Last Thursday's NAACP Candidates Forum was well-organized and well-attended (except for sparse media presence), including about 10 high school students who asked tough questions of the School Board candidates. Listening to nine Town Council candidates all answer the same question got pretty monotonous – especially since only about half of them generally have anything substantial to say. (I have to thank Rudy Juliano, Mike McSwain, and the ever-absent Woodrow Barfield for not coming, and thereby making the forum about 36 minutes shorter.)
I don’t know much about School Board issues except that every candidate says they are opposed to the racial education gap, but no-one has thus far made much of a dent in the problem. All six candidates (for four seats) were in attendance. Incumbents Elizabeth Carter and Gloria Faley were convincingly knowledgeable, and I like them both personally. Of the challengers, George Griffin stood out for his extensive educational expertise and understanding of white privilege, but the Expert Schmexpert thing was kind of a turn-off. There’s another semi-incumbent, Ed Sechrest, who was appointed to fill an empty seat. He wasn’t as impressive as I would have liked, and I was surprised to learn that he only moved to North Carolina in 2000.
With so many Council candidates, it’s very difficult for any of them to make much of an impression at these forums. I don’t have the time or inclination to explain them all here (although I hope to do that on this site eventually), so instead I’m going to try to encapsulate each one as a character on the Simpsons. That post is forthcoming. Your suggestions are welcome, dear readers.
One idea raised by the NAACP that I hadn’t heard before was to rename Airport Road, and call it “Martin Luther King Boulevard.†It sounded weird at first, but as I thought about it, I realized what an excellent idea it is. Since the airport is going away, why not rename the street (which will be the address of Carolina North) after one of the greatest Americans that ever lived? I’m all for it, as were all of the candidates. A no-brainer, apparently.
Issues:
