North State Journal for Sunday, July 24, 2016
A7
GUEST OPINION | EMMANUEL TURNER
The puzzling differences between support for H.B. 2 and Black Lives Matter
M If we abbreviate people into the adjectives we use to describe them, it’s easy to forget their humanity and our own humanity toward them.
ANY CORPORATIONS, businesses and groups in North Carolina and nationwide take a public stance on the morality and ethos of the controversial House Bill 2. Any legislation enacted to grant or protect the freedoms, liberties and civil rights of a protected group will cause supporters and opponents to rally their respective sides. The Charlotte Observer lists a total of 225 organizations that have spoken out for or against H.B. 2 as of March. Only a small percentage of the groups were social, religious, or civil rights groups. The unexpected revelation is to see non-North Carolina cities, states, local businesses, and even national and global companies take a stance on the North Carolina law. With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, we are finding out that not all movements are created equal when it comes to government and corporate support. Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, has decided to move the 2017 NBA All-Star Game from Charlotte, saying the “climate created by H.B. 2” would not make for a successful event. Recently, at the sports-themed ESPY Awards, four black NBA players spoke out and in support of Black Lives Matter. So some may say the league is on the record on both issues. But the truth is, the players are the celebrity faces of the NBA, not the corporate face of the NBA — that is a huge difference. Some of these men live and work in the cities and states that spoke out in opposition to H.B. 2; some have endorsement deals with corporations that spoke out in opposition to H.B. 2. Where are these cities, states and corporations to speak out on their behalf? The corporations that had the courage to take a stance on H.B. 2 are to be commended. The decision to speak out, for or against H.B. 2, could change public perception and thus their bottom line. Presumably,
JAMES LEUTZE
Turkish coup raises important questions he SITUATION IN TURKEY following the failed coup is so complex and so T cloudy that it may be best to examine it via a MADELINE GRAY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Shaw University students and community members hold signs during a march that led from the university to the Raleigh Courthouse on March 3.
there was some degree of analysis taken on the potential impact before they came out publicly. Where are these corporations and what is their stance on the murders of unarmed black men by police, the lack of indictments and convictions? Is their silence an indication of their stance? Is their moral obligation limited to certain freedoms? Or after the analysis of the potential impact on the bottom line, would taking a stance be too great a liability? In today’s social climate and global economy, consumers have to be more discerning in choosing where to spend or withhold their dollars. There have been very few reports of corporations speaking out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Google donated $500,000 to Black Lives Matter. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, reportedly held a town hall meeting with his employees to educate them about the movement. Starbucks owner Howard Schultz spoke out after customers reported their names as “Black Lives Matter” for their orders. Some baristas were uncomfortable with this practice,
but Shultz said “We can’t leave this for someone else.” As long as there is disparity, exclusion, and bigotry, we have to be reminded of the pieces of the sum that make the whole. Historically, the United States has used the word ‘all’ in an exclusionary manner. Our Constitution stated that all men are created equal during a time when those men owned slaves. The fact is, ALL LIVES MATTER: black, white, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, American, foreign. If we abbreviate people into the adjectives we use to describe them, it’s easy to forget their humanity and our own humanity toward them. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Companies that choose to take a stand for the civil rights of one group should feel the moral obligation to take that same stand for the civil rights of all groups, especially if those groups include their employees, patrons and communities in which they operate. Emmanuel Turner lives in Charlotte and works in logistics.
STATE OF THE NEWS | DREW ELLIOT
Rocky Mount
series of questions.
How will President Recep Tayyip Erdogan react? If he was a wise leader, Erdogan would savor his victory, realize that his policies had alienated a portion of the military – the historical protector of pluralism and democracy – as well as other, more Westernized Turks, and modify his course. I doubt he will do that. Instead I think he will become more paranoid; he has already declared a state of emergency and more than 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended, detained or placed under investigation. . Erdogan has also vowed to rid the Turkish military of what this week he called the “cancer” that led to the coup attempt, which he blames on U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has denied involvement. There will be further crackdown on the press and anyone suspected of disloyalty. “The usual suspects,” the Kurds will be more obsessively pursued at home and abroad. “We will continue the fight ... wherever they might be. These people have infiltrated the state organization in this country and they rebelled against the state,” Erdogan told Reuters Thursday, in reference to the Gulen network. Erdogan, who has been in power in Turkey since 2003, has reportedly called on Turks worldwide to report people and organizations that support Gulen. The harsher the crackdown the harder it will be for his Western allies to support him. Should he reinstate the death penalty, it would hazard Turkey’s membership in the European Union. (Turkey is not currently an EU member but is trying to join.) In other words, a period of internal turmoil and uncertainty which, in an area with already enough turmoil and uncertainty, is disturbingly bad news.
In an area that badly needs stability, there will be one more failing state.
Charlotte
What does it mean for the U.S.?
Wilmington
N.C. engineers rail win Not only do those jobs bring welcome relief to the most economically depressed area of the state, but the hub also will turn on a shiny beacon to the rest of the world.
