Triad Today

By all accounts, COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on small businesses, especially those owned by minorities, so says Ohio congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who testified at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion last month.

“Small businesses have experienced a 22% closure rate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic from February to April, but the closure rate for minority-owned businesses is significantly higher…with 41% of Black-owned businesses closed over the same period.”

That’s why this month’s Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo couldn’t be more timely. I asked Expo director Reginald McCaskill, President and CEO of Maximum Enterprises, how his event can help counter the trend toward closures.

“Most minority-owned businesses don’t have the revenue to market themselves like larger companies, so the opportunity for them to participate in the Expo brings them to a wider audience, and allows them to network across industries.”

This is the seventh year for the Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo, which takes place on Saturday, August 29, from 12 noon until 4pm. But the big change from last year’s event is in the venue. As a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, this year’s Expo will be virtual, via Zoom. I wondered if that would discourage participation. Just the opposite, McCaskill told me.

“We just opened up our registration a week ago, and believe it or not, we already have 75 businesses that have registered for this virtual Expo. We’re excited about the opportunity and the platform. It’s going to be extraordinary!”

In addition to giving Triad area businesses an opportunity to showcase their products and services, the Expo also helps to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs. That’s because proceeds from the Expo go to support the “Kids Biz Training Program”, which helps students in grades 6-12 learn how to start their own businesses.

“The Kids Biz entrepreneur program has allowed youth to get involved and get an early start. It’s a real priority for us because it allows them to develop a business mindset at a young age, and introduces them to an audience of customers they may otherwise not reach,” said McCaskill.

The Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo is being sponsored by Truliant Federal Credit Union, a company who is involved in community activities on many levels, including awarding scholarships to students, and financial education grants to teachers. I asked Sherri Thomas, Chief Human Resources Officer, why Truliant wanted to be involved with the Expo.

“Community is very important to Truliant, so much so that it’s actually one of the core values that our employees pledge to uphold each and every day. We’re proud to be a partner of an event of this magnitude that celebrates and recognizes minority businesses, and what they do for the community, and for the services they provide.”

“Truliant has been a corporate sponsor for this Expo since its inception, and we’re really excited about their continuous partnership,” said McCaskill.

The Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo occurs each year during Black Business Month, which gives the event particular significance.

“We view the Expo as a celebration of Minority businesses, and the exposure we give them is second to none,” said McCaskill.

For more information, or to register, visit TriadMinorityBusinessExpo.com.

Thomas Edison, Booker T. Washington, and the Wright brothers are among thousands of famous innovators who would feel right at home in North Carolina these days. So would modern-day celebrities like Taylor Swift, Venus and Serena Williams, and Olympic gymnast Simon Biles. That’s because all of them were schooled at home, or as Governor Cooper might call it, “Plan C”.

Thanks to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, Cooper recently gave local school districts a choice of three plans for offering instruction this fall. Plan A allows all students to attend class in person at the same time. Plan B would limit capacity of classrooms, and alternate days or weeks of attendance. Plan C allows for remote learning exclusively. As of last week, 39 of the 115 school districts have opted for Plan C (including Winston-Salem Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance/Burlington, Surry County, and Thomasville), which means at least 570,000 K-12 students will be attending school online next month. In most of the Plan C schools, remote learning will last for the first nine weeks of the semester, at which time, students could be allowed back into the classrooms.

The question is, will parents allow their children to return to classroom instruction once Plan C becomes Plan A? Already one third of parents in Charlotte, for example, have said they will continue online learning after nine weeks, regardless. And what about long term? Will these uncertain times encourage more parents to establish their own home school? There is reason to believe they will. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, on July 1, there were so many parents seeking to register a home school, that they actually crashed the state portal, causing the NC Non-Public Education System website to post this message: “The system is not currently available due to an overwhelming submission of Notices of Intent.”

There is, of course, a difference between learning at home and home schooling, but lately the two teaching strategies have become inexorably linked and blurred because of COVID-19. Historically, most parents home schooled their children for religious reasons, but in 1985, the North Carolina Supreme Court validated home schooling in general, and since then, a growing number of parents have opted to teach their kids at home for secular reasons. Last year, for example, 44% of registered home schools were listed as “non-religious”. Meanwhile, home schooling overall has increased in popularity. According to the North Carolina Department of Administration, as of 2019, there were 94,863 registered home schools, teaching a total of 149,173 students. That means, even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, home schools constituted the second largest school district in the state. Now, in light of our pandemic approach to public education, there is no reason to believe this upward trend in home school start-ups will abate.

Surprisingly, it is relatively simple to register as a home school. According to the NCDOA website, a parent need only have a high school diploma (or GED), give their school a name, and identify the ages and genders of each student being home-schooled. Attendance and immunization records must be kept, the same as with any school, and the parent (instructor) must make sure that the students take annual standardized math and reading tests.

