FORUM
Photo by AP
. Another
Unns week, another
t". round of false
111281111011 hoods from
Gov. Pat
Guest McCrory
Columnist about HB2,
the sweeping
anti-LBUl
law HB 2 he signed in March that is Cost
ing the state thousands of jobs and tens of
millions of dollars in private investments
and tourism revenue.
This time McCrory went on "The
Kelly File" on Fox News to defend the law
that is now defining his administration.
Host Megyn Kelly talked to McCrory
about the bathroom part of the HB 2,
ignoring the provisions of the law that pro
hibits local governments from protecting
LGBT people from discrimination or
enacting minimum wage ordinances, bans
, workers illegally fired for their race, reli
gion, sex, etc. from suing in state court,
and establishes a statewide nondiscrimina
tion standard that does not include sexual
orientation or gender identity.
Kelly did force to McCrory to admit'
that allowing transgender people to use the
bathroom that corresponds to their gender
identity does not pose a safety risk, as Sen.
Phil Berger and other supporters of HB 2
keep alleging.
McCrory claimed it was all about pri
vacy and that controversy was all the fault
of President Obama and groups on the left
and misreporting by the national media
like the New York Times. It's always
someone else's fault.
At the end of the interview, McCrory
said that PayPal, which cancelled a
planned 400-job facility in Charlotte after
McCrory signed HB 2, was hypocritical
because it operated in states that have the
exact same nondiscrimination standard as
North Carolina.
But that is simply not true. Many states
do have nondiscrimination laws that fail to
include protection for LBGT people but
list sex as a protected category, which fed
eral courts and the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission
have interpreted to included sexual orien
tation and gender identity.
HB2 that McCrory signed includes
"biological sex" instead, making sure that
LGBT people are not protected.
Lawmakers went out of their way to
make sure that businesses in North
Carolina could fire or deny services to
people because they are gay.
That was not an accident. Last week
the head of the N.C. Values Coalition, the
primary lobbying force behind HB 2, said
that protecting LGBT people from
employment discrimination "undermines
freedom."
That is who McCrory is standing with
in his testy defense of HB 2, folks who
want to deny basic civil rights to LGBT
people in North Carolina.
GOP House members worried
about HB2
McCrory is not the only one on the hot
seat. Many GOP legislators are feeling the
heat too, judging by reports about a recent
closed door meeting of House
Republicans, where several members
expressed concern that the outcry over HB
2 is hurting their reelection chances.
Reportedly, there are some
Republicans who wouldn't mind seeing
the law repealed and many more who want
it changed to take some of the pressure off.
Senate leaders appear in no mood to do
either, guaranteeing that H B2 will contin
ue to dominate the news about the session
and play a major role in the November
elections.
McCrory not "dreaming big"
The only other legislative issue that
made news last week was McCrory's
budget proposal for 2016-2017, which
includes a teacher raise and a few impor
tant investments in mental health and
expanded care for seniors.
But McCrory is being roundly criti
cized by lawmakers from both parties for
not including a raise for state employees in
his spending plan, only a one-time bonus
that is not counted toward their retirement.
State retirees receive no cost of living
adjustment at all in McCrory's proposal.
A spokesperson for Raleigh's most
well-known right-wing think tank was
defending McCrory's weak budget pro
posal in an appearance on a local televi
sion show and came up with the quote of
the week, saying, "It's good that McCrory
is not dreaming big."
No problem there - not from this gov
ernor.
URL to article: http://wwwjicpolicy
watch .com/2016/04/29/the-follies-252/
Chris Fitzsimon, founder and execu
tive director of N.C. Policy Watch, writes
the daily Fitzsimon File, delivers a radio
commentary broadcast on WRAL-FM and
hosts "News and Views," a weekly radio
news magazine that airs on multiple sta
tions across North Carolina. Contact him
at chris@ncpolicywatch.com.
Happy Mother's Day to my mom and to mothers
everywhere
James B.
Ewers Jr.
