Former Congresswoman: Too many in NC are being silent on voting rights

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Too many are silent on voting rights

The writer is a Democrat who represented NC in Congress 1992-2003.

The week of Martin Luther King Day and the U.S. Senate’s consideration of voting rights laws should inspire more citizens and elected officials to protect our rights as Americans. Citizens must use the power of their voices to persuade elected officials to do what they know is just.

Beyond the travesty of their criminal behavior, the “bad actors” who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 are growing and want to destroy American democracy. We have a right to be concerned. Action on our part is required when we witness a storm rising.

King referred to building “dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” When we speak up for democracy, we build dikes of courage.

Unfortunately, many Americans are enabling this dangerous goal of weakening democracy by failing to speak or demonstrate our commitment to its values. The right to vote is essential to democracy. Silence is consent to what is happening at federal and state levels, where laws are changed to suppress the vote.

Too many of us don’t want to cause trouble, even when it’s in our best interest. We can do simple things, write letters to our representatives, speak up, or work through social or community groups. Fair voting laws are not a Democrat, Republican, Black, white, or Brown issue. It is an American Issue.

The New Rural Project, a N.C. community organization, has dedicated itself to increased citizen engagement and voter participation among rural communities. I strongly support it and encourage other such civic and faith-based organizations to commit themselves to promoting democracy through civic engagement.

King said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” I pray: “Give us, the citizens of these United States, the courage to speak up in large numbers and give hope for the values of democracy.”

Eva Clayton, Littleton

Make Cooper’s order a rallying cry

The writer is Southeast Senior Regional Director for Vote Solar.

On Jan. 7, Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order which includes more aggressive carbon reductions and electric vehicle targets. It builds upon previous actions that carved a path for statewide emissions reductions and accelerated the deployment of offshore wind. Though far from perfect, these actions are breaking new ground in the Southeast, establishing N.C. as a regional leader for climate and environmental policy.

What’s particularly noteworthy about the order is the acknowledgment that responsible planning for climate change isn’t just about reducing emissions. It’s about doing so through the lens of equity, justice and community resilience. There’s no question climate change is causing disproportionate harm to low-income communities and communities of color in N.C. The order seeks to address these disparities by calling on a variety of entities to incorporate environmental justice principles into their work.

While this call for equity is more than welcome, the language of the order betrays just how complicated policy making can be, and how inaccessible it can feel to everyday North Carolinians.

The order includes an array of acronyms and lists multiple entities that will be responsible for various policy realms: cabinet agencies, commissions, higher education institutions, task forces, and boards. It rightly acknowledges that an “interagency response” will be required. But it also relies on less quantifiable language like “encourage” and “incorporate.”

It’s hard to know exactly how much of this order will trickle down to the spaces where everyday decisions on energy infrastructure, housing, and economic development are made. That’s why, rather than a top-down solution, we can view the order as a rallying cry to address environmental inequity at every scale. In addition to gubernatorial action, we need city councils, county commissions, school boards and local leaders to be agents of change that connect their work to the work of organizations cited in the order.

As citizens, we should take inventory of environmental injustices in our own communities and identify ways to bring the principles of Cooper’s order to life.

Lindsey Hallock, Wilmington