Granted, most parents are looking forward to the day when they can safely send their children back into physical classrooms, but others may see the COVID crisis as an impetus for extending home-based instruction indefinitely. Who knows, Cooper’s Plan C and the new wave of home schooling may produce the next Booker T. Washington, and maybe he will invent a better way of teaching during a pandemic.

In the 1984 film Ghostbusters, Janine, the company receptionist, said to her geeky boss Egon Spengler, “I bet you like to read a lot,” to which Egon coldly replied, “Print is dead.” No doubt Mr. Spengler must have had some inside information or a crystal ball because private connections to the internet didn’t become widespread for six more years, and the first social media site (Six Degrees) wouldn’t launch until 1997. By 2004, however, a number of online news sites had sprung up, leading most print edition newspapers to offer their own online content. That was followed by an explosion in social media platforms that encouraged and facilitated the sharing of information, which, at first, was fairly benign. People posted vacation photos, travel tips, and endless pet tricks. Then a not-so-funny thing happened. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter became repositories for misinformation.

Perhaps we didn’t really need empirical research to tell us that the rise in social media “news” has triggered a decline in the fortunes of printed newspapers. Nevertheless, Penelope Muse Abernathy spelled it out for us anyway. Abernathy, a journalism professor at UNC Chapel Hill, released a report last month which showed that overall circulation of daily newspapers dropped by 44% between 2004 and 2019, and that over 2,000 newspapers shut down during that same period of time. Even worse, an additional 35 newspapers have ceased publication just since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. Meanwhile, Abernathy says that of the 71,640 newspaper reporters and editors working in 2008, more than half had lost their jobs by 2018.

It is no surprise, then, that, according to the Pew Research Center, social media sites “have surpassed print newspapers as a news source for Americans.” And, according to Forbes, nearly 65% of internet users receive breaking news from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram, instead of traditional media. Aside from the declining number of newspapers and the jobs lost as a result, the thing that should concern us most is accuracy and accountability.

Unlike television broadcasters who are regulated by the government, and newspapers who must adhere to strict standards of journalism, or else run afoul of libel laws, social media sites get by with publishing just about anything from anyone. No fact-checking, no confirming or citing sources, and no mechanism for undoing the damage they may cause. Following the massacre of over 50 people at a Las Vegas concert, one social media site misidentified the shooter as a Democratic operative, while another reported that the gunman was working for the Russian government. If a newspaper made a mistake like that, the publisher would have to run a retraction. But in the age of Trump, it’s not only OK to post misinformation, it’s OK to re-tweet it, and re-tweet it, and re-tweet it.

Don’t get me wrong. If used responsibly, social media can bring us important information quicker than any other source, and can even save lives in times of an impending natural disaster. But when misused, social media can confuse the truth and stoke the fires of civil unrest. So what’s the solution? First we must hope that Congress will vote to regulate social media, and assign stiff penalties to those sites and their subscribers whenever their platforms are used to disseminate false information. Second, we must encourage our friends to be more selective when it comes to online news sources. Suggest that they stick to websites owned and operated by reputable newspapers. And third, if you own or manage a local business, you should place your advertising dollars with local papers instead of on social media sites. If you do, rest assure that your ads will be surrounded by factual news stories, written by responsible journalists who live and work in your community. Do these things, and you won’t need a crystal ball to tell you that print is still very much alive.

Every year around the end of June, I used to write about the dangers of fireworks, and every year, the feedback I received from friend and foe alike was almost always the same: “Come on Jim, don’t be a wet blanket. You’ve got to have fireworks on the Fourth of July!” It became obvious that my annual call for banning fireworks was falling on deaf ears (pardon the expression). In fact, the only positive feedback I ever received was from pet lovers whose dogs go into convulsions during holiday explosions. Then, last month came a ray of hope when most North Carolina localities announced they were cancelling their annual fireworks displays due to concerns over crowd control and the spread of COVID-19. But my elation was short-lived when I realized that a decrease in municipal fireworks celebrations would just mean an increase in private celebrations. Sure enough, come dusk on July 4^th, people all over the Triad started firing rockets into the sky, and not just the kind that produce pretty colors. The fireworks shot off near our neighborhood produced eardrum-bursting sounds akin to cannon fire, and take my word for it, my family didn’t feel patriotic, we just felt violated. Pardon my French, but this shit has got to stop, and not just because of loud noises.

According to a report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, hospital emergency rooms treated over 9,000 people for fireworks related injuries in 2018. That number jumped to over 10,000 last year, and children under the age of 15 account for 36% of those injuries. Dr. Erin Miller, a hand surgeon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, told the Associated Press that she amputated 42 fingers due to fireworks injuries last year alone. And, each year more than a dozen people are killed because of fireworks. National figures aren’t available for 2020 yet, but already reports are trickling in from select cities. In Cleveland, at least 17 people were injured from fireworks over this past Fourth of July weekend, and complaints about fireworks in that city tripled from 2019.