Guest
Columnist
Celebrating Mother's
Day should be something
that we do each day. [It
will be on Sunday, May 8,
this year.] My mother
passed away many years
ago now, yet I carry her
spirit with me wherever I
go
My mom was a deeply
caring person, so maybe
that was one of the reasons
that she became a regis
tered nurse. She was a
member of the first gradu
ating class of Kate Biting
Reynolds Hospital in
Winston-Salem NC. In
those days nurses wore
starched white uniforms
and my mom had a black
ribbon around her nurse's
cap. She was a proud
woman and her appearance
was important to her.
While she worked vari
ous shifts, she made sure
that she always took me to .
Sunday school. She didn't
drop me off as she was
always in the adult class or
somewhere in the church.
At any rate prior to going
to church Or for that matter
anywhere, she always told
me to "act like I have some
sense" and to be respectful.
My father would sim
ply look on in silent agree
ment. I always thought
that my mom was pretty
tough and I think my dad
thought so, too. Maybe it
was because I was a boy
but I thought there were
times I could act out and
get away with it when I
was away from home. My
advice to young children
everywhere is never act out
when you are away from
your house. I am speaking
to you from what I like to
call some signature spank
ing experiences. On occur
rences when I got out of
line, my mom would
receive a phone call, or
even worse, a visit from
one of the neighbors giving
her the full report on my
bad behavior. I do wonder
sometimes if mothers in
particular didn't have this
underground system of
communicating just
between themselves. My
neighborhood in Winston
Salem was pretty close
knit, so word got to Mrs.
Mildred Ewers pretty
quickly. None of my
spankings were put on lay
away. In other words, my
mom didn't tell me she
would spank me tomorrow
or even within the hour.
They were immediate and
to my youpg mind almost
life threatening.
She would instruct me
to go outside in the back
yard if the weather was OK
to get a switch. We had a
cherry tree in our backyard,
so switches were always
available. If the weather
was severe, she would sim
h
ply use a belt. I will tell
you that both hurt!
My mom, in typical
"old school" fashion, pro
vided some commentary as
she was spanking me.
Afterward, she would send
me to my room. Unlike
children's rooms today, my
room was spartan. It had a
bed, a desk and a few pic
tures on the wall. Later, I
was fortunate to get a
radio. I really didn't like
going to my room but I did
n't have a choice.
Today for many chil
dren their rooms are pala
tial estates. They are
equipped with a computer,
a television and a CD play
er. Now is being repri
ts\
manded and being sent to
your room really punish
ment? Maybe the punish
ment should be to sit in the
same room with an adult
for an hour and read a
book.
I always enjoyed
watching my mom cook,
and boy could she cook!
Dishes like macaroni and
cheese, chocolate cake,
bread pudding, ffied chick
en, biscuits and Kool-Aid
with lemon were always
available.
My cooking skills were
given to me by my mom. I
would always have a role
in my mom's kitchen. It
might be to snap beans, to
peel potatoes or to partici
pate in the chicken clean
ing. You see, for a time we
had chicked^ in our back
yard, so if you arc "old
school" you know what
that involved; if you are
new school just use your
imagination.
1 loved my mom, and
there is not a day that goes
by that I don't think about
her in some way. Mostly I
wonder what she would do
in situations and the deci
sions that she would make.
For many years after
her passing, I didn't go to
church on Mother's Day. I
simply couldn't take it
emotionally. One of the
traditions that took place
back in the day was the
wearing of a rose on
Mother's Day. Simply put,
if your mom was living,
you would wear a red rose
and if your mom had
passed away, you would
wear a white rose.
I can tell you that it was
devastating for me to lose
my mom during my
teenage years. There were
many events that I didn't
attend because I didn't
have a mother. My Aunt
Lois, my mom's sister,
became the mother-figure
in my life. As kind and
loving as my dad was, I
would have become a sta
tistic withbut the love and
guidance of my Aunt Lois.
Unlike with my dad, I
was never able to become
my mom's friend. If you
are a teenager or younger,
tell your mom daily in
some way that you love her
and behave yourself and
"act like you got some
sense."
Happy Mother's Day,
mom.
James B. Ewers Jr.
EdD. is a former tennis
champion at Atkins High
School in Winston-Salem
and played college tennis
at Johnson C Smith
University where he was
all-conference for four
years.
He is the President
Emeritus of The Teen
Mentoring Committee of
Ohio and a retired college
administrator. He can be
reached at
ewers jr56? yahoo ?om.
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