that.
Nancy, you need to go back to Jersey. You have the nasty gang violence mentality. White people did not ruin our downtown that Zach Mathenay has worked so hard to build into something for Greensboro to be proud of. You and your liberal cronies destroyed years of work in one night. We are ashamed to say that you are our Mayor. Please move ASAP
I guess the reparations are next for East Greensboro. Get that done before 2021 so you can buy those votes. Also, I would like to know how many City Council members actually own property since they care so little about other people’s property.
Nancy needs to wake up. Downtown and Friendly Shopping Center spurn our economy along with the Wendover corridor. Guess where I have been very few times (haven’t been downtown since Covid or the riots). And I actually have a job not affected by any of these things. But guess where I DONT spend my money.
I am so grateful I don’t live in Greensboro. But if anyone should want the job as mayor there for some reason, during the next election all they have to do is play that interview in campaign ads.
I hate to pile on but this Mayor is an idiot. I will never bow down to a mob of people. Why she did is pure pandering
AJ Morgan is responsible – he instigates and agitates then dissipates so he can’t be blamed. Well here I am saying old AJ was the one in my face at Friendly Center. I guess I could have pulled a Yvonne Johnson and blasted him with my Lysol! Nancy is an idiot and a butt-kisser of the lowest form.
How many signatures does it take to recall Nancy? She is a disgrace. As Einstein stated years ago, intelligence has its limits, but stupidity is limitless. I think Nancy received most of it.
I am quite sure that if Ms Vaughn’s home looked like Elm Street did after the peaceful riots, that she would understand what inconvenience really means, much like the mayor of Seattle did when the peaceful protestors ended up at her house. Summer of Love ended 48 hours later.
You can “color” downtown Greensboro gone. You can “color “ new industries coming to Greensboro gone. Hopefully you can “color” Mayor Vaughn and City Council Members gone at the next election. It is a “disgrace “ what has happened to Greensboro. We have become a “Little Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle”. God help us!
Nice face masks – that’s the leadership I expect from Vaughn and Hightower. Thanks for not letting us all down by your example.
That’s right. “Rules for thee, but not for me!”
Who is John Galt?
The amount of ignorance in this comment section is quite baffling! The true problem here is people’s inability to LISTEN(which is what she was referring to when she spoke of missing the bigger picture during the inconvenience), the lack of comprehension and the need to deflect, blame and resort to name calling. Maybe if people would start listening to understand as opposed to listening to respond you would understand just how much you didn’t understand anything being said by the people in this interview nor the people that have cried out peacefully through protest not only here in Greensboro but throughout the entire world. But I get it, they don’t share the same feelings that you do therefore they are automatically wrong and they should be called idiots, I hope that makes you feel better about yourselves.
It’s past time for her to go. She’s now proven how completely out of touch she is with the city she’s supposed to be leading. No Nancy, i didn’t have a problem with the protests, at least not at the beginning. But then it kept going on and I never did see what their true goals were, at least not specifically, but I blame our local news stations for that since they provided dramatic coverage that was light on facts, as they usually do.
The big problem was with the lack of leadership from Vaughn and the entire city council. I think they all hid in their secret Karl Marx memorial underground bunker for a month, and then Vaughn popped her head out and said “We hear you!” to the protesters. Unfortunately neither she nor the rest of the council seemed to have heard the rest of us, the Greensboro majority of all races. We had to see vandalism everywhere, arson, blocked highways which should never happen, and looting even though everyone was under her fake unenforced curfew. I think the only people put under curfew were the police, who were almost impossible to find at night for that month. Oh yeah, I live downtown and I had to hear gunshots for hours every night for weeks. The city eventually tried to convince us it was celebratory cannon firing of some sort, but you need a 14 round automatic cannon to create what I heard. It’s not fun wondering if a stray bullet is going kill your cat. I guess that would just be an inconvenient part of my white privilege.
Our family has stopped spending any money in downtown Greensboro as it now looks like the slums of New York….We no longer drive through it even…but Nancy thinks it is Art… so many Downtown business suffered these “peaceful” protests with broken windows and looting and now they suffer from lack of business because law abiding citizens do not feel welcome downtown any longer… Law and order for ALL tax paying citizens is preferred to social pandering.
Not one penny should come out of the Greensboro City budget to repair/aid businesses destroyed or damaged by the rioting mob. Every dollar should come out of Nancy’s pocket….she could have ordered the police department to stop the vandalizing as soon as it started. Shame on her….wonder what she would have done if the “mob” headed out to the Koury Center or her home!
Shouldn’t Nancy resign because of “white guilt?” Isn’t she the mayor only because of white privilege? Rank hypocrisy on display…
Get rid of her and copper….all Democrats should be locked up and horse whiped
In all the many years (27) that I have worked to make Greensboro beautiful, my most appalling moment was to see our beautiful downtown boarded up because people were destroying it and no one seemed to care. Where were our Police and elected officials who should have immediately stopped destruction. Protest are okay, destruction is unacceptable. Period
Nancy. Stop drinking the Kool Aid and forget about the Underground Railroad.
Some people will say anything to remain in their position. Covering up or sugar coating reality is very dangerous and deceiving. Remember on Election Day.
Main reason I move out of high point/greensboro is because of how racist it was and these comments show just that. You all should be ashamed of yourselves especially white people because you are the problem.
Our Dear Woke Mayor really needs to get out and visit parts of Greensboro that she’s likely too afraid to set foot in. White privilege and pocketbook issues. Right. I’m a single-mother working 60 hr weeks so I can put my adult child through college. When I come home to E. Greensboro, everyday I get to pick up all the trash that’s been thrown all over my yard. That includes dirty baby diapers, bottles of urine, tumble weaves, construction packaging and fast food debris of all kinds. Yeah, during COVID I handle all kinds of germy stuff. I’ve had my mailbox smashed, strangers wandering through my yard and crackheads knock on my door begging for money. My immigrant neighbor thinks my yard is his own personal receptacle for yard debris and trespasses on my yard to trim trees and bushes, heaping the debris in my flower beds. I really enjoyed the three weeks of illegal fireworks and gunshots from 10pm til deep into the a.m. hours every night. Oh, I feel so privileged.
While Woke-Queen Nancy isn’t busy protesting in Washington to bring more refugees to our city which already has a shortage of affordable housing and overcrowded schools, she feels it necessary to crap on a whole sector of people who pay a lot of taxes. Seriously? While she is painting people with this broad brush of privilege, she is leaving out the part where most of us in the city of all races don’t want this to affect our pocketbooks.
I don’t mind the peaceful demonstrations but allowing major thoroughfares and downtown areas blocked for some who are merely out to terrorize residents and destroy property with our mayor’s full support is downright abysmal.
I want to know how those race-baiting and ignorant comments are helpful to any discussion.
So you support the protests. Do you also support the criminality?
How many people were arrested for all the destruction that happened? I don’t think any. But one kid throws a brick thru the Civil Rights Museum and he was charged with a hate crime. Does anyone see double standards here? Will the city pay for all the property that was destroyed? Where were the cops with all this or did the city call them off like all the other cities that say destruction? When you say white people are you referring to taxpaying citizens? Perhaps these taxpaying citizens are sick of double standards. The law is the law.