Not one step back in N.C.

RALEIGH, N.C.--More than 1,000 people gathered at Shaw University February 12 and marched to the North Carolina General Assembly building as part of the state NAACP's annual "Historic Thousands on Jones Street" demonstration.

Demonstrators called for living-wage jobs and increased funding for public education, and denounced the local school board's "neighborhood schools" plan that will essentially re-segregate Wake County schools.

The main speaker was Rev. William Barber, president of North Carolina branch of the NAACP. He was joined on the stage by representatives of the state AFL-CIO, as well as immigrant rights activists. As the speeches were going on, activists went through the crowd to petition and raise awareness on various causes, from increasing AIDS in the state to challenging a potentially disenfranching voter ID law that is being debated in the general assembly.

As we walked through downtown Raleigh, we were determined that the gains that North Carolina has made in the past in education and other social programs should not be cut, scaled back or dismantled by the new Republican majority in the state legislature. The motto of today's HKonJ rally was "Forward together, not one step back."

But the shame is that North Carolina hasn't moved forward very much, if at all, in recent decades, in spite of the talk that we are living in the "New South." One only needs to look at education spending as a barometer of how little North Carolina has been accomplished. As North Carolina Policy Watch states:

According to the most recent U.S. Census data, North Carolina ranks 45th in the nation in per-pupil spending and 43rd in the nation in per-pupil expenditure as a share of personal income. Education Week ranked North Carolina 46th in terms of funding adequacy and equity, giving it a D+, the lowest grade any state received.

Aware that state leaders are trying to close the state's $3.7 billion budget gap on the backs of workers, the audience listened intently when Rev. Barber took to the mike and gave a powerful speech.

Barber and all the committed activists in Wake County deserve credit for not letting the issue of school re-segregation die. Due to their efforts, the reality of racist conditions in the county have been reported in the corporate media, including the New York Times.

The presence of immigrant rights activists focused attention on the plight of undocumented workers in the state, whose labor makes North Carolina's agriculture and other industries profitable, and representatives of labor pointed out the importance of increasing unionization and repealing North Carolina's anti-union "right to work" laws.

WHILE THE speeches and demands of the demonstration showed that everyone is determined to make North Carolina a better place for everyone who lives here, the proposals for what to do now fell short of what's needed.

Most of all, speakers from the front emphasized the need to support the Democratic Party. But the Democrats have presided over many of the cutbacks and right-wing policies that protesters are angry about, from Barack Obama on the national level to Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue. In spite of the support they get from organizations like the NAACP, the Democratic leaders do little more than provide lip service to popular demands, while diligently supporting business interests.

Many of the leaders of the HKonJ rally have been part of the protests of the re-segregation of Wake County schools, and that campaign has involved important direct action events that have helped raise awareness of the situation. Such a strategy is much better than supporting the Democratic Party.

Raleigh's history also provides an important example of where activists need to put their efforts. In 1960, young civil rights activists met at Fisk University to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. SNCC put its faith and efforts into grassroots organizing. Its activists knew that victories don't come cheaply and easily, and that it was important to educate people and raise their levels of political consciousness.

Their efforts served as a powerful example for all future progressive movements--and they show that if we want real change to flourish, we have to go back to the model of grassroots democracy and mobilization.