Since the beginning of April, workers and youth activists in North Carolina have begun a growing movement to fight back the attacks of the right-wing legislation being put forward by the Republican-controlled General Assembly (the North Carolina legislature) and Republican Governor, and former Mayor of Charlotte, Pat McCrory. Under the moniker of “Moral Mondays,” weekly demonstrations numbering up to 1,500 participants are occurring, with over 300 arrests for acts of civil disobedience.
These demonstrations have been organized by several different organizations, including the unions, student activist organizations, and community groups in response to an onslaught of conservative legislation being put forward ranging from fringe-reaching suggestions of adoption of a statewide religion to the slashing of unemployment benefits, rejection of federal funds to help expand Medicaid to uninsured North Carolinians, and institution of racist voter ID laws, among others. The North Carolina NAACP is one of the biggest organizers of this movement, and its president, Rev. William Barber, is the most well-known spokesperson of the movement.
These protests should not be seen as coming out of nowhere. This movement is the culmination of years of growing class tension within the state of North Carolina, which has seen the second largest decline by state in manufacturing since the mid-’90s. Despite this, North Carolina has largely been able to stave off the effects of globalization that have had a much deeper impact on other Southern states. The loss of the textile industry was to a certain extent offset by the predominance and growth of the banking sectors – Bank of America’s world headquarters is in Charlotte, NC – and biotechnology.
However, the economic crisis hit the state very severely. The unemployment rate doubled from January 2008 to January 2010. As of April 2013, North Carolina had the 5th highest unemployment rate in the United States, at 8.9%. This has disproportionately affected African Americans in the state, who comprise a large sector of the public sector workers most immediately affected by austerity and who have an unemployment rate of over 17%. Rural counties whose former small farmers have been done away with by agribusiness have similar jobless numbers. This was only to be exacerbated by the 2010 ascension of the Republicans, for the first time since 1870, to control of both legislative bodies.
This is coupled with the lowest union density in the country, at around 4%. The unions that do exist, such as the United Electrical Workers (UE), are in constant recruitment drives due to draconian right-to-work laws, and they largely only exist in the public sector.
However, the weakened state of labor in North Carolina has given the unions that do exist a more activist rank-and-file. Also, the traditionally high-quality and accessible public higher education in the UNC system has created a surplus of labor in the post-graduate service industry or unemployment pool. This in turn affects other organizations such as the NAACP, which has been organizing annual marches on the State Capitol for the last several years on a “14 Point People’s Agenda” against unemployment, union-busting, and institutional racism. It has lent itself to more militant actions in the Moral Monday movement itself, leading to already over 300 arrests in civil disobedience actions in the last seven weeks.
The movement should, can, and will continue to fight in the streets against the extreme right-wing agenda being pursued by the North Carolina General Assembly, but the movement needs to also discuss how to go forward to make qualitative gains for North Carolina workers and youth.
The heavy emphasis of movement’s leaders on opposing the Republican Party threatens to miss the most important dynamic of this struggle, the mobilization of NC working people and youth independent of the two parties of big business. The movement may fend off the Republicans’ attacks, but the Democrats have shown that they are not prepared to lead the struggle for the People’s Agenda and if returned to power will govern in the interests of big business, though with a less extreme right-wing social agenda than the Republicans.
The unions, the community groups, and the others within the movement must come together to begin discussing running their own candidates and campaigns that are directly accountable to the working people of North Carolina, independent of the two corporate parties and cutting across racial lines. The 14 Point Agenda put forward by the annual marches on the State Capitol could serve as a starting point for drawing up a new fighting program for the politics and demands of the movement.
Such campaigns would not just be mere vote-getting ventures but would be a qualitative leap forward for the movement itself. They could serve to increase union membership, as well as provide a meeting point for working people to discuss the issues they face across the state and the country, sharing tactics and experiences to further bolster the movement as a whole. Furthermore, it would strengthen and expand the activist base that already exists. This could send a fire across the South, leading to increased struggle in a positive, class-conscious direction, much like what could have happened if working people had won the Battle of Wisconsin in 2011.
As steam grows within the Moral Monday movement, pressures upon it grow as well. Unless the movement makes a decisive break from both parties in the direction of its own political voice, another battle will soon be around the corner.