5 Things to Know: Local Lawmakers Respond to DEI Attacks

Local Lawmakers Respond to DEI Attacks

Local lawmakers are responding to efforts at the federal and state levels to roll back any and all programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

In the NCGA, Republicans last week filed House Bill 171, which states that no state agency can “promote, support, fund, implement or maintain workplace DEI programs, policies, or initiatives.” If passed into law, Republican state auditor Dave Boliek would conduct periodic audits of state agencies to ensure compliance and any state employee who violated the law could lose their job and face a misdemeanor criminal charge.

“In the name of an anti-DEI witch hunt, hundreds of jobs have already been lost in North Carolina; funding is in jeopardy in critical North Carolina industries like farming and research, which threaten thousands of more jobs,” read a Thursday statement from the Legislative Black Caucus, which includes NC Rep. Jordan Lopez and NC Sen. Caleb Theodros of Mecklenburg County.

Listen: Nooze Hounds: NC House Rep-Elect Jordan Lopez

“Now, inflation is back on the rise, and we are likely headed toward a recession. House Bill 171 is part of that witch hunt, and measures like this ignore the contributions of many communities that have long been overlooked,” the statement continued. “The programs that these measures seek to destroy include programs that uplift students and workers in Appalachia and other rural parts of North Carolina, along with other marginalized groups.”

At the federal level, US Rep. Alma Adams, ranking member of the House Higher Education and Workforce Subcommittee and founding chairwoman of the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, responded Thursday evening to the Trump administration’s launch of the End DEI portal, which allows community members to report complaints about suspected DEI programming in their local schools directly to the US Department of Education.

“The Trump Administration is once again using the federal government to attack teachers, students, and schools that dare to promote fairness and inclusion,” said Rep. Adams. “This so-called ‘tip line’ is a shameless attempt to silence educators and dismantle programs that ensure every child — no matter their race, gender, or background — has a fair shot at success. Instead of working to strengthen our public schools, Trump is weaponizing the Department of Education to push a political agenda.

“I won’t stand by while they use the Department of Education as a tool for division and fear. Our public schools should be places where every child feels seen, valued, and supported. This Administration should be more focused on ending the disparities in our education system. Where is the ‘tip line’ for that?”

CMPD Closes 40-Year-Old Murder Case

CMPD announced Monday that investigators in the department’s Cold Case Unit believe they have solved a 40-year-old murder case.

Sandee Cornett, 26, went missing from her home on Eaglewind Drive in east Charlotte in November 1984. Her remains were never found. Larry Gene Bell, 36 years old at the time, was identified as a suspect in Cornett’s disappearance and was interviewed by investigators from multiple agencies but did not face charges in the case.

Police believe they now have enough evidence to charge Bell if he were still alive. He was executed in 1996 after being convicted for murdering two girls, aged 9 and 17, in South Carolina in 1985.

Now with funding from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the CMPD Cold Case unit has completed a full review of the casework and evidence gathered over four decades and, after consulting with the Mecklenburg County DA’s Office, determined that Bell kidnapped and murdered Sandee Cornett. Investigators said they would have charged Bell if he were still alive and they’ve now cleared Cornett’s case due to “death of offender.”

Bell has also long been suspected in the disappearance of 21-year-old Denise Newsom Porch who was last seen in Charlotte on July 31, 1975. Bell lived next to the Yorktown Apartments where Porch worked as a manager, but he’s never been formally charged in that case.

Democrats Raise Alarm About Threat to Voter Registration

The NC Democratic Party (NCDP) this week raised the alarm about House Bill 127, which would make it a crime for citizens to help their neighbor register to vote, calling it “the NCGOP’s most aggressive attack yet on North Carolinians’ voting rights.”

The bill would ban organizers of third-party voter registration drives from using real voter registration forms, claiming the practice raises concerns over the security of personal information.

The bill would mandate that any group hosting a registration drive register with their local board of elections with an application process detailing their planned activities, and if approved to host such an event, they would not be allowed to hand out actual voter registration forms, only samples.

In a release on Friday, the NCDP pointed out that US Census data from 2022 shows North Carolina to have the lowest percentage of voter registration in the country, with only three out of every five eligible voters registered.

“Any bill so blatantly intended to reduce that number below what is already the lowest in America is a shameless scheme to prevent eligible voters from casting a ballot,” read the release.

The Census data also shows that Black voters are twice as likely as white voters to report that they registered to vote at a community voter registration drive.

“I have registered hundreds of voters up and down this state with just my clipboard, pen, and a stack of registration forms,” stated NC Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton. “There is nothing criminal about helping folks in your community register to vote. The NCGOP wants control of the polls, and they’re willing to make basic civic engagement a crime to get it.”

Shuffletown Murder Believed to be Domestic Violence Incident

Police have not yet identified a man who was found shot to death in northwest Charlotte on Wednesday, though the department does believe the killing was a matter of familial violence.

In the above map tracking last year’s homicide total, black markers signify deaths by gun violence, green markers signify killings that may be deemed justified, red markers signify stabbings, yellow markers signify murder by vehicle, purple markers signify deaths by trauma or unknown cause, and blue markers signify police killings.

Shortly after 9 p.m. that night, police responded to a shooting call on Susanna Drive in the Shuffletown area near the Catawba River, where they found a man dead from a gunshot wound. A department report listed the victim as a 48-year-old man and stated that the incident occurred “within the family.”

Local Orgs Open Financial Opportunity Center in East Charlotte

LISC Charlotte and the Charlotte Area Fund on Friday celebrated the official launch of the city’s first Financial Opportunity Center (FOC), located on Latrobe Drive in east Charlotte.

LISC already supports a national network of 120 FOCs in more than 30 cities across the country, where community members work with coaches to set goals then chart and track their way toward those goals — be it a better job, improved credit, saving for a house or building a rainy day fund, according to the LISC website.

Opening in the Charlotte Area Fund’s (CAF) new home at 3816 Latrobe Drive, community members visited the site Friday morning for an open house that provided a chance to connect with CAF staff, explore innovative programs and tour the new facility.