North Carolina Residents Prepare for Final Moral Monday as Legislature Shows How Extreme It Is
The North Carolina legislature has moved to the extreme right in the 2013 session, passing a series of laws that assault the rights of the state's residents. The session comes to an end this week, but the damage from the laws that the Republican-led body has passed, and the governor is likely to sign, will be around for many years to come.
Among the most egregious things passed this session:
- The most extreme voter suppression law in the country, and in decades.
- One of the most aggressive attacks on public education in the state's recent memory.
- The assumption that anyone receiving government assistance is a drug user .
- The repeal of the Racial Justice Act .
- The unprecedented rejection of federal unemployment benefits for the state's struggling workers.
- A pointless ban on Sharia law .
- Increased salaries for the governor's cabinet.
MaryBe McMillan, secretary-treasurer of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, weighed in on the session, saying: "Legislators may be drunk with power now, but I hope they got some aspirin handy because they're gonna have a heck of a hangover when they realize their perceived power is temporary."
"We will not be silenced. No matter what they do, we will make our voices heard and our votes count.
"In every corner of this state, we will organize, and we will mobilize. We will agitate, and we will demonstrate. And we will keep the memory of these injustices alive for November 2014, 2016 and beyond.
"You see, any restrictions they put on voting are temporary. These district lines they are hiding behind are temporary.
"The only things permanent are the pursuit of justice and the power of the people. And there is no amount of legislation and there is no amount of Art Pope's money that can change that.”
North Carolina's residents haven't been taking the actions of the legislature lying down, as more than 900 have been arrested for rallying against the Republicans attempting to make North Caroline the state with the most extreme set of policies in the country. The series of "Moral Monday" rallies have been important in getting the word out on what the legislature is doing. Today is the last of the rallies for this year.
What:
Moral Monday 13
When:
July 29 at 5 p.m.—march to the Capitol at 5:30 p.m.
Where:
Halifax Mall (the great lawn behind the legislative building,
16 West Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601
)
Join this event and share it with your friends on Facebook .
Here's the flier for Moral Monday 13 :
