Charlotte knows it has faults, but wants the world to also know its charms
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Byron Davis moved to Charlotte from Chicago in 1979, and the first thing he noticed was just how clean the city looked.
Davis thought Charlotte was the cleanest city he'd ever been to. He still does. But he knows "clean" is far from the first word likely to come to mind if you've only known Charlotte through news coverage following the police shooting of a black man in the city.
Protests have rolled throughout the city for four days since Tuesday's police shooting of Keith Scott, and footage of riot police, tear gas and smashed police cars has been splashed across TV screens throughout the nation.
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Demonstrators burned piles of debris on a highway on Tuesday and were met with tear gas. Police shot clouds of tear gas at protesters again the following day after a shooting turned the demonstration into a chaotic frenzy. Thursday and Friday, however, saw determined but calm marches throughout the city that lasted throughout much of the night.
"When you just see this, you don't see Charlotte," Davis said.
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Davis was out there protesting for a reason, but he and other residents of the city want the world to know about the city's charms as well as its faults.
"One thing about this city, we're city folks out in the country," said Kendrick Steele, a lifelong resident of the Queen City. "Right now you see all these tall buildings, but 15 minutes from here you'll see horses."
His sister, Jackie Stewart, smiles when she's asked about her favorite parts of the city.
The first thing that pops into her head is the Carolina Panthers, whom she loves to watch from the comfort of her home so she can yell at the TV all she wants.
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Stewart called Charlotte a "peaceful city" and said that peaceful protests in years past didn't generate anywhere near this kind of news coverage, making it easy for people beyond Charlotte to have a distorted view of their home.
But the siblings believe the unrest is necessary. Steele said the relationship between police and black residents of the city had simply boiled over.
In that boiling over, those who call Charlotte home are hoping to find a stronger core at the city's center.
"This is not one of the better times," Davis said. "But it may be the best time, because change may come from it."
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
