In May, state police forcefully detained Jean Ronald Saint Preux, a black man from Albany, after smashing his vehicle window for an alleged inspection sticker violation. An NHPR study found that black Granite Staters are 5x more likely to be in jail than those who are white. As a New Hampshire student, I had non-white friends told to go back to their country while my history classes overlooked atrocities like the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.

Racism exists in New Hampshire.

I was at the Nashua Vigil for Black Lives, an event that amplified young black voices in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. The speakers pressed the urgency of political participation. We must elect officials with a real agenda to address systemic racism, and that is why I am supporting Andru Volinsky for governor.

Andy marched for racial justice in Manchester and Concord. His platform includes shifting law enforcement training to focus on implicit bias and passing a bill mandating that police report misconduct by other officers. While Governor Sununu has fought marijuana reform, Andy proposes to legalize marijuana possession among adults and erase past criminal convictions that disproportionately affect communities of color. For years, he has promoted the fair funding of public schools, an issue directly tied to our state’s lack of racial equity.

We need a leader who recognizes the poison that is structural racism, supports Black Lives Matter, and introduces concrete policies for racial justice. For these reasons, I encourage all to vote for Andru Volinsky in the Sept. 8 primary for governor.