Shattered dreams, economic disparity in rural NC
Cross Posted From NC Policy Watch
When Kenneth Moore moved back to this Halifax County town a year ago, he hoped to trade in the street violence of Philadelphia for the peace and safety he remembered from growing up in this Eastern North Carolina.
But Moore hasn’t been able to find that since arriving back in the rural town in southeastern Halifax County in November 2010.
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Truth and Hope Tour: Putting a Face on Poverty
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Truth and Hope Tour: Putting a Face on Poverty in NC
Tour of NC's poverty areas goes to Scotland Neck By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press
SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. - The poverty is so acute that it hurts, says Marcellus Brown. Brown, 43, has lived in Scotland Neck for about 30 years. He doesn't have a steady job, but he wants one. To apply for unemployment, he has to get a ride to Roanoke Rapids, about 30 miles north. To look for a job, he typically tries to get a lift to Tarboro (20 miles) or Rocky Mount (30 miles). So it hurts when politicians ignore the poor or say they're lazy, he told the head of the state chapter of National Association for the Advancement of Colored people during a tour of poverty-stricken areas to his hometown in northeastern North Carolina.
The invisibility on the national level and from fellow townspeople hurts, he said. "It hurts because this is our home. This is what we have. When you go across town, you see the different environment," he said, referring to the wealthier, mostly white part of town. "That's like five minutes away. And that's still Scotland Neck." The two-day Poverty and Hope Tour led by the NAACP and other groups was meant to put faces on numbers of poor who live in in northeastern North Carolina. Participants met more than 1,000 people during stops in six places during two days on the road. The tour will go to other rural communities and inner-city neighborhoods later this year, Barber has said. Education and housing were the other main issues that residents mentioned as they ran up to Barber on the street. Joining him were representatives of the N.C Justice Center; the N.C. Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at North Carolina Central University in Durham. In Scotland Neck, population about 2,000, the participants saw for themselves a community where almost 50 percent of residents live below the federal poverty level and unemployment is almost 13 percent, compared to a statewide figure of 9.5 percent as recently as November. Almost 70 percent of the people who live there are black, but that's not reflected in the town council, which has one black among its five members, or the police department, which has no full-time black officers among the eight who work there. Scotland Neck is named for the Scots who settled it in 1722 and its location in the neck of the Roanoke River. It's part of Halifax County, which was one of the state's largest slave-holding counties. A Census count from 1860 shows that Halifax was one of 19 counties with black majorities - its population of more than 19,000 included more than 10,000 slaves and more 2,000 free blacks. Whites numbered about 6,600 and made up 34 percent of the population. "As long as it's ignored and it's invisible, nobody will take it seriously," Barber said as he walked through a neighborhood with abandoned houses with giant trees felled in August by Hurricane Irene still on the ground. "Maybe if we can drive home this issue, maybe we can put a light on poverty and all of its ugliness, and it will create a different kind of conversation and the possibility to make some real substantive change." The town's mayor is 85-year-old Leonard Bunting, who took office last month after defeating the town's first black mayor, James Mills. He says he's excited about the town's future - one restaurant recently opened, as did a hardware store and another restaurant is in the works. Other changes are in the works, but he has to stay mum on those for now. Race relations in the town are great, he says. "There are a few people who would like to have a problem," he said. "But the majority of whites and the majority of blacks will tell you that we have no problem." Even the death of a 61-year-old black man who was shocked by police with a stun gun hasn't upset that balance, he says. Roger Anthony died Nov. 22, a day after he was stunned. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into Anthony's death. Police Chief Joe Williams said Friday that the officer has since resigned. "We've got a few people who would like for it to (cause problems), but that's not the case," Bunting said of Anthony's death. " ... This is a good little town. It's a country town. We have a lot of people coming back here to retire, both black and white." Other local leaders don't see the town quite the same way. James Mills, the former mayor, and David Harvey, head of the Halifax County chapter of the NAACP, say many of the homes on the east - or black - side of town wouldn't be inhabitable if they were inspected. But the inhabitants can't complain because then they wouldn't have anywhere to live. And the county continues to have three school districts that Barber and some groups say should be unified. A study by the UNC Center for Civil Rights and released last year said the system that includes Halifax County Public Schools, Weldon City Schools and the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District remains one of the most segregated systems in the state. The county is 39 percent white, while nearly 100 percent of students at Halifax County and Weldon City schools are non-white. The Roanoke Rapids district is more than 70 percent white. The report, released last May, said Halifax County and Weldon City schools have some of the lowest-performing schools in the state, along with high teacher turnover rates. Paying for three of everything, including bus systems and superintendents, makes little sense, Barber said, and the set-up is rooted in the history of segregation. That history is part of what the state must transform, he said. "But you can't move beyond it until you own it and you deal with it," he said. "Once we tell the truth, then we can move forward with the transformation." ###
