I have lived in North Carolina my whole life, and I come from a long line of people who have also lived in North Carolina their whole lives. This goes back for many generations, and it’s safe to say that I consider myself North Carolina to the core. However, due to serious reservations I have about my home state, I plan on breaking the long-lasting family tradition by moving out of the state post-graduation.
North Carolina is the battlefield of a bleak and bitter political war fueled by a political agenda at the sake of the citizens and old-fashioned, disappointing and discriminatory attitudes. When Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina, wrote in 2014 that in the first 10 months of Gov. Pat McCrory’s governorship, he and his Republican legislative supermajority have “deliberately and systematically undo[ne] 50 years of progress,” he revealed the political reality that frightens many North Carolinians. This is not about party politics — the problem is unchecked power and grievous decisions made to please a certain group of voters. It’s hard to ignore an environment plagued with dissatisfaction and the discontent I feel myself. North Carolina has been severely wounded by the politics of the last couple years, and I am done claiming state pride or ownership in this. I wish to distance myself from the state I was born and raised in, and at one point loved.
I was extremely disappointed in my state when we voted to pass a state constitutional amendment in 2013 that prohibited same-sex marriage. I was shocked when in November, McCrory fear-mongered and asked the federal government to stop the flow of Syrian immigrants who were escaping ISIL into our state. Last week, I was just angry when McCrory signed a discriminatory law that bars transgender individuals from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity on the ground of a detrimental ideology that believes that transgender women are inherently dangerous.
Of course, these aren’t just the concern of North Carolinians — we are getting national recognition for these narrow-minded political decisions. The New York Times wrote an editorial this week titled, “Transgender Law Makes North Carolina Pioneer in Bigotry,” in response to Wednesday’s law that seems unprecedented and is more conservative and extreme than other states. This law has been compared to Jim Crow laws of the past by many critics and obviously represents a step backward instead of forward toward the social progress that our state so desperately needs.
Not only have I witnessed an alarming amount of discriminatory actions by my state government, but also a shameful trend that seems to ignore the needs of public education. This issue, which is close to my heart as a pre-service teacher, has caused a mass “education exodus” from the state.
In North Carolina, teachers often have to work second jobs to make ends meet. Of course, teachers have never boasted high salaries, but at least North Carolina’s teacher salaries used to compete with the rest of the country. According to a 2015 Huffington Post article, the number of teachers who have left the profession altogether is 16 times higher than in 2010. Teacher turnover is at a point of crisis — teachers are leaving in droves to states that pay better, such as Virginia and even South Carolina. I personally don’t want the dissatisfaction that my state is offering me right now. Until North Carolinian politicians decide that the education of its citizens is worth paying teachers at least the national average, then why would I invest my life and career into a system that does not care for me?
This special session on Wednesday, used to pass a discriminatory law, cost $42,000, about $7,000 more than the starting salary of a teacher in this state. This is clearly a state that puts a precedent on bigotry over education, a state that discriminates against its citizens and a state that wants me to make the decision to leave my home, family and friends.
These are just a few issues that I have chosen to focus on, and overall, I just don’t appreciate fear-mongering, constantly overlooking public education and the bigotry that exists in our state government. Decisions that hurt North Carolinians that are made just to earn a vote are truly despicable acts. North Carolina needs to make drastic changes in its government, and as students with an investment in this state, we need to advocate for these changes and get out and vote in gubernatorial elections in the fall.