By Drew Elliot North State Journal
O
N TUESDAY in Rocky Mount, Gov. Pat McCrory announced CSX will open a new intermodal terminal, the $272 million Carolina Connector (CCX) project. Construction of the cargo-transfer facility will create 250 to 300 shortterm jobs and 149 permanent jobs in Edgecombe and Nash counties. But that’s just the beginning. A corrollary to the CCX is taking shape in Wilmington, called the Queen City Express. An investment of $100 million by the state and $160 million by CSX will lead to overnight freight rail service from the state port to the existing intermodal hub in Charlotte. The state estimates the projects will create 1,500 jobs throughout North Carolina. The following are excerpts about the projects from editorials in two local newspapers. Rocky Mount Telegram: “CSX news a plum for Twin Counties” Short of plans to build a major automobile factory and give away cars to everyone in a 20-mile radius, it would be difficult to think of a better announcement for Edcombe and Nash than news of a multimillion-dollar CSX trains-and-trucks terminal. ... Not only do those jobs bring welcome relief to the most economically depressed area of the state, but the hub also will turn on a shiny beacon to the rest of the world. The message will be clear: The Twin Counties (Edgecombe and Nash) soon will have the most technologically modern transportation hub in the country, capable of moving freight by truck, train, air and sea in a couple of hours and change at the most. (The regional public-private partnership) dodged some of the sticky issues that doomed an earlier plan for Johnston County. The partnership optioned parcels with receptive landowners on the Edgecombe County side of U.S. 301, near N.C.
Wesleyan College. No need for the “eminent domain” bullet that left the folks in Johnston County howling. The result is a giant plum for Eastern North Carolina. Folks already are calling it the best economic news in 20 years… and it likely will hold that title for another 20 years. Wilmington StarNews: “Rail links a big boost for port” While the connection to the planned CSX hub in Rocky Mount is still a ways off, the so-called Queen City Express to and from Charlotte is on the fast track, with service set to begin in September. (Tracks already exist between Wilmington and Charlotte, but there is no direct service. Tracks will have to be added to complete the WilmingtonRocky Mount route). The Queen City Express will be double-stacked with shipping containers and provide overnight, nonstop service, giving shippers using the Port of Wilmington quick and easy access to the hub in Charlotte, which is served by rail, truck and air. This and projects like extending Interstate 74 into Southeastern North Carolina and a plan to extend the Carolina Bays Parkway from the Myrtle Beach area into Brunswick County are the types of infrastructure investments our state needs to promote commerce. Governor McCrory and his administration should be commended for helping keep the CSX hub project alive after it met strong resistance in Johnston County. It looks like the express service to Charlotte is a done deal. The Wilmington-Rocky Mount connection will be more complicated and time consuming, and officials still are short on public details, like the exact route. CSX tracks currently connect Rocky Mount to Wallace, but a gap exists between Wallace and Wilmington after track was pulled up in the 1980s. Wilmington has waited a long time to reverse its downfall as a railroad town. It will be important that state leaders, our local legislators as well as municipal and business officials ensure this ambitious plan stays on track.
We have long relied on a stable Turkish democracy as an anchor in the Mideast. Not only do we have military bases there, but it has been an ideal intelligence-gathering post and they have been a restraint on Russian adventurism in the Black Sea region. For a while, at least, those benefits will be lost — or at least weakened. Furthermore, the closing of our access to the base at Incirlik, even if temporary, was meant as a warning to us to not meddle in Turkish affairs. What about the war on ISIS? We have been launching attacks on ISIS both with fighter jets and drones from Turkish territory. Theoretically, and that is a big word in the Middle East, Erdogan has been supporting the U.S./NATO war on ISIS – except when he hasn’t been. He has been hesitant to go after the Caliphate because it is the most effective fighting force against his arch-enemy Bashar Assad. However, while verbally supporting us, he has allowed ISIS recruits to cross the border into Assad’s Syria. With attention shifting to internal concerns, the Turkish military will have less time and resources to devote to ISIS. What does it mean for the region? In an area that badly needs stability, there will be one more failing state. There was time when we could count on Iran (prior to 1981), Saudi Arabia, Egypt (prior to 2013) and Turkey as stable, westward leaning, moreor-less modern states. Now it may be Saudi Arabia, hardly an exemplar of modernity, that we can reliably turn to. So, what we have seen is a slow but steady erosion of U.S. influence in the region. Hopefully the Turkish military will continue to cooperate with the U.S. and NATO, but at best, the relationship will be more complicated. President Obama has already signaled a pivot of U.S. priorities to Asia and a distinct unwillingness for deeper involvement in Middle East wars. Should Turkey spiral out of control, it will only further erode U.S. influence and appetite for involvement in the region, leaving a dangerous vacuum. James R. Leutze is chancellor emeritus of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a former history professor at UNC Chapel Hill. He lives in Wilmington.