Hooray for NC Historians--leading the way in acts of civil disobedience!

[mnhtnbb]

The disaster that has been unfolding in NC as the Repub Governor and Repub controlled State house
have been at work turning the clock back and dismantling every type of progressive program or policy
they could think of has been shared--in dismay--with members of DU.

How refreshing to open the local Raleigh paper this a.m. to see an opinion piece written by two
leading historian/educators in NC who got themselves arrested protesting!



This week, we were arrested at the General Assembly. We chose the path of civil disobedience – along with 29 others – as a means of calling attention to the headlong assault on our state’s history by the governor and the state legislature.

We are not radicals. Each of us has been president of the Organization of American Historians, the leading professional organization of all American historians. We cherish the history we have spent our lives studying. Yet now we see a new generation in Raleigh threatening to destroy the very history we have spent our lives celebrating.

During the last half century, North Carolinians helped pave the way for racial justice, educational leadership and fairness for all citizens.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/08/2880510/an-nc-history-worth-preserving.html#storylink=cpy

[iemitsu]

1. Hooray for the historians.

They know the score.

[John2]

2. I wonder if

anybody with a History Degree can become a member of their organization? I intend to get right out there with them against the Republicans in North Carolina. They should recruit others for this fight.

[Lifelong Protester]

3. I believe you can

I was at their national conference in Milwaukee spring of 2012. I was taking a grad class in labor history, and we were allowed membership (it was an educator group from UW-EC that sponsored us).

Either way, it is a good group, having a large contingent that study Labor Law, Civil Rights, the Gilded Age (each of these sub-groups has a 'division' in the organization).

I would check out OAH on the net.

[John2]

5. Thanks for

the information. I will check into it.

[barbtries]

4. more from the article:

That history is one that our current legislature and governor now seek to reverse: by denying 500,000 people health care through Medicaid, even though it would not cost the state a cent for the first two years; by restricting women’s access to reproductive health care; by terminating unemployment payments for more than 160,000 workers laid off through no fault of their own; by endangering the right to vote of tens of thousands of people through curtailing early voting and requiring state-issued picture IDs; by cutting taxes on the rich, and increasing them on the poor; by telling a father in New Bern that if his daughter chooses to vote in Boone, where she attends Appalachian State, instead of traveling five hours back to New Bern to cast her ballot, the father can no longer claim his daughter as a dependent on his tax return.

This political juggernaut runs totally contrary to what North Carolina has stood for during the last half century. It represents class warfare against the middle class and the working-class residents of our state. Justice lies at the core of our civic life. And we are all responsible for sustaining that justice.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/08/2880510/an-nc-history-worth-preserving.html#storylink=cpy

look at what the republicans are doing in NC! it's like the bastards never sleep. the latest today is a law requiring teachers to lie to their students, by forcing them to teach that having an early abortion will increase the risk of a later pre-term pregnancy. well i mean that's just the latest outrage i'm aware of. like i said, they don't sleep. they're pumping out insanity faster than i can keep up.

i'm thinking maybe we all need to get over to Raleigh soon and get arrested with these heroes. i've never done it before so i am overdue.

[mnhtnbb]

6. Hubby and I were talking this morning about joining in the protests in Raleigh.

He is now semi-retired and has a lot of time on his hands. Plus, he has a life-long
love of history.

I've never been arrested, either. But I'm not sure I'm ready to get on the 'bad guys' list.
We're planning travel outside the country in the next year (our son got a Fulbright
and will be in Berlin for 10 months) and I don't want to get on some 'do not fly' list
for being a troublemaker.

And it pisses me off no end that these guys want us all to be afraid--and damn--
they could make life pretty miserable for us.

[barbtries]

9. i appreciate your fear.

(congratulations on your son's Fulbright!)
i will be traveling for my new job and don't want to jeopardize my position.
on the other hand they can't win on FEAR! no way!
one of my co-workers was on the list. i think it was david price who cleared the issue up for him. there was however no "reason" that he was on the list, he's anything but a rabble rouser.
it takes courage. do i have that courage? is the question i'm asking myself. i don't know. i do not want to lose my job.

[laureloak]

7. Please come and save NC!!!!

[barbtries]

8. have you been out there?

anything happening this weekend?

[a la izquierda]

10. Well done, fellow professors.