The Charlotte Observer (Sunday)
NC State teams reflect gains that anti-diversity disregards
Suggesting that a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus driver shortage can be solved by giving CATS bus passes to students (April 1)
Amid N.C. State’s thrilling double run to the NCAA Final Four, it’s striking to remember that not so long ago college teams looked much different – many were allwhite until the mid-1960s.
And it’s notable that the NCAA women’s Final Four is expected to draw record TV audience, and ticket prices will exceed those for the men’s games. Much of that is because of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, but it’s also the long-term result of federal legislation that gave female college athletes the right to equal opportunity in sports.
That history is worth keeping in mind as Republican leaders in North Carolina set their sights on dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs within the University of North Carolina System.
Jim Blaine, a member of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, brought that plan to light with a comment at a recent trustees meeting. Like Florida, he said, North Carolina may move to end DEI programs within its university system. is little different than the NC legislature making Opportunity Scholarships available to students trapped in undesirable schools. Both tell families that public education is broken.
I recently attended “Seeing Auschwitz,“a photographic exhibit in uptown Charlotte. This powerful presentation is unique as the photos were taken by Nazi commandants charged with the extermination of millions, mainly Jews, at Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Incredibly, even with enemy documentation, there are still those who deny Holocaust atrocities.
Republican candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, claimed in 2018: “This foolishness about
“It’s my belief that it is likely that the Board of Governors or the state legislature will follow Florida’s path as it relates to DEI this year,” he said.
This was not an offhand remark. Blaine is the former chief of staff to Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger and a reliable indicator of where the Republicanappointed Board of Governors or the Republicancontrolled legislature will go next.
Many red states are choosing to follow Florida’s path. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that since last year, 81 bills introduced in 28 states have taken aim at college DEI programs.
Afshan Jafar, a Connecticut College professor who co-chaired an American Association of University Professors (AAUP) committee that explored the changes in Florida, told me that the barrage of bills represents conservatives’ drive to control higher education.
“If you look at the latest legislation and policies, including Florida’s, you will see that the attack is now far more expansive than just DEI offices and programs,” she said. “The anti-DEI policies now cover elements of the curriculum,
Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash.” With his hateful comments and ignorance of historical facts, voters should seriously question his character, competency and leadership qualities before casting their vote for the state’s highest office.
The writer is communications committee chairman for the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party.
Republican strategist Matt Wylie’s March 30 Opinion piece about Donald Trump’s criminal indictments spends considerable energy attacking the validity of our judicial system, alleging that it operates within a deep state, and arguing that charges against Trump are student activities, protest, and even hiring and recruiting.”
Jay Smith, a UNCChapel Hill history professor and state AAUP president, said those pushing to end DEI programs inadvertently send a message of opposing diversity itself.
“The whole assault on DEI is perplexing because I do believe they are not as racist as this makes them look. These efforts are driven by misjudgment and misinformation,” Smith said. “DEI is not an assault on white people, which seems to be their assumption.”
DEI programs are about more than race. They recognize the concerns and disadvantages faced by students with disabilities, LGBTQ students and students of various faiths and nationalities.
DEI offices also oversee compliance with Title IX, the landmark federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in education programs. The soaring interest in this year’s women’s NCAA basketball tournament reflects the law’s powerful impact.
DEI programs address real problems, especially those related to racial isolation and misunderstanding. politically motivated.
I find it particularly ironic that Wylie argued the indictments were political while also noting that Trump may very well be guilty. Wylie encouraged readers to think of the indictments in a purely political sense, focusing on the indictments’ impact on Trump’s reelection bid — rather than the implications of having a criminal as our president.
If Republicans want to be “the party of law and order,” why not consider drawing the line at not electing a criminal to lead the country?
For Christians who study the Bible, how telling it was that former President Donald Trump was selling Bibles that he will earn royalties from, of
At N.C.State, for instance, the athletics department and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion teamed last year to host a viewing of “The Talk,” Sonny Kelly’s one-man show. It focuses on how Black parents tell their children about the hazards of living in a nation where racial prejudice and its hazards are a daily reality.
Former President Donald Trump and others advocate taking the nation back to a fictional past in which race was not an issue. Supposedly that denial will “Make America Great Again”. “The Talk” video sends a different message as it opens with a quote from James Baldwin: “We can make America what America must become.”
Integrating sports was part of that becoming. So are campus efforts to foster diversity, equity and inclusion.
The successes of N.C. State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams reflect and celebrate that progress. Ending DEI programs would roll it back..
Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com at all times during Holy Week, just before Easter. It was a stark contrast to one of Jesus’ first acts during Holy Week — casting the money-changer (who cheated the people) out of the temple. Christians like me cringe at Trump’s hypocrisy. What would Jesus do?
The USA is not being asked to fight in the trenches; the Ukrainians are doing that themselves. It is wrong to withhold critical funds from Ukraine, especially after we gave them our word. For the sake of all that’s moral, I urge our representatives in the U.S. House to step up to the plate and get the funding passed immediately. Tomorrow may be too late.