And then there’s the matter of fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireworks are responsible for starting approximately 20,000 fires each year. Of those, nearly 2,000 are structure fires, 500 are vehicle fires, and over 17,000 are outside fires. Moreover, the NFPA estimates that fireworks-related fires cause over $105 million dollars in direct property damage. But there are other types of damage as well. For example, studies by the EPA show that chemical residue from fireworks is causing an increasing amount of environmental damage, including the pollution of lakes, ponds, and ground water. Meanwhile, Science Daily reported that children with asthma had more frequent attacks because of smoke generated from fireworks displays.

Given the number of injuries and deaths caused by fireworks, as well as damage to property, and adverse effects on health and the environment, it would seem that fireworks would be illegal, and they are…sort of. Here in North Carolina, consumers are prohibited from detonating “explosives or aerial fireworks, roman candles, and rockets or similar devices” (NC general statutes 14-410 through 14-415, and 58-82a-1 through 58-82a-55). In fact, possession of those prohibited fireworks is a Class II misdemeanor, but that’s hardly a weighty enough prosecutorial classification for the illegal use of such dangerous explosives.

Last week I spoke by phone with NC Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey who also serves as our state’s Fire Marshal. I asked him what can be done to actually deter fireworks violators. Causey explained that the only way to ensure enforcement is for the General Assembly to amend the statutes in such a way as to include stiffer criminal penalties. In the meantime, Causey and his team continue to produce educational videos and materials that warn against the dangers of fireworks. “It’s not worth the risk, especially when you mix fireworks and alcohol,” he told me. And, the Commissioner said he is ready and willing to appear before the General Assembly armed with statistics on those dangers, should a bill ever be introduced that would seek to further clarify and criminalize consumer use of deadly fireworks.

Currently, state statutes allow for municipalities to present professionally executed fireworks displays operated by vendors who must be properly credentialed and insured in order to fire off rockets and other explosives. Meanwhile, consumers are free to enjoy sparklers and party poppers in their own back yard. The question remains, is there a legislator who will step up to the plate and introduce a bill that will severely punish those who think their back yard is a launching pad for dangerous, deafening missiles? Put another way: Is there a lawmaker willing to endure the fireworks that will ensue from proposing a ban on fireworks? My dogs certainly hope so.

While serving as Chairman of the Southern Governors Association, Virginia Governor Doug Wilder asked me to produce a documentary about how he and his nineteen colleagues worked together to deal with matters of regional concern, ranging from increasing trade with Central America, to decreasing the infant mortality rate. The SGA also focused on emergency preparedness initiatives, including how to respond to, and help each other when confronted with, a natural disaster. I was struck by how transparent and cooperative these governors were, especially given that the Association’s membership represented chief executives who hailed from both political parties. Yes, they were strong-willed, principled leaders who knew how to bend the rules, but they also realized the importance of working across the aisles, including within their own states. It’s how Wilder was able to pass the nation’s first handgun legislation, and operate with an annual surplus while increasing funding for social services. If only we had the likes of Wilder and Ann Richards to help us through the COVID pandemic. Instead we have governors who continue to act unilaterally at a time when they should be seeking a consensus.

In April of this year, The National Review’s David Harsanyi highlighted examples of government overreach in eight different states. Those included: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmire unilaterally banning garden stores from selling fruit or vegetable plants; the governors of Vermont and Indiana dictating that Walmart, Costco, and Target stop selling “non-essential” items such as clothing; The governor of Vermont banning people from purchasing seeds for their gardens; Philadelphia police dragging a passenger off of a bus because the governor mandated the wearing of face masks; Police in Brighton, Colorado arresting and handcuffing a father for playing T-ball with his daughter in an empty park because the governor ordered parks off limits; Massachusetts police arresting three men for crossing the state line to play golf; Kentucky Governor Greg Fischer’s attempt to ban drive-in church services just before Easter; and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers invoking his emergency powers, giving him the right to do just about anything he wants during the pandemic, including seizing private property.

Unfortunately our own Governor Roy Cooper is guilty of similar abuses and inconsistencies. Cooper was supposed to have sought concurrence from our duly elected Council of State officers before proceeding with any executive orders or closures during the pandemic. But according to Speaker of the House Tim Moore, Cooper abandoned that legal precedent, “when some members of the Council of State objected to his plan.” Last week, after Cooper vetoed several bills that would have reaffirmed the role of the Council, and brought relief to shuttered businesses, Speaker Moore said, “Families and individuals are desperate for a balanced approach to recovery that protects the public’s health without permanently devastating small businesses across our state…it is clear that Governor Cooper is unwilling to prioritize struggling North Carolinians over his own power.”

