All in Columns
“One of the most unhappy series of events in the state’s history began in 1835,” stated a textbook used in elementary schools across North Carolina. “As more and more white people came into their territory the Cherokee Indians had been driven further into the hills, but white settlers looked with greed on all their territory.”
I plan to talk today about Valentine's Day, and I will do so, but first I want to open my Column with a huge salute to our Lenoir County Health Department for the superb job it is doing in administering the Covid-19 Vaccine to multitudes of people in our area and beyond.
When I started researching the Adkin High School Walk-out of 1951, I heard about another student walk-out – one that occurred in Farmville. Since I had taught at Farmville Central High School in Pitt County, I assumed the walk-out occurred there. We all know what happens when we assume. I had missed the location by roughly 170 miles. That walk-out took place in Farmville, Va., in Prince Edward County.
Poverty is a state of life that I have been intimately familiar with for the better part of my four decades on this planet. At first glance, Senator Mitt Romney’s Family Security Act sounds like a solution to elevate 5.1 million people out of poverty.
With the constant barrage of Negative Reporting on Donald Trump, a casual observer might conclude that he accomplished very little during his 4 years as our President, but as newsman and political activist Mark Patricks pointed out last week, he accomplished a lot.
On January 26 I received an email from Professor Michael Aceto of East Carolina’s Department of English. He wrote to let me know that Dr. McKay Sundwall passed away on January 20. McKay’s wife Marilyn wanted me to know. Dr. Sundwall was one of my English professors at East Carolina. I first met him when I audited a class in Medieval Literature as I was preparing for my oral comprehensive exams for my Master’s degree.
I love that description of all of us proclaimed by Allen McIntosh that we are walking, talking, living breathing miracles, born in the Image of God, and bound for the Promised Land."
Now that Democrats control the White House and both chambers of Congress (however narrowly), they will probably approve a new round of federal borrowing to bail out state and local governments with shaky finances. In other words, Washington will punish North Carolina and other prudently governed states by saddling us with the cost of other states’ mistakes.
The wife of one of my former students wrote these words recently:
“I am not one to usually post things like this BUT having to sit here this morning and comfort my girl as I watch tears roll down her cheeks over virtual schooling is NOT okay… her exact words: ‘I just want to be back in school mommy, how long is this going to last?’
It's time to "Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative'" and hopefully we are headed in that direction. I will briefly comment on some recent news on the political front, and then I want to recall the words from some beautiful old hymns about things that REALLY matter.
I was watching an NFL football game one recent evening, and one of the sports figures came on during a commercial to promote “social justice.” Social justice sounds like a laudable term, but just what does it mean?
“Would it really benefit Conservatives and the MAGA Movement to essentially threaten the Legislators inside who were seemingly heading toward a conclusion they were seeking? The answer has to be a resounding "No!" And the same people who called it a "Myth" when Antifa and others were actually burning, looting, and rioting all summer long, are now quick to denounce a mostly peaceful protest as violent, and to demand that President Trump resign immediately.”
Led into the building and encouraged by a cadre of alt-right provocateurs, the mob also produced priceless propaganda for the enemies of our country. “The celebration of democracy is over,” one Russian official wrote. “America no longer forges that path, and consequently has lost its right to define it. Much less force it on others.” A state-run Chinese newspaper headlined its coverage this way: “An iconic humiliation! The madness of the Capitol has dragged the U.S.’s standing into its Waterloo!”
On Christmas evening, a political program focused exclusively on North Carolina aired its last show. The show completed a 22-year run that day. The moderator, Tom Campbell, decided to retire, and with his retirement came the end of NC SPIN.
Words have power, and the lack of personal accountability throughout social media has segregated humans into categories that are all-encompassing. The division forced readers and posters to assume sides instead of attempting to find a middle ground. If there are no repercussions for inflammatory or sensationalized media forums, blatant lies and half-truths will masquerade as fact that influences humans who believe what they read without independent verification.
Let's talk politics, first on the State level (Georgia) and then on the national scene. In the Georgia election, which was held yesterday, it is reported that the GOP recruited over 8,000 volunteers to watch the polls in the counting of votes in the two races for the U.S. Senate.
The year 2020 will go down as one of the more challenging times in recent memory for our nation. Of course, the biggest story has been the COVID-19 pandemic. But other stories – a host of elections, endless negative campaigning, executive orders by the bushel baskets, and a vague dread of the impending loss of individual liberty – have also caused our collective vision to blur.
