Even though asking job applicants for their salary history feeds a vicious cycle, our report finds that most North Carolina counties still do it This past Tuesday, March 15, was National Equal Pay Day. As President Biden rightfully noted in a White House proclamation, "Equal pay is a matter of justice, fairness, and dignity — it is about living up to our values and who we are as a Nation." Meanwhile, here in North Carolina, counties have an important opportunity to address gender-based pay disparities through a simple hiring practice change.
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Original Commentary
I’m trans. This year I turn 30, and my teenage self would be beyond surprised — not just at the joys that fill my life, but the fact that I’m alive at all. I’m part of the last generation that didn’t quite have the language for the feelings that flooded us as kids. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t take off my shirt as I stomped through puddles with my pals, why I was never invited to the sleepovers I actually wanted to go to, or why I seemed to be the only one that couldn’t quite envision my future self as a devoted wife and mother.
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NC’s complete lack of homeschooling oversight is a disservice to children and our state’s future The idea of compulsory school attendance for children is not a new or radical one in modern society. The World Bank reports that, of the globe's nearly 200 recognized nations, only a tiny handful fail to mandate school attendance.
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National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day provides an opportunity to thank thousands of people who provide essential health care On March 10, 1993, a white supremacist anti-abortion fanatic murdered Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider, in his clinic’s parking lot. Three years later, March 10th was chosen to mark National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, a day to honor Dr. Gunn's legacy and to celebrate...
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It seems certain that one of the contributing factors in the disastrous calculus that led Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to believe he could get away with his murderous and criminal invasion of Ukraine was his perception of weakness and division in the United States. And, of course, it was not a completely unreasonable perception to hold.
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Earlier this past month, Senator Thom Tillis tweeted something that no one could disagree with. “During #BlackHistoryMonth, we recognize the experiences and contributions of Black North Carolinians to our state.” Those are easy words. But, the fact is, Senator Tillis blocked the historic appointment of a Black North Carolinian to the powerful Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the same month.
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In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, then-President George W. Bush famously prescribed a somewhat surprising course of action for Americans looking to do their part to combat the dark forces behind the terror: consumerism. Rather than lifting up concepts like shared sacrifice, self-reflection, or God forbid, slightly higher taxes to pay for the multi-trillion-dollar war he was about to launch, Bush told Americans to “Get on board. Do your business around the country....
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A week ago, I was talking to an educator whose job it is to run training programs for students and adults in higher education. She told me that around a dozen different companies and groups were sponsoring training courses for things like nursing assistants, medical workers, electricians and truck driving.
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To listen to North Carolina Republican lawmakers last week as they advanced a bill to end school mask requirements, it was hard not to be struck and even impressed by the passion that some of them displayed in expressing their love and concern for the state’s children. Multiple lawmakers talked of the terrible impact that the pandemic has had on children and the desperate need...
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The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the ensuing and needless slaughter of thousands of soldiers and civilians, seems all but inevitable now. “So, what do I care?” some of us may be asking ourselves. “It’s not our fight.” I get it. Maybe you don’t follow a lot of news from overseas, or the machinations of global politics. You’re not alone. Most Americans don’t.
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“We’re a republic, not a democracy” is a thing Republicans are fond of saying. Michele Fiore, whose insatiable thirst for right-wing celebrity status has led her to run for governor of Nevada, said it during a forum with five-sixths of the rest of the GOP gubernatorial field the other day. Except Fiore, always the innovator, turned the tired phrase around to put the “we are not a democracy” part first and then firmly pronounced...
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Public school book banning is back in the news. Yes, I know; it’s an amazing development in an era in which every imaginable form of explicit violence, sex, and hate speech resides just seconds away at our children’s fingertips. Research indicates that 95% of American teens have ready access to a smartphone and that more than 90 percent of kids play video games...
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