Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 31, 2016, edition 1 / Page 6
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OPINION The Chronicle i Ernest H. Pitt Publisher Emeritus 1974-2015 617 N. Liberty Street 336-722-8624 I 41 \ www.wschronicle.com \^ear*$ Elaine Pitt Business Manager Donna Rogers Managing Editor WaLI D. Pitt Digital Manager Our Mission The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth to power, standing for integrity and encouraging open communication and lively debate throughout the community. Why does AG get to pick his fights? Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat who is challenging Republican Governor Pat McCrory for his job, stated on Tuesday that he will not defend House Bill 2 in court. The attorney general called the law discrimina tory. Civil liberties organizations already have challenged the bill, called the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. They filed a lawsuit against the bill this week. McCrory signed the bill into law last The new law prevents all cities and counties from extending protec-' tions to cover sexual orientation and gender identity at restaurants, hotels and stores as it voids Charlotte's law that allowed transgender people to use the restroom aligned with their gender identity. it s clear cooper does wnat ne wants to. His job is to defend the state Cooper of North Carolina in court, yet he says he won't do it. When dozens of students and other North Carolina citizens ask him to look at the cases of black men they believe have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned, he refuses to do that, too. Kalvin Michael Smith and Dante Sharpe are just a couple of the black men affected by Cooper's two faces. Cooper said his office, "will not defend the constitu tionality of the discrimination in House Bill 2." What about the discrimination against the black men imprisoned unjustly? It appears he is willing to defend that discrimi nation or at least ignore the pleas of registered voters who seek justice. As governor, would Roy Cooper urge the defense of the rights of some of the citizens of North Carolina and ignore the rights of others? The attorney general can reconcile his seenyngly two faced actions by doing the right thing and look at the cases of the black men and seek new trials in their cases. With evidence to show their innocence, why won't he? Just as he chose not to debate Democratic gubernato rial candidate Ken Spaulding, Cooper is choosing not to do his constitutionally elected job. Then, voters can select not to vote for him in November. It's their constitutional right. ForsythCounty's black residents lose out after new gerrymandering One day we have U.S. Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro fighting for us in Congress. The next day we have strangers vying to represent us in Congress in a dif ferent district. The topsy-turvy redistricting of 2016 has provided a loss to the Forsyth County African-Americans on the east side who have had African-American represen tation since 1993, with Mel Watt and Alma Adams. With the latest gerrymandering after a federal court struck down North Carolina's congressional districts as too racially concentrated in Districts 1 and 12 comes con fusion. The 12th District, which is the district Alma Adams is in now, included much of the Triad. The new 12th District includes only Mecklenburg County. Adams plans to move there to remain in that district. She had two opponents in the Democratic primary and two Republicans vying for her seat before the redistricting. Now she has six Democrats and three Republicans vying for the seat. Forsyth County African-Americans on the east side will now be in the 5th District. Incumbent Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, has three Democrats vying for her seat. She has one Republican challenger in the pri mary. None of the candidates live in Winston-Salem. None are African-American. We African-Americans need to make our voices known in the 5th District. The Democratic congressional primary is June 7. That gives us about 10 weeks to check out the candidates and select a representative who will represent us. W , : ? r LETTERS TO THE EDITOR N.C. NAACP decries passage ofHB2 To the Editor: All North Carolinians, all Americans, should be deeply con cerned when the constitutional rights of their compatriots are being revoked and denied. Solidarity alone should be enough of a reason for every member of a civilized democ racy to feel threatened and raise a moral dissent when certain members of society are under attack by the government that is held in place to serve them and protect their best interests. As history often reminds us, this is seldom the case. For this reason the NC NAACP -4s intent on pointing out to all North Carolinians of good will that HB2 is not only an attack on transgender people and members of the LGBT cpmmunity. These attacks alone con stitute an undermining of the fabric of our democracy?the promise of equal protection under the law. Additionally, HB2 is as racist and classist as it is homophobic and transphobic. The North Carolina NAACP came out against HB2 not only because it wrongfully attacks trans gender people, which is bad enough. We emphasized that HB2 will also have a disproportionate negative impact on the aged, women, people of color, youth, immigrants, reli gious minorities, and other people who require anti-discrimination pro