Moore: Change name of Democratic dinner

Juvenile joke deleted.

— RTB 

Thanks to all the racist democra***s visiting Asheville this past weekend for getting all those tacky political signs down before you left! Did you all have organized worker bees to do the sign bidness, or did you hire a posse of ILLEGALs to do it?...

The CURIOUS thing about all the 'Democrat' signs everywhere, for their newly annointed statewide candidates, NOT ONE of the signs had the word
'Democrat' on them??? How curious is that?? Are they EMBARRASSED?

Did the 'governor' attend the gala? From my observation point, I did NOT see very many minorities attending and attendance was DOWN by about 600 folks! Hmmm, what does that tell ye? (crumbling?)

I don't think anyone is suggesting that these people be removed from the history books, although it may make sense to check whether their contributions have been accurately presented there. The point of the current discussion is whether people of Aycock's - and Vance's - ilk should be the namesakes of a major annual event for the Democratic Party in this state. The conclusion reached now by Mr. Moore, and about ten years ago by me, is a resounding NO.

From the 1890s to 1954, the year of the landmark Brown decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the administration of the public schools in North Carolina was carried out under the "separate-but-equal" doctrine in effect for that half century. Gov. Luther Hodges of Rockingham County, who succeeded to the governorship upon the death of Gov. William B. Umstead of Durham in 1954, took steps to guide the state into compliance with the historic Supreme Court ruling in the Kansas school case. The stewardship of the Hodges administration made possible the further advances of public education in an integrated state school system by later governors such as Terry Sanford of Laurinburg, Dan K. Moore of Asheville, Robert Scott of Alamance County and their respective successors on to the present second-term incumbent, Gov. Michael F. Easley of Rocky Mount.

Therefore, it would seem that those who wish to judge the accomplishments of Gov. Charles B. Aycock's term in office (1901-1905) on the issue of public education should make a comparative view of the achievements in this area by all the 20th Century North Carolina governors from Aycock through Umstead, including such acclaimed and revered chief executives as Govs. Cameron Morrison of Charlotte, J.C.B. Ehringhaus of Elizabeth City, Melville Broughton of Raleigh and R. Gregg Cherry of Gastonia. All of these governors were faced with the responsibility of building upon the foundations of progress in public education for North Carolinians of both races under the existing laws of the land without the benefit of the unanimous Brown decision of 1954 which ultimately and unambiguously dismissed the constitutionality of the old separate-but-equal doctrine dating back to the end of the 19th Century.

So do you think the entire record of achievement of all North Carolina governors in the first half of the 20th Century should be removed from the record of historical review?

Why can't The News & Observer present an accurate and detached journalistic review of Gov. Aycock's term as governor in the first four years of the 20th Century and, while they're at it, the service of Zebulon Baird Vance in the U.S. Senate from 1879 to 1894 during the thick of the Reconstruction debate in this country? Given the laws of the land at the beginning of the 20th Century, scholars, journalists and political activists should judge for themselves the actual administrative record of Gov. Aycock and decide for themselves if they find it acceptable in the historical context of the times.

LIkewise, in the field of higher education, the same standards of historical context should apply to journalistic and scholarly reviews of the founding of such historically black colleges and universities as North Carolina Central University, which had an illustrious history even in the years before the 1954 Brown ruling. For that matter, one could look at the history of Durham's historic "Black Wall Street" business district with its pioneering accomplishments in banking, insurance, journalism and other businesses and professions from the earliest years of the 20th Century until the coming of public-sector desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s. This legacy from earlier times still carries considerable influence today as Durham seeks a broader road to equality of opportunity in education and employment for all its citizens whether black or white.

The Goldsboro Aycock family name has been prominent in North Carolina public affairs throughout the past century. When President John F. Kennedy appeared at the Founders Day celebration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in October 1961, it was Chancellor Charles B. Aycock III along with UNC President William Friday and Gov. Terry Sanford whose presence at the speaker's podium assured JFK of a strong show of state leadership support. From that remarkable assembly at Chapel Hill, the Kennedy administration would embark on a careful course of bringing the collective leadership to bear upon the greater task of achieving across-the-board equality in public-sector desegregation, with the administration of President Lyndon Johnson recording significant achievements in Congress and across the country in the mid-1960s following the tragic death of President Kennedy in 1963.

Indeed, the entire bridge of history from the time of Abraham Lincoln to the era of John Kennedy a century later was built upon the steady construction of the planks of practical and progressive government at the federal, state and local levels. Therefore, be careful how many of those sturdy planks you would wish to chop off from gateways to equality and opportunity achieved for all North Carolinians through the 50 years since the 1950s to the opening decade of the 21st Century.

Discard enough of these stepping stones, and soon you may render North Carolina "just another stop along the way" to the heart of the South.

David P. McKnight
Durham

This was my response when I read it on NC Spin last Thursday.

----- Original Message -----
From: Curmilus Dancy II - Dancy Communications Network The DCN @ www.thepoliticalagitator.com
To: Jerry Meek NC Democratic Party State Chair
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 7:36 PM
Subject: The DCN - WAKE UP, STAND UP, SPEAK UP AND ACT UP!! Vance-Aycock to have protesters and see our Democratic Party Chairman's response

Thursday, September 27, 2007

"Knowledge is Power, Sharing it is Empowerment"
"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth ... For my part, I am willing to know the whole truth: to know the worst; and to provide for it." Patrick Henry

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Now U Know So What Are U Going To Do?
Vance-Aycock to have protestors
Here’s a story filled with ironies. When Democrats gather in Asheville on October 6th for their annual Vance-Aycock dinner we are told to expect more than glad-handing and hospitality suites. The event, named in honor of former governors Zebulan Vance and Charles Brantly Aycock, will feature a group of conservative Republicans protesting the continued use of Aycock’s name.

Aycock is often remembered as North Carolina’s great education governor, a strong advocate for public education. What isn’t so often mentioned, according to . . .

http://www.ncspin.com

C. Dancy II - TPA Opinion: Mr. Meeks as a loyal and dedicated Democrat since 1980 I too agree that the name should be changed. I don't care if Aycock is not being recognized in whatever fashion you say however the name of the event is enough damage for me. I do hope that you will consider addressing this issue. It is quite interesting that the protest is coming off around the same time the State NAACP is having their Convention in Wilmington. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II has talked about the role of Aycock in several of his speeches across the state since he was elected President of the NC NAACP State Conference of Branches almost 2 years ago.

http://www.thepoliticalagitator.com

I agree with the State Treasurer.

Let's see, we have Jefferson/Jackson and Sanford/Hunt

How about Graham/Gantt?

I find it amusing that this resulted from a Republican protest - obviously hoping for a backlash effect, to drive some of those who are annoyed by any reminder of past racial oppression away from anyone who adopts the position Mr. Moore has.

I find it equally amusing that they picked only on Gov. Aycock and not Gov. Vance, the "Redeemer" governor who saved the white people of NC from the horrors of Reconstruction, and left the former slave belt of northeastern NC to rot in its own juices up through the present day.