When thinking about who to vote for in the upcoming Greenville City Council election, it seems to me important to consider the issue of race relations in the eastern part of North Carolina and, specifically, Greenville.

There are reasons why Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act requires that Pitt County and most of the counties in the southern United States abide by guidelines that attempt to optimize the opportunity for historically disenfranchised Americans to be represented by someone who can truly protect the interests of African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and other people of color.

One reason was reflected in a letter printed in the Nov. 1 paper. Former professor Carroll Webber is a thoughtful friend whom I often agree with. He was tentative about his endorsements and even admitted to “many gaps of knowledge.”

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