When the Democrats hold their 50th Vance-Aycock dinner in Asheville in October, it will be the last time the fundraising event will go by that name.
Earlier this year, the Democrats' Executive Council decided to “retire with honor” the name of former Gov. Charles Brantley Aycock (1901-1905) because of his role in the white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900.
But the Democrats have not yet decided on a new name for the dinner when it is held in the fall of 2011 at the Grove Park Inn. Will it just keep the name of Civil War Gov. Zebulon Vance? Add another name? Or come up with an entirely new name?
While no decision has been made, reports Rob Christensen, delegates to the state Democratic convention recently passed a resolution urging party leaders to rename it the Vance Lucas Dinner in honor of both Vance and the late state Sen. Jeanne Lucas, who was an African-American lawmaker from Durham.
It also urged the party to “remove” and not to “retire” Aycock's name because of what the resolution called his “well documented legacy of hate and division.”
For much of the past 100 years, Aycock has been a revered figure in the state, because of his leadership on education. There are statues of him on the state Capitol grounds and in the halls of Congress. His birthplace is a state historic site and his words of wisdom carved on state government buildings. But in recent years, his racial views have come under more criticism.
The Democrats' Executive Council has not taken up the issue.
Comments
Looking backward
September 1, 2010 - 8:54am — penfisherFunny. You know it's election time when the Dems dredge up a long-dead governor and plan to erase his name from history in order to declare themselves enlightened revisionists. I'm afraid, however, that nothing will erase the scandals of the administrations of Mike Sleaasley and Gov. Cupcake.
How bout the Edwards-Easley Dinner?
August 31, 2010 - 3:52pm — BitterEXdemocratwouldnt that be appropriate?
jim hunt already has a 'dinner' named for his vile self...
School Construction 1901-1905
August 27, 2010 - 9:54pm — ProctorAccording to some historical accounts, the Aycock Administration averaged one new school built per day across North Carolina from 1901-1905. Half a century before the Brown v. Board U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1954 disallowing the old "separate-but-equal" system, Gov. William B. Aycock energetically promoted the improvement of public education for both black and white citizens although school integration would not arrive until the Umstead-Hodges era of the mid 20th Century.
But of course the failings of constitutional equality and public safety during the period of Republican rule in late-19th Century North Carolina cannot be overlooked or forgotten in the overall history of the Old North State.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina Democratic Party of the 21st Century should make clear to national Democratic political organizations this state's renewed commitment to the principle of one person-one vote so that national groups will not be tempted to tamper with the proper reporting of all lawfully cast ballots in federal, state and local elections in North Carolina. People's votes should be counted equally regardless of their race, political registration, religious affiliation or ethnic origin.
David P. McKnight