N.C. tour turns poverty's 'bloodless statistics' into reality
By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times
The poverty statistics from northeastern North Carolina are stark:
In six poor rural counties the rates range from 21% to 26%. Among blacks, poverty rates approach 40% in parts of those counties. Statewide, the poverty rate is 17. 4%, the nation's 12th highest. The state's NAACP, seeking to put a human face on what it calls "bloodless statistics," mounted a Truth and Hope Tour of Poverty through the six counties Thursday and Friday. More than 60 volunteers from the civil rights group and several other nonprofits piled onto a bus to hear local residents describe what poverty looks like and feels like. "It's no sin to be poor," the Rev. William Barber told residents of tiny Roper, N.C. "But it is a sin to allow entrenched and systemic poverty in the richest nation on Earth." For two days, residents stood up in churches, town halls and community centers in the six counties to lay out the full dimensions of lives circumscribed by poverty. In Beaufort County, Charlette Blackwell Clark told of trying and failing to raise enough cash to remove a tree that had collapsed on her mobile home, crushing the roof. She's a member of what demographers call the working poor. She cleans neighbors' homes for cash; her husband, Noah, is a trash collector. Between them, they barely earn enough to survive day to day -- they can't pay $2,000 to remove a tree. In Roper, town clerk Dorenda Gatling told of reluctantly cutting off town water service to friends and neighbors unable to pay their bills -- most of them low-wage workers or elderly people on fixed incomes. It pains her, Gatling said, because she has endured unemployment and hand-to-mouth living herself. But because the town itself is strapped for cash, she said, she had no choice but to "aggressively collect." In Elizabeth City, the Rev. Tony Rice welcomed the tour to the cramped homeless shelter he runs. It's the only men's shelter within 100 miles, he said. It can accommodate just seven men a night. With the county's homeless rate rising along with the poverty rate (23%), there are more than a thousand homeless people seeking shelter in the city every night. Gene Nichol, director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina, listened to dozens of people pour out their life stories. Poverty is far more than cold statistics, he told one gathering, "it lives in wounds to the human heart," he said. And federal poverty statistics tell only part of the story, tour leaders insisted. The federal poverty earnings threshold of $22,113 per year for a family of four is too low; families earning more than that amount also live in poverty, they said. In Halifax County in northeastern North Carolina, for instance, the federal poverty rate is 26.2%. But a working family of four actually needs $46,120 a year to afford basic living expenses in the county, according to the N.C. Justice Center, a nonprofit advocacy group. In Scotland Neck, a poverty-stricken northeastern North Carolina town that is 70% black, James Mills took the tour on a walk through the black part of a town he says is largely segregated by race. Mills served two terms as the town's first black mayor. He was voted out of office last fall. Mills pointed out ramshackle homes and trailers occupied by blacks, and the ruins of abandoned houses along potholed streets. Then he suggested that tour members drive through the predominantly white side of town, where he said roads are well paved and public services are far better. As Mills spoke, a backhoe raised a racket while removing a large tree that had fallen onto a small house last summer. Mills said he had tried for months as mayor to get the city to remove the tree but was told that no facilities were available. "Today, with y'all due to show up on your tour," the deposed mayor told the poverty tour, "it looks like the city decided it could find the energy and the facilities to clear out that tree." |
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Top 10 Things Art Pope Hopes to Accomplish in 2012
Create a new charity based on the philosophy espoused by his favorite moral philosopher, Ayn Rand. It’ll be called "The Art Pope Foundation for Giving Money to Art Pope."- Create a new Pro-Government Interventionist Libertarian party that better lines up with his stances on immigration, same sex marriage, and reproductive rights.
- Fund movements to protest the construction of playground slides which are clearly an effort to use the faulty science of “gravity” to justify extra funding for public parks.
- Sell discounted school board members at Roses.
- Fund new college scholarships for over-privileged students.
- Pay his politicians extra to persuade them to denounce crony politics in our government.
- Buy Georgia's State Assembly as a present for his friend Herman Cain.
- Establish watchdog organization to promote transparency in organizations not funded by the John William Pope Foundation
- Promote a campaign to build a fence along NC's southern border to prevent those illegal South Carolinians from coming in and taking our jobs
- Try and get the minimum wage reduced to $1.00 so that Super Dollar can be true to its name
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HK on J 6th Annual
Join us for the 6th Annual HK on J
“HKonJ is this generation’s organized, moral, and dignified response to the same old organized, undignified, and immoral forces of injustice.”
