On March 7, Ronny Chieng, a comedian and senior correspondent on The Daily Show, revealed to the world a truth all North Carolinians know — Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is a bigot.
Honestly, labeling Mark Robinson as merely a bigot doesn’t demonstrate the extremity of his views. He holds prejudiced views against an array of minority groups including women, LGBTQ+ individuals, Jews, Muslims, Asians and Black Civil Rights leaders — even as a Black man himself. Robinson’s comments have included referring to LGBTQ+ individuals as “maggots,” “flies” and “filth,” labeling Black Democrats as “slaves” and suggesting men are ordained by God to lead — demonstrating his point by saying God sent “David. Not Davita, David.”
Still, his bias on different minority groups only scratches the surface of his ignorance.
Robinson said he is anti-abortion, no matter the case, meaning he doesn’t care if the person was raped or on their deathbed.
“If I had all the power right now, let’s say I was the governor and had a willing legislature, we could pass a bill saying you can’t have an abortion in North Carolina for any reason,” Robinson said in a 2023 radio interview.
Despite his vocal stance against abortion, Robinson supported his own wife, Yolanda, in her abortion.
In response to appalling ideology like this, the entire country has turned its attention to North Carolinians.
Robinson transitioned from a factory worker to a political figure by sharing his views on Facebook, a platform where his commentary often targeted sensitive subjects. Among his most notorious posts were those made February 27, 2018, about the Parkland shooting survivors. Robinson said the survivors were “spoiled, angry, know it all CHILDREN” who were attempting to persuade “law abiding ADULTS” to relinquish their Constitutional right to own certain weapons.
Other infamous posts by Robinson include denying the Holocaust and mocking a survivor of the Weinstein cases. Through his Facebook platform, he was able to develop the political base he maintains today.
Robinson’s political ascent illustrates the polarizing impact of social media on societal progress. Although his rise began in 2018, a time when the effects of social media polarization weren’t as understood, his unchecked spread of misinformation highlights a failure by our state’s government to preemptively parry out extremism before Robinson even stepped near the ballot.
To preemptively counter any form of extremism, whether originating from the left or the right, education stands as our sole remedy to viruses like Robinson. Through proper education on media literacy and better primary education, individuals are equipped to discern an extremist falsehood because they are privy to the truth.
However, you would be an ignorant fool if you thought our GOP Senate and House government would desire better education.
Instead, our education ranked dead-last in funding in 2022. To make things worse, in the four years that Media Literacy Now has created a U.S. Media Literacy Policy report, our state is not mentioned once in making significant steps to increase media literacy.
Amidst this last-place finish, Robinson’s leadership could further reduce state education by proposing the removal of social studies and science from K-12 curricula and the exclusion of minority perspectives. These policies would limit students’ exposure to a world beyond our state so he can control the narrative as he pleases.
Robinson is plagiarizing his ideas from the USSR’s “Unified Labour School” system and the Nazi’s “National Political Institutes of Education.”
This characterization seems hyperbolic; however, it only takes one election cycle for everything to go south, as witnessed in Nazi Germany or in the North Carolina Senate election of 2014.
In 2018, we could have nipped him and the extremism he represents at its source. However, we let the symptoms fester to the point where most of the country laughs at our apparent regression.
Nonetheless, we can purge ourselves of Robinson and the ignorance that follows him very soon by electing an oppositional leader who puts truthful education at the forefront, like Attorney General Josh Stein, but the vote is not in my hands.
It is up to us — as the future of this country — to vote and ensure the progress of our country during a time of apparent chaos.
Please, head to the polls and cast your vote with certainty. It’s not just about preventing Mark Robinson from winning the governor’s seat, it’s about ensuring the margin of victory is so decisive that it sends an unmistakable signal to those like Robinson. This election’s decision is our collective voice against those who impede on the well-being of others, so let’s make sure the voice is a loud one.
For NC State students who wish to register to vote or update their voter registration details, you can find instructions and additional resources by visiting the NC State Student Services website on voter registration.
