The film “12 Years a Slave” is one of great beauty about a great horror. Director Steve McQueen’s account of the American slave business – and it was an American economic institution that trafficked in flesh, blood and human suffering – is not particularly easy viewing, though you can’t look away. I saw it a few days ago, and once was plenty. But I would gladly see it again if politicians who can’t quit their slavery metaphors agreed to a movie date.
On Charlotte mayor’s election, and the future of N.C. Democrats and Republicans
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Washington Post columnist Mary C. Curtis is examining the election results. She was there when Mayor Patrick Cannon declared victory.
Democrats now hold a 9-2 majority in the City Council. Is Charlotte becoming a Democratic city?
And did dissatisfaction with GOP Governor Pat McCrory hurt Edwin Peacock’s campaign?
Nov062013
Who will be the next Charlotte mayor?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Election Day is less than a week away. We’re talking with Mary C. Curtis on her thoughts regarding the race for mayor.
She’s got all you need to know on the race and the candidates.
Curtis says there’s no clear winner at this point.
Oct302013
GOP launches minority outreach in N.C., defends voter law in court
CHARLOTTE — Republicans were busy in North Carolina and Washington on Monday. Did the activity in the courts and on a conservative stage have the effect of muddying the welcome mat the GOP rolled out for minority voters in the state?
Earlier in the day, Republican state officials filed to urge a federal court to dismiss two lawsuits challenging changes in North Carolina’s voting laws, changes opponents contend disproportionately harm African American voters. A third challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice is waiting in the wings.
Monday evening in Charlotte, at the opening of the Republican National Committee’s African American engagement office in North Carolina, Earl Philip, North Carolina African American state director, said he believed in the message he has been taking to churches, schools and community groups.
Oct222013
North Carolina attorney general dislikes laws he must defend
Roy Cooper wants everyone to know how he really feels. That must be why he wrote a column lamenting why and how he thinks his home state of North Carolina is moving in the wrong direction – that, and perhaps he’s trying out for a gubernatorial run in 2016.
Oct172013
In N.C. skirmish in national voting-rights wars, student once thrown off ballot wins race
Being thrown off the ballot was the best thing that ever happened to Montravias King. The national coverage that rained down on the Elizabeth City State University student when a local elections board in North Carolina rejected his initial City Council bid surely helped him break out from the field of candidates. He got the chance to plead his case, and his views, before millions, reaching many more people than a meager campaign budget could ever allow. This week, according to preliminary results, the university senior was the top vote-getter and will get to represent the ward where his school is located.
Was turnout affected by the actions of the board in an increasingly partisan state atmosphere where restrictive voting laws have drawn legal action from many groups, including the U.S. Justice Department? King, who never stopped thinking local, didn’t take any chances, knocking on 365 doors for votes, he said in the News & Record. He said that in addition to his fellow students, he had gotten a “great and amazing” reception from older voters. That he had also discussed the issue of voter suppression with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who went to North Carolina for the story, was an unexpected extra.
Oct102013
Familiar lines drawn as Justice sues N.C. over voting law
You really could see this one coming. When Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced that the Justice Department would sue North Carolina over a controversial new voting law Holder says discriminates on the basis of race, no one was surprised. Those on both sides were ready – some cheering and others defensive — as North Carolina continues to be a puzzle for those who tagged it as that moderate Southern state that voted for Barack Obama in 2008. It’s now making headlines for conservative legislation and the resulting vehement pushback from groups inside – and now outside – its borders.
Oct012013
Past is present as North Carolina honors 1963 march and battles voting laws
CHARLOTTE — In North Carolina, commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s dream credited past struggles while a current battle over voting laws took center stage.
In an uptown Charlotte park Wednesday, the crowd used the examples of civil rights pioneers in a continuation of the Moral Monday protests against conservative laws from the Republican-controlled state legislature. Similar gatherings were planned in each of the state’s 13 congressional districts. While many issues, including education and health care spending, were reflected in comments and emblazoned on signs, the new state voter-ID bill was a unifying cause.
Later Wednesday evening, several Democratic and Republican legislators took questions from their Mecklenburg County constituents in a raucous forum called, ironically as it turned out, “Solving It Together.” At the top of the list in hundreds of questions submitted beforehand – voter-ID laws.
Aug292013
