Year of the Bullies

The grandstanding Brendan Jones

On Wednesday, Dec. 10th, NC House Majority Leader Brenden Jones threw a viral-video tantrum on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) superintendent and school board chair, berating, belittling, and bullying them -- he was actually yelling -- about books some third-party special interest told him were used in the schools, accusing the officials of ignoring parts of the new “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” SB49, which seeks to govern discussions of gender identity and which was also meant to show educators just how much contempt people like Rep. Jones have for their profession. After Jones' read titles and short out-of-context selections, in a sneering voice meant to signal to his base just how irredeemable these books really are, he actually tossed them contemptuously on the floor behind him.

Rarely has such fear of the written word and its power to contaminate been exhibited in public by a high-ranking official since at least the Spanish Inquisition.

Rep. Jones was especially het up about a book he waved in the air, Santa’s Husband, which he alleged was recommended to elementary school students in Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools. The superintendent started to respond — “I’m not aware that …” — and Jones angrily interrupted. “You’re the superintendent. You're not aware of what's going on in your school system? You don't know what's printed? It’s trash,” he yelled, tossing the book over his shoulder. After the hearing, a Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools official issued a statement refuting Jones’s allegation: “We have once again searched our school and classroom libraries, and that book is not offered. CHCCS has not recommended this book for children of any age, as that would be a decision for parents to make for their own children.”

 

I have to admit that the superintendent actually sort of brought this on himself, having been recorded speaking to a teachers meeting in January 2024, saying what he really thought about SB49, opining that in his opinion parts of the law are unacceptably discriminatory. He indicated that he would be reluctant to enforce what was going to inhibit some students from being their authentic selves. Griffin later wrote in a February 2024 email to staff that although the school board had voted to adopt the new law as policy, there were exceptions possible -- far as the superintendent was concerned -- related to classroom discussions and the requirement to notify parents about any change in the way enrolled children were referring to themselves. It’s a fad, right now, adopting preferred pronouns. It's seems silly to old people like me, but it's not going to end Western civilization. 

The video of the superintendent's sharing of his opinion on the law and his subsequent email to staff got into the hands of @LibsofTikTok, the username of various anti-LGBTQ and far-right social-media accounts operated by a former real estate agent from Brooklyn, Chaya Raichik, who's big into the whole "groomer" hysteria. So by that route, the horrifying goods on the superintendent got into the hands of Rep. Jones, who knows a great opportunity for grand-standing when he sees one.

I betcha ten dollars Rep. Jones, as a loyal Republican soldier, voted multiple times total for Lt. Gov porn-meister Mark Robinson -- in both primaries and general elections -- and never felt a moral qualm.

College Professors Too Are Being Bullied

Peter Hans, the figurehead who's running the UNC system for the Republicans in the General Assembly, has drafted a policy that declares all course syllabi at the 16 affiliated campuses will now be considered public documents and must be posted on-line for more rabid third-parties to comb through. That news came from The Daily Tar Heel, one of the best investigative orgs in the state.

Alex H. Jones wrote about the new policy: "This is cheap red meat for the MAGA people. I would imagine most of the complaints against course syllabi will come from conservative think tankers paid to made liberals look foolish."

This policy represents an attack on civil liberties derived from centuries of reactionary politics in North Carolina. Civil liberties have always been weak in the South. The Confederacy was essentially a police state, and civil-rights protests were met with state violence. The same has been true with regard to higher education. In the 1850s, politicians drove a UNC professor out of the state for voicing his opposition to slavery. When civil liberties in the South conflict with white supremacy, we know which priority wins out.

And if UNC professors are required to post syllabi online for the perusal of aggrieved right-wing activists, they will be subjected to threats and potentially even violence. Doubt it? Look at the number of acts of political violence MAGA Republicanism has inspired over the last ten years. The intent is to make professors nervous, over the long term to suppress the teaching of left-leaning ideas at UNC. It’s an attack on academic freedom and freedom of speech.