Meanwhile, Cooper’s opponent in November, Lt. Governor Dan Forest, is preparing to sue the Governor for doing an end run around our Council of State, and ordering closure of some businesses while extending restrictions on others. “The Governor has repeatedly ignored the law, enacting mandates that selectively target the businesses and citizens of North Carolina without concurrence from a majority of the Council of State,” said Forest in a press release late last month.

Of course, the deck is stacked against Cooper in that regard because the ten-member Council of State comprises four Democrats and six Republicans. As Speaker Moore alluded to, Cooper knew that the Council’s Republican majority would never go along with his various Executive orders and phase-in plans, but instead of compromising, he went full-bore ahead without any checks and balances in place to stop him.

But Cooper’s abuses of power aren’t just of concern to political opponents. Groups representing churches and bowling alleys have successfully challenged the Governor in Court. And, according to WBT, more than two dozen media outlets around the state have filed suit against Cooper because he refuses to release COVID-19 related records, including a database that details the actual number of cases, and communication between various state officials and local health departments.

In March of this year, Miriam Seifter, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, addressed the issue of gubernatorial abuses in an article for the Harvard Law Review. Dr. Seifter noted that framers of, “Early state constitutions…were concerned… because they believed colonial governors abused their power. Today a vigilant public is an important check against just making sure that these powers, which are extremely important in controlling epidemics, are exercised in a responsible and nondiscriminatory way.”

No doubt some of Governor Cooper’s orders initially helped to stem the tide of COVID cases, and prevented our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon the Governor going forward, to be more forthcoming, transparent, and cooperative in developing his ongoing strategies to battle COVID-19.

In the summer of 1977, I witnessed something I’ve never experienced before or since. I was holding court in a Century City hotel where CBS shuttled their primetime stars in and out of my suite for two straight days. I was there to tape interviews that we could broadcast back home on our local affiliate, and the network stars were there to boost ratings for their series. As the days wore on, my tech crew got so used to seeing celebrities stroll into the suite, that they would casually talk among themselves and fiddle with equipment as each actor entered.

Then it happened. Robert Wagner arrived for his appointed interview, and the room went dead silent. There was no talking, no clanging of light stands, just complete silence. All of us, men and women alike, were mesmerized by his old-style Hollywood elegance and boyish smile. On that day, R.J. was there to promote Switch, a private eye drama co-starring his friend Eddie Albert and a young Sharon Gless before she rose to stardom in Cagney & Lacey. We talked about a lot of things that day, but my memory is clouded by the passage of 43 years and the fact that I was star-struck to begin with.

What I do know is that in the years since, I came to realize that R.J.’s elegance, charm, and kindness were 100% genuine. For example, 30 years after our first meeting, R.J. rushed from the set of Two and a Half Men and grabbed a red-eye flight here to Winston-Salem to help our Humane Society raise money for a no-kill animal shelter. Thanks in part to R.J.’s celebrity draw, the shelter was eventually built, and in a very short time, we increased our save rate from 36% to over 70%.

Earlier this year, R.J. turned a youthful 90, and this summer, he celebrates his 70^th year in show business. Recently, while everyone was still sheltering at home, R.J. and I had a socially-distant phone conversation about his remarkable career, which began with a cameo as a baseball player in 1950’s The Happy Years.

JL: You were only in the movie for a few seconds, but it looked to me as though you could really play ball.

RJ: Well, I had played baseball in school, but I give credit to the editor for making me look good [laughs]. Actually, Bill Wellman gave me that break. My father knew Bill from the Bel-Air Country Club, and he said, “My son wants to be in the picture business. Is there anything you can do?” And Bill gave me that shot.

Young Wagner also made a lot of high-profile friends of his own at the Club, including Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and Clark Gable, who helped to open doors for him. Before long, R.J. was under contract at 20^th Century Fox, where he played everything from a soldier to a prince before landing a game-changing role in 1954’s Broken Lance, a western starring Spencer Tracy.

RJ: That was my favorite picture, and it did so much for me. Mr. Tracy gave me co-star billing above the title, and that took me out of being just another guy in Hollywood. It put me in a whole different position. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Broken Lance changed my life completely.

Wagner went on to appear in over 60 films, but landed his first lead role on television in 1968 with It Takes a Thief, co-starring his friend Fred Astaire.

JL: You wrote in your book, Pieces of My Heart, that Fred once advised you to just “keep going.” What did he mean?

RJ: Just don’t let anything stop you. If you get turned down—if you get rejected, which is all the time, I mean, actors get rejected constantly—he said, “just keep your head up and keep going.”

