Gov. Cooper Names Chief Justice of NC Supreme Court
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RALEIGH: On Feb. 12th, Governor Roy Cooper named Associate Justice Cheri Beasley as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
“Chief Justice Mark Martin has admirably served our state for years, and I wish him well in his new role,” said Gov. Cooper. “Justice Beasley is a well-respected jurist, and I know her to be fair and deeply committed to viewing all North Carolinians equally through the eyes of the law. I appreciate Justice Beasley’s willingness to serve the people of our state in this critical role.”
Justice Beasley has served on the North Carolina Supreme Court since 2012. She was previously an Associate Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and before that served as a District Court Judge. Governor Jim Hunt first appointed Justice Beasley to the state bench in 1999. Beasley is a graduate of Rutgers University and received her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Justice Beasley will serve as the state’s first African American female Chief Justice of North Carolina.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 02-14-19
SBOE NINTH DISTRICT ELECTION HEARING FEB. 19th
[RALEIGH] Now Gov. Cooper has appointed three Democrats and two Republicans to the new state Board of Elections, that body will hold a public hearing Monday, Feb. 18thon the Ninth District Congressional election between Republican Mark Harris, and Democrat Dan McCready. Harris won that contest buy 905 votes, but allegations of illegal handling of absentee ballots forced the previous SBOE to not certify Harris’ victory twice. Published reports have revealed that absentee ballots were indeed mishandled. SBOE staff will reveal the findings of their investigation Monday, and witnesses will be called to testify. Observers expect at least two days of testimony before the SBOE votes either to mandate a new election, or certify the 2018 results. It takes four SBOE members to call for a new election.
REPS. ADAMS AND WALKER ANNOUNCE BIPARTSIAN HBCU PARTNERS ACT.
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] Twelfth District Congresswoman Alma Adams [D-NC] and Sixth District Rep. Mark Walker [R-NC] have announced, per the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus (of which Adams is the co-chair} the HBCU PARTNERS Act. The Act builds on the President’s 2017 executive order on HBCUs by requiring federal agencies to strategically engage and invest in HBCUs. The bill mandates that agencies measure their progress and report their actions to Congress.
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WHITE SUPREMACIST ACTIVITY
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Like many other areas of the country, North Carolina saw a sharp rise in white supremacist hate activity in 2018, says a new annual report titled, “Murder and Extremism in the United States,” from the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
“In 2018, domestic extremists killed at least 50 people in the U.S., a sharp
increase from the 37 extremist-related murders documented in 2017, though still lower than the totals for 2015 (70) and 2016 (72),” the report states. The 50 deaths make 2018 the fourth-deadliest year on record for domestic extremist-related killings since 1970.”
The ADL report goes on to state that, “The extremist-related murders in 2018
were overwhelmingly linked to right-wing extremists,” later adding, “ White supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings, which is typically the case.”
While the ADL report showed no instances of white extremist violence in North Carolina, it did show that, in 2018, white supremacist groups certainly made their presence known with propaganda in areas like Cherryville, Burgaw, Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Greensboro.
And that was just between October 5, 2018 to December 30, 2018.
Right-wing extremist groups like the Patriot Front, Identity Evropa, and the Daily Stormer Book Club, propagated hate material like posted fliers and stickers which said, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of victory,” “Reclaim America,” “Keep America American,” “and “White man, are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneracy?”
Earlier in the year, there were other instances of white supremacist hate propaganda showing up Wilmington, Salisbury, New Bern, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Goldsboro, Jacksonville, Asheboro and Chapel Hill.
Observers note that even though there were instances of white supremacist violence reported in North Carolina for 2018, the fact that various hate groups are actively attempting to recruit in cities, small towns, college campuses and rural areas across the state, means, particularly given the divisive atmosphere of the nation currently, that they intend to grow.
Which means even nonviolent activity now must be monitored.
The ADL report adds that in 2018, firearms were the white supremacist’s weapon of choice.
“Guns were responsible for 42 of the 50 deaths in 2018, followed by blades or edged weapons,” according to the report.
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REV. BARBER CALLS FOR “RESITUTION” AND
“TRUE REPENTANCE” IN VA. BLACKFACE CASE
by Cash Michaels
contributing writer
Rev. Dr. William Barber, the former president of the NCNAACP says whether Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam steps down or not from office after allegations that he appeared either in racist blackface or in a Ku Klux Klan outfit in a medical school yearbook, “…restitution that addresses systematic harm must be the fruit of true repentance.”
Dr. Barber, currently the president of Repairers of the Breach, and cochair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Revival, made his observation in an op-ed piece published Monday in The Washington Posttitled, “How Ralph Northam and others can repent of America’s Original Sin.”
The controversy exploded Feb. 1stwhen a conservative website published what purportedly was a picture from the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook allegedly showing a younger Northham either in blackface, or wearing a KKK outfit. The governor at first said he was in the photo, and apologized, but later backtracked, saying after a closer look he was not in the photo, and would not be stepping down from office as he earlier indicated he would.
There were sharp calls for the Democratic governor to, indeed, leave office, especially with the 2020 presidential elections close by. Even North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper joined with Democrats across the nation is calling for Northam to resign from office. But he refused, and last Monday, in an interview with CBS News, defiantly declared that he would remain on the job.
“I will focus on race and equity,” Northham told CBS. T”hat’s something that, for the next three years, is gonna be my commitment to Virginia.”
To Dr. Barber, however, that will not be enough.
In his WP op-ed, Barber said if Gov. Northam, “…or any politician who has worn blackface, used the n-word or voted for the agenda of white supremacy, wants to repent, the first question they must ask is “How are the people who have been harmed by my actions asking to change the policies and practices of our society?”
“In political life, this means committing to expand voting rights, stand with immigrant neighbors, and provide health care and living wages for all people,” Barber continued.
“If white people in political leadership are truly repentant, they will listen to black and other marginalized people in our society,” Rev. Barber added, noting that changing racist policies would be the true measure.”They will confess that they have sinned and demonstrate their willingness to listen and learn by following and supporting the leadership of others. To confess past mistakes while continuing to insist that you are still best suited to lead because of your experience is itself a subtle form of white supremacy.
Dr. Barber noted that Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was originally a KKK leader, but he eventually repented, and denounced his membership. Byrd worked with Rep. John Lewis of Georgia in 2006 for extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and backed Barack Obama for president in 2008.
“In our present moral crisis, we must remember that real repentance is possible,” Dr, Barber concluded, “ and it looks like working together to build the multiethnic democracy we’ve never yet been.”
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