After the North Carolina legislature passed HB2, which legalized discrimination against people who are LGBT, the executive committee of the Network for Public Education deliberated whether we should cancel our conference. We consulted with our North Carolina allies, and they urged us not to cancel. They wanted our support.
So here we are, and I have to share with you that I feel right about where we are. It hit me tonight that we are exactly where we should be. We are here to show our solidarity with the parents and teachers of North Carolina who have suffered one setback after another since the Tea Party extremists took control of the legislature in 2010.
You don’t beat bullies by running away. We are all wearing “Repeal HB2” stickers. We have cards to hand out wherever we go, telling merchants that we oppose HB2 and won’t return until it is repealed.
We are not running away. We are here to stand by the good people of North Carolina and pray for the day when they are able to vote these hate mongers out of office.
We are here because injustice is here. We are exactly where we should be.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Agreed!
Thanks to everyone there for advancing our just cause.
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-carolina/nc-waterfalls-road-trip/
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-carolina/11-under-five-mile-hikes-nc/
“We won’t return until it is repealed”
In other words. ..
We won’t run from bullies, until after our conference.
The irony of refusing to do business over a law that is about refusing to do business is thick.
Involved Mom,
We are here with many wonderful North Carolina teachers and parents. We are happy to lend support to them as they have to live with this bunch of knuckle-draggers who control your statehouse. At some point, as global and national businesses abandon their plans to create jobs in the state, the people who vote will throw them out. First they came for the Communists, but I wasn’t a Communist, so I did nothing. Then they came for the Jews, but I wasn’t a Jew….you might be next.
From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum—
“Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.”
[start]
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
[end]
Link: https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392
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No irony at all. Imagine a scenario in which North Carolina declares that it is OK for businesses to deny service to someone because of race. (Of course, Section 3.2 of HB2 just about does this.)
Would you then say that anyone who refused to do business in North Carolina because of such discrimination is a hypocrite? That would be nonsense.
Refusing to give your business to a state that unjustly discriminates against its own citizens is not unjust. But discriminating against your own citizens is unjust. That’s what people are protesting against by doing things like cancelling travel to NC and so on.
HB2 is unjust. It needs to be repealed immediately.
Thanks Diane, for fighting the good fight as always.
Sending love and support from Los Angeles.
How did North Carolina get to “exactly where they should be”? Read chapter 13 of Jane Meyer’s “Dark Money”. It is THE blueprint for the weaponized “philanthrophy” that’s assaulting not only education but most states in America at the behest of the billionaire hedge funders. It has a short section on how public and higher education is being transformed in that state to suit neoliberal and libertarian ideology. But she has done wonderful research on how Art Pope, progeny of Mammon and Lucifer, practically OWNS that state now because of the VERY shadowy network of money that flows in under the guise of nonprofits, social welfare groups and business councils whose tax status does not require them to disclose donors nor their amount. And why would billionaires invest so much money to do this? Because it’s CHEAPER THAN PAYING TAXES ON THEIR FORTUNES!!! The “donations” are a write-off!!! Hence, “weaponized” philanthropy when 1.) you can bribe underlings to do your nasty political work in the name of charity, and 2.) stay in the shadows of non-disclosure. It is also a textbook example of Shelly Wolin’s Inverted Totalitarianism, a concept often referenced by journalist Chris Hedges. EVERY CITIZEN, LET ALONE TEACHER, SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!
All fine and good but why, why would you want to say that other people and other organizations that have made other, good faith decisions about how to respond to HB-2 are ‘ running away’ or have somehow acted less than courageously.’
You do protest a bit too much.
Harris,
Everyone makes their own decisions. This was hard for us, we wrestled with it, and now I’m glad we came to NC. Everyone at our conference is opposed to HB2. Our keynote speaker this a.m. called it Hate Bill 2.
One of the most tiresome and brain damaging things available to us today is the prevalence of logical fallacies in the public sphere. The discussion here provides a fine example of the False Dilemma fallacy, where it is falsely claimed that there are only two choices, the implicit claim being that they are mutually exclusive. The harm done by this becomes more clear when you realize that in this case, the two positions, boycott the entire state or travel there to raise consciousness are not mutually exclusive but are in fact mutually reinforcing. Musicians doing the boycott and businesses canceling events or moving their operations out of state go hand in hand with groups like NPE showing up to educate and advocate against a toxically idiotic law. As I said before and belabor now, both of these tactics are mutually reinforcing, NOT mutually exclusive. Both apply their unique type of pressure right where it’s needed in service of the same goal: liberty and justice for all, aka freedom. Here’s one of many resources that can be found on the subject. https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
Jon Lubar: nicely put.
Another reason why I read “Diane Ravitch’s blog A site to discuss better education for all.”
Thank you for your comments.
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