And that’s what R.J. did after Thief was canceled. He starred in Colditz, a short-lived WWII drama, then co-starred with Eddie Albert in Switch, all the while taking on supporting roles in such films as The Towering Inferno and Midway. Then, in 1979, R.J. struck gold with Hart to Hart, which ran for five seasons and spawned eight TV movies, and a lasting friendship with Stefanie Powers. One of R.J.’s other co-stars in that series was Freeway the dog.

RJ: Most Hollywood dogs work on hand signals, but Freeway didn’t respond to that, so his trainer would be off-set while Stefanie and I were in the middle of a love scene, and all you’d hear from the trainer is, “Come on, come on, come on.” I’d be like, “Darling I love you,” then we’d hear, “come on, come on.”

JL: Was there a lot of panting during that scene?

RJ: Yeah, from me and from the dog.

JL: You’ve always been sort of the romantic lead, but was there ever a time when your good looks kept you from getting an acting job, or from being taken seriously as an actor?

RJ: Oh, I don’t know. It’s possible. But a guy wouldn’t come up to you and say, “We wouldn’t cast you in this picture because you’re a good-looking guy.” [both laugh] I mean, I never had that happen. But I’ve been very fortunate with all that.

JL: Well, you certainly had the looks to play a great James Bond. In fact, you and Cubby Broccoli talked about your becoming 007 after George Lazenby dropped out. Why didn’t you take that role?

RJ: Because I’m too American. I think I would have had to do it with an accent; besides, Roger (Moore) was a perfect choice.

JL: But if you had been James Bond, aren’t there some villainous studio heads or critics that you’d like to have put in your ejector seat?

RJ: Oh, God. [laughs] That’s a good question.

JL: You’re not going to name names, are you?

RJ: No, I don’t think so.

JL: Are there any TV or movie roles you turned down that you wish you hadn’t?

RJ: You know I was offered Westworld, and that would have been interesting, but I was doing something else at the time.

At that point in our conversation, I mentioned it was our friend Richard Benjamin who took the role in Westworld, and that prompted R.J. to comment on Dick’s participation in the recent documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, which was produced by Wagner’s daughter, Natasha.

RJ: Did you see the documentary?

JL: I did, and it was superb.

RJ: I’m so glad you reacted the way you did because what Natasha wanted to have happen out of that documentary is for people to remember her mother as she lived, not as she died.

JL: Natasha’s film was really a breath of fresh air amidst the stink of today’s tabloid media who thrive on sensationalism, but let’s face it, there have always been trash magazines that went after Hollywood celebrities.

RJ: But we weren’t free-game then. Now we’re free-game, and anybody can write anything they want to, and not source it or attribute it.

JL: You once said that your friend Cary Grant worked hard to achieve a sense of ease about his celebrity. Has it been the same for you? Or, did that sense of ease about your celebrity just come natural?

RJ: I don’t feel uneasy about it, but I feel very grateful, very grateful. I’ve been so fortunate in my career, and I really haven’t done a hell of a lot to get that. I’ve just been very, very lucky, Jim.

Bobby Kimbrough, Jr. has faced a number of challenges in his life. In 2005 he lost his wife, and has since raised their seven sons alone. In 2018, after retiring as a special agent with the D.E.A., he challenged a popular incumbent, and became the first African American ever elected Sheriff in Forsyth County. And in 2020, he has helped to keep order at a time when two diseases, COVID and racism, have overtaken our society. Today, Kimbrough oversees a department with 600 employees including over 230 sworn deputies. Bobby was a guest on my Triad Today program recently, and we talked about law enforcement and race relations.

JL: You wrote “Surviving the Stop” in 2016. What kind of information do you offer in the book, and is it still relevant today?

BK: Oh, very relevant. The book is a thumbnail sketch of how you should interact with police when being stopped on the side of the road, and how you interact with police in situations that could save lives. Because it’s a relationship that can take place quickly, and depending on how it takes place, determines the outcome.

JL: In the book, you wrote, “Police don’t leave work in the morning planning to kill an African American.” Do you still believe that? And, if so, how do you account for so many recent incidents of excessive force?

BK: I don’t think police wake up with the intent of killing someone, but sometimes there are people who work in law enforcement who have racial issues, racism. And so the slightest interaction with the public can trigger all those things that have been dormant, and comes to the surface. Because how I see you will determine how I respond to you.

JL: And somewhat ironically, African American officers will tell you that for Black folks who don’t like police, it’s the uniform they see, not the skin color of the officer.

BK: Of course because their brush is painted so broad that one incident or two or three incidents affects all of us who carry a shield, whether it’s a gold badge, federal badge, local or state. It affects all of us.

JL: Some cities are considering whether or not to defund or dismantle their police departments. Is that the best way to weed out bad officers?

