Under the Dome podcast: NCCU’s Jarvis Hall on why ‘democracy doesn’t run on its own’
Start your week in North Carolina politics with our latest Under the Dome podcast, for the week of Oct. 28, 2024. Dawn Vaughan here, your podcast host and The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief. On this episode, I’m joined by NC Central University political science professor Jarvis Hall for a conversation about the upcoming election.
Hall received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from N.C. A&T State University, the University of Michigan and Duke University, respectively. He has been on the faculty of NCCU, which is a historically Black university, since 1995.
We recorded this episode before an audience on the NCCU campus in Durham, in the H.M. “Mickey” Michaux School of Education auditorium on Oct. 21.
Here are some highlights from the conversation, starting with the governor’s race between Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.
Governor’s race campaign ads
“All of you have heard the skirts commercial, or the skirts comment, right?” Hall asked the audience at The N&O’s Under the Dome: Live! event, referencing the attack ad on Robinson using his own comments about how women should “keep your skirt down” to avoid abortions.
“And you’ve heard it, not because of what (Robinson) has put it out, but because of ads that are out there, not only from Josh Stein or those who are supporting Josh Stein, but also ads for for candidates for down ballot races who are trying to link their opponent to Mark Robinson. And so he has received more air time and more face time than just about anybody else in a race in recent time in the state of North Carolina,” Jarvis said.
Hall described the governor’s race as “interesting” and “bizarre.”
The feeling on campus after Obama won
I asked Hall if he had certain memorable moments from elections over the years. He described what it was like when Barack Obama, the first Black president of the United States, was elected in 2008.
“I just wanted to drive by campus, just to see what was going on. And as I got close to campus, I could almost feel a buzz. I could hear the students. They were just so excited. And I’d never seen that before.... — one, they felt they played a role in making that happen, and it gave them some sense of hope, and that is one of the most important things that we can do as we attempt to guide, and to direct, and follow in some cases, what our students are doing,” Hall said.
“That election and the buzz and excitement, the students were all over campus. They were roaming around and and just cheering. And it was just amazing,” he said.
Why ‘democracy is at risk’
As we wrapped up the conversation, Hall talked about what the phrase “democracy is at risk” means to him. Here’s some of what he said:
“Our democracy doesn’t run on its own. It is fueled by people who participate in it,” he said.
“It is not hyperbole to say, because you hear often, especially during this this election cycle, that our democracy is at risk. And in my judgment, that is actually true, and the risk that is there is not because of those people who have ill intentions for our democracy. It is at risk because of people not fueling our democracy with their participation. And so we don’t do that, then we will get our just desserts with regard to what happens with regard to our democracy,” Hall said.
Listen to the full episode below to hear more of Hall’s memories, observations about this election season and more. Catch up on previous episodes too. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Audible, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon Music and Stitcher.
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