CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Over the past few days, we’ve seen protests around the country over the death of George Floyd.

One Charlotte politician looks back on the protests of his time, and how things have changed decades later.

State Rep. Kelly Alexander Jr. grew up in Charlotte, and he had several family members involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1965, his childhood home was bombed.

“Several sticks of dynamite were placed [here] early one morning when a number of the homes of civil rights activists in this community were bombed,” Alexander says.

The news made headlines, but unlike today, Alexander says there were no marches or protests.

“There was a rejection in the broader community of violence and an embrace of more dialogue,” he says. “There was a mass outpouring of revulsion that somebody had tried to silence voices based upon violence.”

Decades have passed, but Alexander says we are still continuing to have the same conversations from when he was a child.

“Racism is as American as apple pie, and it’s something that we have been struggling against,” he says.

Alexander says while it is encouraging to see people involved in the recent protests and marches, it’s the conversations that matter more.

“We are able to talk about [racism] openly, and talk about how it has helped to define our country, and how we need do some things to move beyond it,” he says.

Alexander hopes we won’t be having the same conversation in another 55 years.

“We have had change. We’re in the midst of change, of progress,” he says. “The essential question now is how can we broaden it so that more folks have advantages and feel that they have advantages because of it.”

Alexander is continuing to call for peaceful protests in Charlotte and around the state.