BK: I don’t think we need to defund. I think we need to re-construct, re-configure, re-tool things. But how are we going to defund an organization that is already underfunded? We need to have more funding in law enforcement to pay for better training. An example is the Federal government. Every 5 years they re-investigate their agents. They send them back through the same process that they do when they hire them. Local and state governments don’t do that because of lack of funding. So I think that more funding would help us hire and keep better officers, and also assure more quality control.

JL: More and more leaders are calling for a national registry that would weed out officers who have a history of excessive force. If that happens, then those officers would not be able to get hired by any other law enforcement agency. Good idea?

BK: In every state the top law enforcement official is the Attorney General. In order for a registry to work it has to have some teeth, in other words it has to be mandated. not a registry that is optional. So for example if there is a complaint against an officer, it must be registered with the AG’s office. That way, it’s a law and the incident is documented. And if it gets to a point where your agency has so many complaints, then we notify your agency. And also, if that officer leaves, anyone wishing to hire that person would have to check with the AG’s office to see if there have been any complaints.

JL: There have also been some localities who want to defund their School Resource Officer program. What are your thoughts on that?

BK: I understand people talk about the school to prison pipeline, I get that. But there are so many things that go into that. It has a lot to do with how the children in our schools are being educated, how well they read. All of these things are factored in. But when it comes to school resource officers, the program that we have built in Forsyth county, matches our officers with their school, because each school has a different personality. We’ve also changed the SRO uniform. We also have all of our staff volunteering in schools across the County. I teach a class every Thursday, and I am grateful that the Superintendent allows me to do that.

JL: You are a Sheriff elected by the people. You are a man of color. You are the father of 7 sons. Given what we’ve been going though in this country lately, are you at all conflicted by any of those roles in your own life every day?

BK: I’ve cried a lot over the last couple of months because I’m hurt by what I see. We as a country have got to remove some of the barriers, remove some of the stigmas, remove some of the racism, and realize that we’re in this together. Both of the Pandemics we’re experiencing are contagious, and both are lethal, and we need each other. So the words I say to my sons is we have to remove the racism. It’s 2020 and we’ve got to do some things totally different. You and I just talked about why all of these things are happening now. Maybe it’s causing us to see things from a different vantage point. Think about it: 2020 also relates to eyesight.

Despite recent events, Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough’s vision for the future is clear and hopeful, and that should give us comfort in these uncertain times.

Sports fans know that the most egregious sin a football player can commit is a face mask violation, which carries with it a substantial penalty, and with good reason. Face masks are required in football because they help to protect the players, and grabbing a man’s face mask can result in serious injury, even death. Over the past several months, face masks of a different kind are helping to protect us against the spread of COVID-19, and those who refuse to wear them, put themselves and others at risk. Or do they?

Last week, Governor Roy Cooper said he was considering making everyone wear a face mask. Meanwhile those opposed to such government regulations were busy burning their face masks in protest. Clearly, Cooper can enact a mandatory face mask law, but, unlike in football, he cannot dispatch referees to every corner of the state to enforce his rule. And so, the debate over face masks rages on, and includes such points of contention as: Do masks really prevent the spread of COVID-19? If so, to what degree? Who really needs to wear a mask? Can businesses require customers to wear face masks? And, does government have the power to require all citizens to wear masks? Let’s begin with conflicting arguments from health care professionals.

The Centers for Disease Control is crystal clear on this matter: the agency advises all Americans to wear face masks. According to The Daily Mail, the CDC even went so far as to advise people who couldn’t find a face mask, to make their own device, or else wear a scarf “when travelling on public transport or in supermarkets.” Why? Because wearing a mask keeps respiratory droplets from getting airborne. Sans mask, the CDC says those droplets can take flight whenever someone talks, coughs, or sneezes. Speaking with the Winston-Salem Journal, Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious disease expert at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, says that masks reduce the infection rate by more than half. “Masks work,” said Ohl. “The aspect that there’s more harm than good from a mask just isn’t there.”

But not everyone agrees that masks are the best way to keep the pandemic under control. The World Health Organization, for example, still does not recommend mandatory wearing of face masks because they say there is no definitive proof that masks prevent infection. Even the Mayo Clinic, which supports the wearing of face masks, advises that there are exceptions to the rule. For example, a person with breathing problems should not wear a mask, and neither should a child under the age of 2. On the flip side, even most opponents of face mask mandates agree that PPEs are necessary for those who work in nursing homes and doctor’s offices.

In general, though, anti-maskers say that so long as we keep our social distance from others and wash our hands frequently, then it is almost impossible for the virus to spread. That argument seems to be falling on deaf ears. The city of Raleigh has recently ordered the mandatory wearing of face masks, UNCG just announced a similar policy last week, and Governor Cooper may enact a statewide mandate at any moment. Meanwhile, folks who oppose mandatory face masks might have more to protest than just a gubernatorial order. Last week, one major airline said that any passenger caught not wearing a mask, would be banned from all future flights. If that trend catches on, then watch for other industries to follow suit, and consumer groups to mount all sorts of legal challenges.

