Category: Views

On Aug. 9 a Blade journalist was dragged out of their car, attacked and arrested by Asheville police. This is their story Above: The author, just after their release from jail, showing some of their injuries Back in June, with anti-racist protests growing in strength,…

Committees and empty words are not reparations. Black Asheville needs land, resources, power and the defunding of the police Above: part of the 1937 map that redlined Asheville. All but one of the areas marked in red are Black neighborhoods, tagged in the ensuing decades…

Local government’s usual tactics fail to contain public outrage, as their meetings are hit with an unprecedented number of locals are fed up with their violence and hollow excuses Above: An Asheville police vehicle in front of a wall with graffiti neatly summing up the…

The stories of Ashevillians are being ignored. In working to survive, trying to get a COVID-19 test and seeing their communities in danger they all show a very different reality of the pandemic from the breathless coverage of tourism barons and economic forecasts Above: Asheville…

While managers and office staff isolate, union-busting No Evil Foods coerces workers and puts the community at risk during a pandemic Above: One of the logos of No Evil Foods, which pushes left-wing marketing while union busting and coercing workers to remain on site in…

Council candidate Sage Turner bills herself as a progressive reformer, but her real record is mired in terrible worker treatment, shady hotel deals and pushing relentlessly for more cops and gentrification Above: Turner tending her hives, photo from the French Broad Co-op’s public relations material.…

The Blade asks about cutting the police department, funding transit, reining in hotels and more as we take aim at the candidates running in the Asheville City Council primary Above: City Hall under renovation. Photo by Bill Rhodes Yes, Asheville, we are once again asked…

Using sham community meetings and fake neighborhood groups, the far-right pushes for more cops and crackdowns. Asheville’s city government is supporting them. Above: pictures of homeless people sleeping in downtown. The images were produced for an August meeting of local gentry calling for more police…

The defeat of a racist gerrymander is a victory — and a stark reminder that shaking Asheville’s status quo takes a lot more than elections Late last month, amid a growing public backlash, Asheville City Council voted 6-1 to repeal most of a state-imposed gerrymander…

For nearly 40 years, the TDA has spent significant tax dollars to market Asheville to the wealthy and privileged — and done untold damage. It’s time to abolish them and chart a new course Above: The construction site of the new Marriott hotel on Merrimon…