Rev. Curtis E. Gatewood, HKonJ Coalition Coord
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MLK Holiday - Rev. Nelson Johnson to Keynote Monday's 12 noon ecumenical service.
Local Contact:
Bruce Lightner
834-6264 (Office)
630-3439 (Cell)
brucelig@king-raleigh.org
KING HOLIDAY TO FOCUS ON FUTURE
Raleigh, NC -- There will be numerous Martin Luther King events throughout the Triangle and all are appropriate in acknowledging the great service and sacrifice by a modern day disciple to humanity. The longest running and most consistently executed King Holiday Observances in the Triangle have been sponsored by the Raleigh Martin Luther King Celebration Committee. This January marks the 32nd consecutive year of the Raleigh MLK Committee's efforts in North Carolina's Capitol City. The Raleigh MLK Committee's 2012 holiday events are described below.
Fittingly, the first event is designed to recognize and reinforce the impact Dr. King had on society. In doing so, community citizens will gather and school age children will place a wreath beside the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The 2012 MLK Wreath Laying Ceremony will be held on Friday, January 13, 6:00 PM at the Martin Luther King Memorial Gardens in Southeast Raleigh.
On Monday, January 16th, 7:00 AM the 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Triangle Interfaith Prayer Breakfast will be held at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park. This year's keynote speaker will be the dynamic motivator and the area's top female corporate executive, Mrs. Cynthia Marshall, President, AT&T of North Carolina. There will be a few "surprises" during this early morning program.
On Monday, January 16th, 9:00 AM in cooperation with the Triangle United Way will be the Annual Martin Luther King Day Of Community Service were hundreds of citizens will do volunteer work on various projects throughout the Triangle area.
On Monday, January 16th, the 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Memorial March will assemble at 10:00 AM on the grounds of the North Carolina State Capitol and depart at 11:00 AM through downtown Raleigh. The theme for this year's celebration is "From The Dream to Reality .... Economic & Social Equality ... More Work To Be Done" All citizens interested in marching will be welcomed. No registration required.
Following the March will be the 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Noon Ecumenical Observance held at the Progress Energy Center For The Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. An energetic preacher, The Reverend Nelson Johnson, Executive Director of The Beloved Community Development Center in Greensboro will keynote.
The day concludes with the 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Evening Musical Celebration, 5:30 PM at the Progress Energy Center For The Performing Arts. Headlining this observance will be the blockbuster national recording artist Ernest Pugh from Fort Washington, Maryland.
All events are free and open to the public. To obtain the full listing of who will speak at each observance please click the blue line under each event title.
The 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday
Raleigh, North Carolina
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012
6:00 PM The 2012 Martin Luther King Wreath Laying Ceremony
Martin Luther King Memorial Gardens
http://www.king-raleigh.org/events/agenda.cfm?program_id=1&event_id=3555
MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2012
8:00 AM The 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Triangle Interfaith Prayer Breakfast
Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
http://www.king-raleigh.org/events/agenda.cfm?program_id=1&event_id=5115
8:30 AM 7th Annual Martin Luther King Community Day Of Service
Various Projects Located Throughout Triangle Area
http://www.unitedwaytriangle.org/mlk/
11:00 AM 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Holiday Memorial March
Departs from State Capitol Building, Edenton Street Side
http://www.king-raleigh.org/history/march.htm
12:00 PM 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Noon Ecumenical Observance
Meymandi Hall, Progress Energy Center For The Performing Arts
http://www.king-raleigh.org/events/agenda.cfm?program_id=1&event_id=2053
5:30 PM 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Evening Musical Celebration
Meymandi Hall, Progress Energy Center For The Performing Arts
http://www.king-raleigh.org/events/agenda.cfm?program_id=1&event_id=2055
All programs are free and open to the public in cooperation from area businesses, corporations, churches and civic organizations
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A Holiday Message from Rev. Curtis Gatewood - re: HKONJ 6
HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!
A Christmas Message for those who Love Justice
"We are not seeking a handout, we are making sure our hands are no longer tied!"
WE ARE 50 DAYS AWAY FROM HKONJ(6)
THE 6TH ANNUAL HISTORIC THOUSANDS ON JONES STREET PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY COALITION (HKonJPAC) MASS MOBILIZATION
As We Reflect Upon Jesus The Christ, "Wise Men", And Other Religious Principles, There Is One Gift Which All "Wise" Individuals Desire Without Regard To Creed, Gender, Race, Nationality, Or Faith... We All Desire The Gift Of Justice.