Despite the vitriol surrounding face masks, we’re all trying to find our way toward a new normal, and it doesn’t help that we keep getting mixed messages from the WHO, the CDC, the White House, the State House, and the private sector. And don’t look for a consistent message from local elected officials either. Walk into most any meeting of a county board or city council, and you’ll see some members wearing face masks and others without them. What we need, then, are some designated referees who all agree on the rules, and can help us follow them. No one wants to be penalized for not knowing what the penalties are.

 
 

In 2002, conservative Republican Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered that nude statues adorning the Department of Justice be covered up, so that when he gave impromptu TV interviews, people wouldn’t see bare breasts and genitalia over his shoulder. Ashcroft became the “butt” of jokes because of his puritanical censorship of fine art. Today millions of people are demanding the removal of statues for entirely different reasons, and there’s nothing funny about their motives.

Over the past few years our nation has been removing symbols that are perceived by some to be racist. Colleges whose buildings were named for slave owners and white supremacists have since renamed those structures. Local and state governments have taken down Confederate flags. And, statues of Confederate soldiers have been vandalized, torn down, and re-located. The controversy over offensive symbols has intensified as an increasing number of unarmed African Americans have died at the hands of white cops. Suddenly the national conversation has turned from some folks being offended by reminders of past racism, to all folks being horrified by ongoing racism. The problem is that tearing down statues does nothing to end racism.

As I noted in a previous column, my friend Larry Womble and I talked about a lot of issues over the years, including a conversation we had regarding a Confederate statue in front of the old Forsyth County courthouse. Larry remarked to me that he had driven past that statue hundreds of times and never realized that it depicted a Confederate soldier. “It just wasn’t something that was on my radar,” he told me. The fact is, the statue hadn’t been on anybody’s radar for nearly a hundred years, but it was removed anyway because it had become a symbol of unchecked oppression to a new generation living in a time of unchecked brutality. OK, so now the statue is gone. So is Silent Sam in Chapel Hill. So is Jeff Davis in Richmond. So is General Williams Wickham in Richmond. Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (who admitted to once wearing blackface at a party) wants to get rid of all Confederate statues along Monument Avenue. And yet, in spite of flags and namesakes, and statues having been removed, racism is a bigger problem now than ever before. People of color are still unfairly profiled and detained. Police are still using tear gas, pepper spray, and choke holds. Peaceful protests are still hijacked by rioters and looters. White supremacists are still driving their trucks into crowds of African Americans, and posting racist threats on social media. Unarmed black men are still being murdered. So much for tearing down statues.

I have no personal stake in Confederate monuments, so I’m OK with relocating them to appropriate museums and cemeteries. Meanwhile, we need to start erecting statues to honor African American leaders. But if we really want things to change, then we must initiate substantive reforms in policing. We must establish a national registry of abusive cops so that once fired, they can never be hired by another police department or security firm. We must hope that all cities follow the lead of Greensboro Police Chief Brian James who has just outlawed the use of chokeholds. We must demand that local budgets be adjusted to include more social services and an emphasis on educational parity. And we must all get behind the “Justice in Policing Act”, which was introduced by House Democrats last week.

It’s easy for politicians and protestors to get rid of statues, but it’s a lot harder for them to get rid of systematic racism. Given the choice, I’d rather them focus more on the latter, and less on the former.

 
 

There’s no doubt about it. Donald Trump tweets some nasty things about people. He also uses Twitter to fire people and fire up people. He gives dangerous medical advice via Twitter, and he tweets about his imagined superiority on an almost daily basis. Trump uses Twitter a lot. In fact, he was the first presidential candidate and is the first president to use that platform as his primary source of communication with the public. The problem is that nearly everything Trump tweets is either untrue or inflammatory. He did not have the largest crowd in inaugural history. Clorox is not safe to inject or ingest. He does not hire the best people. Obama was not born overseas and he did not wiretap Trump’s office. And, we have not defeated either ISIS or COVID-19. Independent fact-checking sources tell us that since taking office, Donald Trump has told in excess of 15,000 lies, many of them having been communicated via Twitter. Sadly, we have become almost normalized to the effects of those lies, some of which have even glorified violence, and Twitter has done nothing to keep us from being infected by them, until now, that is.

