Race

children in a classroom

Bill to allow controversial social studies curriculum in Beaufort County Schools surprised its leaders

BY: - April 20, 2023

A lawmaker’s attempt to authorize Beaufort County Schools’ use of a controversial social studies curriculum developed by conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan surprised the board of education and other school leaders, Superintendent Matthew Cheeseman said Thursday.    Cheeseman said and the board learned about the proposal Wednesday after he received a call alerting him that […]

the North Carolina Legislative Building

New push for a revised NC hate crimes law

BY: - April 18, 2023

Jewish and Muslim faith leaders and the director of an Asian Pacific Islander nonprofit joined House Democrats on Tuesday in highlighting the need for a revised hate crime law and a statewide tracking of hate crimes.  House bill 596 would expand the law to add ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. It creates a new […]

NCSU Prof.Michael Schwalbe on efforts to stifle discussions of race and privilege in our schools

BY: - April 10, 2023

One of the top agenda items for Republican leaders at the General Assembly this year is legislation that would micromanage the teaching of U.S. history and discussions of race – mostly for the purpose of limiting discussion and assuring that white students in particular, aren’t made to feel guilty or uncomfortable. Unfortunately, as North Carolina […]

COMMENTARY

NC Newsline report spotlights a grave injustice, and state leaders should take action

BY: - April 6, 2023

Read the investigative story by Kelan Lyons.

COMMENTARY

Divide and conquer politics in action

BY: - April 4, 2023

It’s been more than a decade since then-North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis uttered his infamous, but accurate description of the strategy that he and his fellow Republicans would need in order to remain ascendant in state politics. In 2011 Tillis told an audience of supporters in western North Carolina that the key to GOP […]

Aerial over the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Monday numbers: UNC and the national anti-DEI wave

BY: - April 3, 2023

This week the UNC System and its 17 campuses complied with a request from the General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations, providing information on all Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) training programs they employ. The request included a lengthy list of terms to define DEI that reads like a round-up of recent obsessions of conservative activists:

Weekend reads: Loosening state gun laws, diversity efforts targeted, and a new wave of book banning

BY: - April 2, 2023

Big changes start Monday: NC Policy Watch is becoming NC Newsline For nearly two decades, people who care about North Carolina’s most vulnerable, who relish understanding the people and politics that factor into the state’s policies, and who have strong opinions about what our state should look like in the 21st Century, have been loyal […]

COMMENTARY

North Carolina GOP legislators promote ignorance for partisan gain

BY: - March 30, 2023

If social scientists who study inequality agree that white people enjoy more favorable treatment, relative to Black people, in the labor market, schools, the health care system, and the courts, and if this pattern of advantage is well documented by solid research, should a group of non-expert legislators be able to keep this knowledge from students because it might cause discomfort?

UNC System faculty, staff bristle as legislature targets Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts

BY: - March 29, 2023

When the General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations sent a recent detailed request to the UNC System seeking information about any Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) training programs employed by the system and its 17 campuses, Professor Jelani Favors wasn’t surprised.

GOP bill to limit topics of discussion in public schools wins state House approval

BY: - March 23, 2023

Parents, Democratic lawmakers decry censorship and "chilling effect on education" A controversial bill that would restrict how the state’s public school teachers discuss race, gender and sexuality was approved by the state House by a 68-49 party line vote on Wednesday, and is now headed to the state Senate.