tections because of the tradition of violence levied against them. HB 2 takes away the ability of cities and counties to raise the mini mum wage and demand sick leave and minority hiring requirements from their contractors. HB2 legalizes discrimination and then takes away the ability of citi zens to file employment discrimina tion suits in state court! HB2 is an attack on all North Carolinians who believe in the Constitution, who believe in equal protection under the law and who believe in democracy. HB2 stands against every North Carolinian who believes that we as a state and as a people can rise above the hate and division that has haunt ed our nation for far too long. HB2 was passed in an "Especially Hateful" session by a lawmaking body that never before called a Special Session to expand Medicaid, to address unemployment or earned income tax credit, or to overturn voter suppression. HB2 represents the opposite of fusion politics?willfully sacrificing the welfare of the majority of North Carolinians in order to protect the few who can afford to purchase their representatives. The cynical politics employed by HB2 should galvanize all who believe in justice to stand together on higher ground. Regressive, extreme legislation that hurts some of us, hurts us all. North Carolina is better than this, and it is time for us to prove it. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President North Carolina NAACP 't State Conference of Branches Durham House Bill 2 doesn't affect Wake Forest To the Editor: [On Mardh 25, Wake Forest University issued the following statement regarding House Bill 2, legislation recently enacted by the North Carolina legislature]: Wake Forest University's com mitment to diversity and inclusion remains unwavering and our non discrimination statement includes protection for gender identity and sexual orientation. The new law does not apply to private institutions and will not impact Wake Forest's employment practices, educational programs or campus activities in any way. Wake Forest underscores its commitment to creating an inclusive environment for all members of the University community as well as visitors to our campus. Wake Forest University House Bill 2 turns back civil rights progress To the Editor: House Bill 2 goes against NCAE's core values of equality for every individual. This discriminatory law turns back decades of civil rights progress and hamstrings local governments from making their communities a reflection of their cit izens and their beliefs. Today we stand up with educa tors, businesses, and local govern ment leaders for the rights of the LGBT community and all the citi zens of North Carolina from dis criminatory practices. Rodney Ellis, President N.C. Association of Educators Raleigh House Bill 2 rectifies violations of Charlotte ordinance To the Editor: Yesterday IMarch 23], the House & Senate came together for a special session to confront a crisis precipi tated by the Charlotte City Council. Its ordinance was scheduled to go into effect on April 1. The ordinance violated (1) the privacy of those who work, reside in and visit the City of Charlotte and every business throughout the state that does business with Charlotte (2) and the religious liberties of small business and nonprofits in Charlotte. The Charlotte City Council exceed ed its legal authority by trying to assume functions that had never been delegated to it by the General Assembly. Our office received over 4,200 emails asking me to pass legislation as soon as possible to address this ordinance. I was privileged to be a primary sponsor of the bill. Session Law 2016-3 (House Bill 2), Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, passed by a vote of 82 to-26 in the House and a vote of 32 to-0 in the Senate. The bill was rati fied and signed by Governor McCrory the same day. The commit tee summary is available here. Five provisions are included in the law: 1. Require single sex multiple occupancy bathrooms and changing facilities in public schools and pub lic agencies. The Charlotte ordi nance tried to set restroom policy throughout the city even in private businesses. The new law sets com mon sense policy for government facilities but leaves private business free (subject to laws of indecent exposure). 2. Supersedes and preempts local ordinances, regulations, or res olutions imposing any requirements on employers pertaining to compen sation of employees, with certain exceptions. 3. Prohibits cities and coun ties from requiring private contrac tors to abide by regulations or con trols on employment practices or mandate or prohibit provision of goods, services, or accommodations to any member of the public, except as required by State law. 4. Supersedes and preempts local ordinances, regulations, or res olutions that regulate or impose any requirement on employers pertaining to discriminatory practices in employment. 5. Creates a new public poli cy of the state opposing discrimina tion on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, or biological sex in public accommodations. This common sense law assures North Carolina residents, businesses and visitors that their reasonable expectation of privacy in public rest rooms or changing facilities will be honored. N.C. Rep. Paul Stam Speaker Pro Tern N.C. House of Representatives ?V '.fi 4
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 31, 2016, edition 1
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