The mayor of an Eastern North Carolina town offers lessons on how a town went from a gun violence epidemic to a milestone anniversary of no gun deaths.
By Weyling White
One day in 2019, we were celebrating my grandmother’s birthday. We took her to the church for a little party. Then we headed back to her house. When we arrived, there were shells all over her lawn. There were holes in her house and in my uncle’s truck. While we were gone, there had been a shootout right there in her front yard. On a normal day, we would have been there. My young kids would have been outside playing.
I am thankful everyday that this terrible situation wasn’t even worse for my family. But it has turned out worse for so many families in my community of Ahoskie, N.C, a small town in the eastern part of the state where I grew up. So when gun violence was brought to my family’s front door, I decided we couldn’t live like this anymore.
On that day, I decided to run for mayor.
That fall, I was elected on a platform that revolved around ending gun violence. Ever since, I’ve been working to enact that plan in Ahoskie. By investing in violence prevention, building connections with our youth, and breaking the cycle of trauma, we’re already seeing success: as of this summer, we haven’t had a homicide in over a year.
My approach isn’t easily summarized. It doesn’t fit well in a 30-second ad as “soft” or “hard” on crime. It combines a hand-on approach to working with both law enforcement and our community—solving problems with common-sense solutions that center our collective humanity.
Recently I talked to a young man, 21 years old, who told me he could explode at any moment. “Nobody’s mentoring me,” he told me. “Nobody tells me they love me.”
And I thought about times when I was growing up and encountered those same feelings. It slapped me in the face. Now I think about all the kids on the streets of Ahoskie who feel like that too and don’t have anyone to talk to.
At the heart of our gun violence problem is their trauma. And we can only address the gun violence when we address the trauma. So I decided that instead of blaming our youth for violence, I would work with them to reduce it.
When our youth are holding an event in town, we encourage our police to show up: not to keep watch, but to shake hands. By building trust and building relationships with the community, our police can reach kids before they might turn to violence, keeping us all safe.
A few years ago, Ahoskie cut its recreation department, limiting programs for young people, especially during the summer when school was out. So we brought back recreation, giving our youth opportunities to exercise, play sports, and stay engaged with their community.
And last year, for the first time, we dedicated funding in our budget to violence prevention, with the support of our new police chief, the first Black woman to serve in that role in Ahoskie.
I like to say that when we prevent a shooting before it happens, we’re saving two lives. We’re saving someone from getting killed, and we’re saving someone from going to prison for the rest of their life. When we focus all our attention on locking people up, and none on preventing violence, we miss the opportunity to save these lives.
When I was coming up, there was a gang presence in my high school. I was raised well by good parents. But still, I was one bad decision away from joining a gang and changing the course of my life.
I understand the pressures our youth face because I’ve been there myself.
But I also understand what it means to have mentors, because my mentors gave me opportunities to get out of that environment.
Our work is already making a difference in Ahoskie. While we once got 20 shots fired calls in a month, we’re down to only three to five—and some of those often turn out to be hunting-related, or not gunshots at all.
My community has been through a lot of dark times and a lot of sadness. But today, things are better. People are happier. Ahoskie is a lot closer to the place it’s meant to be. And for the first time, we are coming closer to a community where our youth experience hope more than violence.
Weyling White is the Mayor of Ahoskie, North Carolina. His proudest accomplishment has been returning to his hometown to make an impact in his community. His greatest joy is being a father.