FORUM
'I remain your representative and
your strong voice in Congress'
Rep.
Alma
Adams
Guest
Columnist
A federal court struck
down North Carolina's 1st
and 12th Congressional
Districts in February. The
Courts determined that
both districts were racially
gerrymandered.
That decision mandat
ed that the North Carolina
legislature draw new
Congressional Districts in
accordance with the federal
law. These newly drawn
Congressional Districts,
which take effect January
2017, dramatically restruc
ture the 12th Congressional
District and remove all
parts of Guilford, Forsyth,
Davidson and Cabarrus
Counties. _?
However, the new
Congressional District that
we voted on in the June
primaries of this year was
to choose a party represen
tative who will run in the
Nov. 8 election. The new
district will not take effect
until January 2017, thus I
remain your representative
and your strong voice in
Congress. You can contin
ue to count on me to pro
vide top-notch constituent
services for you and your
family.
As your representative,
you can count on me to
fight for jobs and for
greater economic opportu
nities throughout our dis
trict. I am making strides to
bridge the skills gap
between job seekers and
employers and to create
more opportunities for
hard-working Americans.
In addition to job cre
ation and growth, access to
quality and affordable
healthcare continues to be
part of the American
dream. Drastic cuts to
Medicare and Medicaid are
threats to that dream. I will
continue to fight for access
to healthcare, especially for
our seniors.
Since taking office in
2014 in order to better
serve you, I have opened
District Offices in
Greensboro and Charlotte.
We host community office
hours, which are
announced weekly. My
staff throughout the 12th
District is ready to answer
your call and is here to
serve you. If you wish to
host community office
hours in your neighbor
hood, do not hesitate to
contact my office in
Charlotte at 704 344-9950
or in Greensboro at: 336
275-9950 or email us:
nc 12 scheduler? mail Jious
e.eov.
I also have six standing
satellite offices throughout
the 12th District located in
East Spencer, Salisbury,
Lexington, Thomasville,
High Point and Winston
Salem. My satellite office
Hwcr^vUdlyUi Rep Alm.U,?,JWu.
U.S. Rep. Alma Adams speaks to people at the Safer 12th community forum in Winston-Salem.
hours will be available to
you in these six locations
until January 2017.
For additional informa
tion, I encourage you to
visit
www.AlmaAdams.com.
Thank you for allowing me
to serve you.
Our Standing Satellite
Office Hours are available
at the following locations:
?East Spencer, Town of
East Spencer Municipal
Building, 105 S. Long St.,
East Spencer, NC
28039,1st and 3rd
Thursdays, 9 a.m. to noon
?Salisbury, Salisbury
City Hall, 132 Main St.,
Salisbury, NC 28144, 1st
and 3rd Thursdays, 1:30 to
4:30 p.m.
?Lexington, City Hall
of Lexington, 28 West
Center St., Lexington, NC
27292, 2nd Tuesdays 9
a.m. to 11 a.m.
?Thomasville, City
Hall of Thomasville, 10
Salem St., Thomasville,
NC 27360, 2nd Tuesdays
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
?High Point, City Hall
of High Point, 211 S.
Hamilton St., High Point,
NC 27261,
2nd Tuesdays, 2 to 4
p.m.
?Winston-Salem,
Black Phillips Smith
Neighborhood
Government Services
Center,
2301 N. Patterson Ave.,
Winston-Salem, NC
27105, 1st and 3rd
Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 5
p.m.
Our Weekly
Community Office Hours
take place:
?Tuesday Morning
Breakfast Forum, 8:30 to
10:30 a.m, Belmont
Center, 700 Parkwood
Ave., Charlotte, NC
?Charlotte District
Office, 321 West 11th St.,
Suites 100 & 200,
Charlotte, NC 28202, 704
344-9950
BUI
Ttirner
Guest
Columnist
Now 70, I am either
losing my mind - and my
memory - or people like
the governor of Maine and
Donald Trump are having
similar reactions to the
wounds on the collective
flesh and souls of
Americans, damages
brought on by racism and
its effects - discrimination
and prejudice.
Just when I had forgot
ten that back in January the
Republican governor of
Maine, Paul LePage,
asserted that drug dealers
named "D-Money,"
"Smoothie," and Shifty"
were delivering cocaine,
opioids, and other illegal
drugs and then impregnat
ing the Pine Tree State's
white women before
absconding back down I
95, he ups last week and
leaves a cussword-filled
message on the phone of
one of his political critics
who'd called him - the
Governor - a racist for say
ing that he also has a binder
full of photos of drug deal
ers and that "90 percent of
them are black and
Hispanic."
Just as this batch of
venom was reaching boil
ing hotness, Governor
Lepage, seeking on last
Saturday to clarify the
remarks he made earlier in
the week, which were criti
cized as racist, said "the
enemy right now are peo
pie of color or people of
Hispanic origin." Using a
gang colors metaphor - red
vs. blue, as in Crips vs.
Bloods - LePage, in blue,
said "you shoot at red."
Meanwhile, further up
the political food chain.
Democrat Hillary Clinton
said last week Republican
Donald Trump has built his
campaign on prejudice and
paranoia and reliance on
the emerging white nation
alist supporters, now
branded as the alt-right.
Trump, in response, called
Clinton a bigot. Am I
going crazy or is the kettle
calling the pot black? This
old figure of speech means
a person (Trump) is guilty
of the very thing of which
he accuses another (Hillary
Clinton). Tramp (the "pot")
shares some quality (big
otry) with the target of his
accusation (the "kettle,"
Hillary Clinton).
w? ? .1 I J
mow in me wona 01
common sense can candi
date Trump possibly mock
Secretary Clinton, unless
it's for her "lesser amount
of soot,'* because many
Hispanics, Muslims,
women, and disabled peo
ple would say that he is
thoroughly covered with it
(bigotry)? How senseless
and meaningless the narra
tive becomes when the
words we used to agree on,
are changed? Either words
matter or we won't know
what we're talking about;
and the next thing you
know, all of us will be talk
ing out of our heads!
Where 1 come from, when
a person is talking out of
their head, we call them
crazy!
At one point during his
72 hour tirade about people
of color, Governor LePage
stormed out of a press con
ference, shouting at the
gathered press corps: "You
make me so sick."
Leading Maine
Democrats have urged the
governor to resign and seek
treatment, that he, like a
doped-up crack head, has
lost touch with reality. It is
hard to know what - or
what else - the honorable
governor of Maine is sick
of or from, or what he
needs treatment for, but it's
high time the American
Psychiatric Association
included racism, prejudice,
and bigotry on its diagnos
tic categories of mental dis
orders. These sicknesses
are obviously doing as
much damage - if not more
- to America as cocaine,
heroin, meth.impheta
mines, and especially
women impregnated in 97
percent white Maine by
guys named "D-Money."
Mr. Trump asked black
voters last week, challeng
ing them to vote for him,
"What the hell do you have
to lose?" Secretary Clinton
answered, "Everything!" I
swear I could hear a chorus
of Trump supporters
singing an oldie by Sly and
the Family Stone: "I want
to thank you for letting me
be myself again!"
Am I losing my freak
ing mind?
Dr. Bill Turner is a
noted educator, writer and
thinker who called
Winston-Salem home for
many years. Reach him at
bill-tuerner? comcast net.