More apologizing, less whining, needed from NC’s Lt. Gov.
Mark Robinson decided to begin his stint as the first black man to be elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina by whining about a cartoon that hit hard. His time would be better spent driving through the Tar Heel state apologizing for all the ugly, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and, frankly, idiotic things he’s proudly and passionately said and posted over the years. I don’t expect that to happen because that would be too much like right.
Given that, let’s get one thing straight while we are still early in his tenure. He will not be able to use his skin color to beat back legitimate criticism of his noxious ideas, no matter how much or how loudly he protests. He doesn’t get to use his blackness as a shield or as a Trojan horse to push educational policies that will drive race relations backwards. He will not be allowed to use his black face to whitewash this state’s or country’s racial history.
Earlier this week, Robinson held a press conference in which he excoriated a political cartoon and cartoonist he didn’t like. You read that right. COVID-19 is on the march. The economy is still in tatters. Significant educational standards debates are unfolding and decisions need to be made. But the state had to stop because a cartoon hurt the lieutenant governor’s feelings — a cartoon whose message was as important as it was biting.
It was published on the Opinion page of WRAL.com and depicted GOP members of the N.C. Board of Education in KKK garb, which includes Robinson. The message was fitting and timely, given that Republicans on the board are trying to water down educational curriculum. They don’t want North Carolina students taught the truth about systemic racism and claim speaking honestly about our past would undermine the idea that the United States is the greatest country in the world — while not noticing how witless it is to proclaim that a country that has to lie to feel better about itself can ever be considered genuinely great.
Before Robinson whines about these words the way he did a cartoon, understand that I spent years defending Republicans from blanket claims of racism, even voted for a significant number of them. I wanted both parties to have to vie for the black vote. Then Republicans seemed to lose their way on race after the first black president was elected. They implemented voter suppression laws that targeted black voters with surgical precision. Then they doubled down on that perniciousness by worshiping an openly bigoted and racist man like Donald Trump — whom North Carolina Republicans backed twice, sending a signal to the rest of the country that the state would rather be associated with the Old South than the new one.
It doesn’t matter if Robinson believes in systemic racism. The reality of systemic racism isn’t dependent upon what Robinson and others of like-mind want to believe or disbelieve. That’s why it would be a shame for their superficial-misleading view of American history to take hold in our schools. It would be bad for our children and worse for the state. We’d set in motion generations of racial ignorance even as this country is rapidly becoming more diverse.
The cartoon Robinson took time out of his obviously busy schedule to complain about didn’t literally mean he was a member of the KKK. It simply illustrated what would be obvious to anyone who has seriously thought through these issues, that the whitewashing of our history Robinson and others want would no doubt be KKK-approved.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 8:29 AM.