Temperatures nearing 90 degrees and intense sun did little to dampen the spirits of Greensboro protesters during a Fourth of July "No Kings" demonstration. Approximately 400 people lined the sidewalks along Market Street downtown between Eugene and Greene Streets, with the majority congregating directly in front of the Guilford County Courthouse.
The recent passage of President Donald Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill was a motivating factor for many in attendance. The increased funding for detention centers and further empowerment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is a concern for Reverend Beth McKee-Huger.
"We need to love all of our neighbors," she says. "And the direction that the country is going, especially with the bill that passed yesterday in Congress, is about hating some of our neighbors, and letting them die."
Max Carter, who directs the Friends Center at Guilford College, agrees.
"After yesterday's very disappointing decision by the Congress to pass that bill, that is a reverse Robin Hood — robbing from the poor, giving to the rich — and funding what essentially will be a private Gestapo, opening detention centers and funding them, that's why my sign says: 'Dachau in the Glades.' Because the first concentration camps were not for the Jews, it was for enemies of the state. And that's where we're heading," says Carter.
Another outcome of Thursday's House vote was major cuts to federal health programs, including Medicaid and SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that millions of Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage as a result.
That's a big concern for Eva Mayzes, a North Carolina transplant from Ypsilanti, Michigan. That's where her almost two-year-old granddaughter Charlotte lives. She says Charlotte is profoundly developmentally delayed due to Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.
"My granddaughter goes to the hospital about once a month — seizures, a virus could kill her," says Mayzes. "If Charlotte loses her Medicaid, she will die ... she will die!"
Claudia Lange is part of the leadership team for Indivisible Guilford County. Today, she's very concerned about her aging mother, who currently receives Medicaid. She says her mom's future is now uncertain, and the possibilities are scary.
"I've worked in the health care field for over 30 years, and have watched people struggle for decades," says Lange. "And this is the worst thing I think I've ever seen as far as people getting cut off, especially the most vulnerable people: veterans, the elderly, nursing home residents. I don't think people understand the connection between Medicaid and Medicare and how people are going to be hurt by this."