– Ashamed to be American – NRK Urix – Foreign News and Documentaries

– To be honest, I don’t like any of the candidates, but since a multi-party system doesn’t work, I vote for Biden, Reece tells NRK.

He runs a coffee shop in the town of Rocky Mount with just over 50,000 residents in the important rocky state of North Carolina. A state that Donald Trump won by less than four percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

She herself was one of those who chose to vote for a third party candidate, Jill Stein of the US Green Party, but today the 22-year-old believes it was a mistake.

After the 2016 election, many wondered whether it was the votes of third-party candidates that gave Trump the victory. Nationally, candidates other than Clinton and Trump received about 5 percent of the vote.

In key states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, third-party candidates received 4 percent and 6 percent support, respectively, enough to change the outcome. Here in North Carolina, 4 percent voted for candidates other than Republican and Democrat.

Hannah Reece says she’s ashamed to be an American because Donald Trump is president.

– Absolutely. I’m ashamed of how you handle things. I think the world sees the United States and Americans as stupid and ignorant, and I wonder what we are doing in the world.

– Women’s rights are important

Now it is Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden who leads the polls by a few percentage points in the southern state.

Reece says that when she goes to the polls on November 3, women’s rights, the Black Lives Matter movement’s fight against racism, and LGBTQIA + rights are important issues for her.

– I feel that Trump is very misogynistic and racist, and that he does not care about them, he says.

– I want everyone to be treated equally and cared for. Women should have contraceptive rights and health care opportunities, Reece says, stressing that it’s not just about abortion, but also, for example, cancer screening.

– If you can’t afford to go to an expensive place that offers this, then you should still be able to get help, she thinks.

Hannah Reece has come to the conclusion that Joe Biden is the candidate she supports this time. But it was not an easy choice.

I want to pray at school

In his constituency, 50.5 percent voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Hillary Clinton received 46.7 percent of the vote, while third-party candidate Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party received 2.8 percent.

– It’s very divided here, really. You have people who are very conservative, people who are in the middle and people who are very liberal. It’s a joint venture and that’s a good thing, Reece says.

It’s a quiet morning in the cafeteria he runs. However, now that they have reopened for dining inside, he has faith that customers will return. One of those already in place is regular customer Christopher Hernandez (20), who has experience in Latin America.

– My vote is for Donald Trump, says Hernández, who will vote for the first time this year.

– Why?

– I am religious, I value the Bible and God. I hope Trump can get prayer back at school.

For Hernández, it’s about “keeping America great,” a statement often heard in the state east of the American Bible belt.

– Do you feel that President Trump is a religious person?

– Yes, I feel that he is more open, he says, and explains that that is why he believes many voices of color in Trump.

Afraid to talk about politics

The barista and the customer stand for a long time and talk, obviously they have a good tone, despite different political points of view. But Reece explains that it is not always easy to live in a state where the divisions are as deep as here.

– There are people who are mature enough to put politics aside and respect the opinions of others. There are also those who connect to the Internet and are very immature and want to argue. It depends on the person, she says.

– Sometimes I feel like I can’t talk about politics, because here in the southern states it can be very controversial.

According to Reece, an acquaintance of hers was recently hanged because she voted for Biden.

– There were people who murmured it online because of their choice. Everyone has the right to have their own opinions and not be attacked by them, he says.

Reece herself analyzes the situation before talking about politics.

– If I feel that I can and cannot be violent, I will. I do my best to raise my voice when I can.