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  2020-06-01

  WECT News Addresses Downtown Wilmington Protests

  The protests all over the country have shown the pandemic in a new light. People are crowding together when they had been told to stay apart for months. They are coming together for social issues that are as important as the health crisis at hand--racial inequality and police brutality. Within the news segment clip that accompanies the written article, one can see many protesters on the steps of Wilmington's (NC) City Hall. Although it appears crowded, many protesters are wearing masks. While all Americans have been fighting an "invisible enemy" for 3-4 months, many are now seeking to fight an issue that has plagued us for more than 150 years--institutionalized discrimination. Even more recently, they are protesting as a response to George Floyd's death while under a policeman's knee. Including the protests in Wilmington, as well as others in different cities, into this archive is important because these two events have never coincided at any time during recent history. There has been a pandemic of influenza during 1918-1919, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, but there has never been such a moment in history as this we are currently facing. The future implications and consequences of the pandemic and protests have yet to be determined. The only thing that is for sure right now is that we will be studying this moment in history for many years to come.