Last week, protests and riots broke out across the nation following an incident in which Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis cop, killed George Floyd, an unarmed black man. Trump implied in a tweet that the protestors (aka,“thugs”) should be shot. Earlier that same week, the President tweeted that MSNBC host and former congressman Joe Scarborough should be investigated for the murder of a woman who worked in Scarborough’s congressional office. In fact, the woman in question, 28-year-old Lori Klausutis, died from a fall, caused by a heart condition. But Trump isn’t the kind of person to let the facts get in the way of a good story. This wasn’t the first time he had alluded to a murder plot, and he was in the process of doubling down on that heinous rumor when the Minneapolis incident occurred. Twitter stepped in and began posting disclaimers in conjunction with the President’s tweets. Angered by what he considered to be bias and censorship, the President issued an executive order directing the FCC and FTC to study the viability of imposing new regulations on social media companies.

At first glance, Trump’s order seemed dangerously totalitarian, but this particular knee-jerk reaction may actually result in some much-needed legislation. Radio and television broadcasters, for example, are licensed and regulated by the federal government. If a TV station refuses to meet the needs of a particular group of viewers, or violates community standards, or if an anchorperson spews a bunch of expletives on air, then that TV station could incur a hefty fine and even lose its license. Twitter, Facebook and other similar companies, however, are not regulated. They are protected by Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which recognizes them as platforms rather than publishers. Thus, social media giants can’t be sued or fined, or shut down. For years now, I have called on Congress and the FCC to regulate Twitter and Facebook the same way they do broadcasters, but our elected officials don’t seem inclined to initiate such a change. Too bad, because too many people have been hurt emotionally and financially by malicious and false statements posted on social media. Take for instance the case of Lori Drew, who set up a MySpace account under a false name, with the express purpose of sending libelous and harassing messages to a 13-year-old neighbor girl. The girl subsequently committed suicide.

I don’t know how Trump’s executive order will play out, but if it leads to legislation which regulates and punishes social media companies, and convicts customers who abuse those platforms, then the President’s seemingly totalitarian action may end up being the best thing to happen to the internet since Al Gore says he invented it.

In a world gone mad with partisan political bickering, gridlock, racist comments, obfuscations, and unethical stock transactions, we, as a society, have come to expect very little of our elected officials. Statesmanship, accountability, and leadership are in short supply these days, which is one reason why I am so saddened by the loss of Larry Womble. Larry had a distinguished career as an educator, legislator, and social activist. He moved mountains through the sheer power of impassioned persuasion, and helped to pass landmark legislation without alienating his opponents. He cared about others and put their needs above his own. He was a seminal figure in the history of our state, and he was my friend. Larry Womble passed away on May 14. He was 78.

Larry and I often referred to ourselves as a couple of Winston-Salem boys, but the issues he fought for were anything but provincial. He was responsible for repealing a law that allowed the state to sterilize someone against their will, and then he won compensation for victims of those sterilizations. He made us aware of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and he gave us his personal guarantee that lottery funds would go to help schools. Larry also lobbied to require companies who built their fortune on the backs of slavery, to own up to their actions as a pre-requisite to doing business with the state.

On a personal note, Larry was a sounding board for me. One day at lunch I told him that I had been approached to run for office, and I asked his advice. “Are you prepared to devote all of your time to the job, and be away from home for weeks on end?, ”he asked. I said “No”, and that was the end of my short-lived political career. Larry knew that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, and that’s why he was always so supportive of Triad Today, on which he made a number of appearances.

One such visit to our studio came on September 2, 2005. He had just left Raleigh after an extended legislative session, and was about to board a plane for Africa. It was not his first trip to that continent, and I wondered why he kept returning there each year. Said Larry, “I was surprised on my first visit to Africa and some of the small villages, when the kids asked me, ‘could you send us some books?’ And I said I can do that, and I’ve been sending books over there ever since. If somebody is determined to have a book, they ought to have a book.”

Larry made good on that promise, and in just a few short years, he had delivered over 55,000 books to African children. What’s more, Larry paid for the books out of his own pocket. That was Larry. Always helping, always leading.

Politically, Larry was a Democrat, so his activism for racial justice and other social issues was not surprising. But he never let party politics take precedent over common sense and fair play. For example, once during an interview, I mentioned how the Libertarian Party couldn’t get on the ballot in North Carolina because it hadn’t met the threshold of garnering 10% of the vote in the previous election. Rather than toe the line in defense of the two-party system, Larry said, “I support moving the threshold down to 2%, because we need to open the doors for more political parties.” In effect, Larry was fighting for the rights of candidates who might one day run against him. That was Larry. Always helping, always leading.

Larry retired from public office in 2012 after sustaining debilitating injuries in an automobile crash, but he remained engaged in and informed about current events. He was still an activist even when he couldn’t be active.

During the controversy over Confederate statues, Larry’s friend and my buddy, Keith Grandberry remarked that the problem wasn’t so much about honoring so many white leaders, as it was not honoring any black leaders. I couldn’t agree more, and if we want to rectify that problem, then erecting a monument to Larry Womble would be a perfect place to start. I just hope that his statue is life size. I’d say about 20 feet tall would do it.