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Federal Court Rejects Rep. LaRoque's Challenge to the Voting Rights Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2011
For More Information: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137
Mrs. Amina Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
Jennifer Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, 919-682-4700
Federal Court Rejects Rep. LaRoque's Challenge to the Voting Rights Act
(DURHAM) - The US District Court for the District of Columbia rendered an opinion yesterday on the Kinston-based case LaRoque v. Holder. The court rejected a challenge to a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that ensures minorities' right to vote. The Court ruled for the North Carolina NAACP, finding that Congress had ample evidence to justify enacting the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act with the 2006 amendments. The case, brought by several plaintiffs including a member of NC House of Representatives, Stephen LaRoque, challenges the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union intervened in the case on behalf of the NC NAACP and six minority residents. The challenge by the NC NAACP comes in response to concentrated efforts by ultra-conservative political operatives in North Carolina who are intent upon undermining the voting protections for African-Americans and other racial minorities. They are using race-based, aggressive and ill-advised efforts to prevent minorities from fully participating in the North Carolina political process. As it has for over 102 years, the NAACP is engaged in ongoing efforts to maximize the political power of racial minorities and will never back down to from fighting efforts to destroy the Voting Rights Act and the guarantees of the 15th Amendment.
"The Court's decision to protect the fundamentals of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a stand for justice and equality," said Rev. Dr. William J Barber, II, President of the North Carolina NAACP. "Voting rights are under attack across the country. Fourteen states have already passed voter suppression laws that limit access to the polls and disproportionately impact minorities, poor people, young people, students and the elderly. Minority voting power is under attack through redistricting plans that marginalize minority voters, packing them into a few segregated districts so their influence is muted. We applaud the Court for recognizing the importance of the Voting Rights Act in protecting the right to vote."
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a hard-fought, landmark civil rights law that helps protect African American's and other minorities' right to vote. Under Section 5 of the VRA, certain states with a history of voter suppression must have changes to their election laws approved to ensure they are not discriminatory. Forty counties in North Carolina are protected under Section 5 of the VRA.
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Art Pope Is Stepping Into The Spotlight
Recently on the N&O’s political blog, Under the Dome, Rob Christensen wrote a post titled “It's not just Art Pope bankrolling the Locke Foundation.” What’s noteworthy about this post is not necessarily the actual content (although it is interesting to see that the John Locke Foundation has many nefarious corporate backers in addition to Art Pope), but the framework from which the post comes from. Christensen starts off with the assumption that people know who Art Pope is and what his influence on the John Locke Foundation is. This is big because it’s an indicator that the discussion surrounding Art Pope and his influence has changed.
Now, as a prominent businessman and former NC House member, Pope has been on the radar for a while. Indeed, Christensen even has an “Art Pope” tag on his blog, but, before October, the conversation around Pope was piecemeal and circumstantial. Now, thanks to the efforts of websites like ArtPopeExposed.com and especially the fantastic write up about Art Pope in the New Yorker, the public is starting to really understand who he is and how he’s singlehandedly attempted to take over the political system here in North Carolina.
This is good news. Hopefully this knowledge will help deflate Art Pope’s influence in the coming 2012 election by exposing how his name is attached to several conservative think tanks like the John Locke Foundation and Civitas as well as political candidates themselves like Renee Ellmers, who he will undoubtedly be backing.
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No Room At the Inn
Time: 10:00am – 11:00am
Location: NC Community College Administration Building, 200 W. Jones St., Raleigh, NC
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Why is College So Expensive?
College tuition is going up all over the nation, faster than scholarships can cover, faster than inflation, and much faster than the economy is recovering. And, due to drastic cuts made by the NC GOP to education earlier this year, North Carolina is no exception.
All over the state, tuition is rising like an ominous tide. UNC, NC State, and ECU have all proposed tuition hikes, and smaller colleges like NC Central and UNC Asheville aren’t safe either. Even community colleges are feeling the squeeze and increasing prices by $10 per credit hour.
The worst part, though, is that all of this isn’t even necessary. The budget for 2011 also included cuts in revenue, like a one cent sales tax reduction which costs our state millions. It’s criminal, really. These tax reductions are usually made in the name of “saving jobs” or improving the economy, but what they really do is steal money from other pieces of the state budget, like education.
The hit on the college system is particularly painful. In these tough economic times, our state and our country need quality education to train future employees, innovators, and entrepreneurs. It’s a real investment in our future that’s much more valuable than any short term gains achieved through tax cuts. Why our lawmakers can’t see this, I don’t know.
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