By Simon Gonzalez
Some forms of injustice are easy to see, especially when viewed through the rearview mirror of history.
Kidnapping fellow humans, shipping them halfway around the world, and buying and selling them as slaves was pure evil. We rightly hail as heroes people like William Wilberforce and Abraham Lincoln for their role in ending this immoral practice.
Equally abhorrent was the blatant racism that existed long after slavery was abolished. To our shame as a nation, hateful discrimination that had the full backing of the law existed in areas of this country for far too long, even into the lifetimes of some of us.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Trail of Tears, and the general mistreatment of the native population; the denial of voting rights to women; the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II — all are almost universally regarded as atrocities.
Even today, we can agree that evil exists in the form of detestable practices like human trafficking, genocide and terrorism.
Other things are more opaque. Issues such as border security, government-mandated health care, the extent and the remedies for anthropomorphic global warming, etc., have strong advocates and detractors and elicit passionate feelings, but reasonable people can conclude there is room to doubt whether they rise to the level of injustice.
This brings us to House Bill 2, passed by the North Carolina legislature a week ago. The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — aka the Charlotte Bathroom Bill — was passed during a special session, signed by Gov. Pat McCrory, and goes into effect on Friday.
The bill was passed during a special session of the state’s General Assembly called for the sole purpose of defeating a Charlotte ordinance that allows transgender people to use bathrooms designated for their self-identified gender. Among other things, HB2 institutes a statewide policy that bans individuals from using public bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex.
McCrory had vowed to overturn the Charlotte ordinance, passed on Feb. 22, claiming cross gender public bathrooms created “major public safety issues.” The governor was willing to wait until the next regular session of the legislature, but Republican leadership called for the special session, despite the $42,000-a-day cost.
The bill passed the state House 82-26 and the state Senate 32-0, with Senate Democrats walking out and not voting in protest.
It immediately prompted knee-jerk reactions from folks on both sides of the political divide.
Its supporters say the bill is a “common sense” response to the Charlotte city council’s overreach. After signing the bill, McCrory tweeted, “Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance. That’s why I signed bipartisan bill to stop it.”
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said he was motivated by privacy and security concerns.
“One of the biggest issues was about privacy,” he said. “The way the ordinance was written by City Council in Charlotte, it would have allowed a man to go into a bathroom, locker or any changing facility, where women are — even if he was a man. We were concerned. Obviously there is the security risk of a sexual predator, but there is the issue of privacy.”
Its detractors say HB2 is nothing less than legalized discrimination, and an assault on the rights of LGBT people.
We should always be alert to injustice. The evils of slavery were perpetuated because good people did not do enough to stop it. Does barring a biological man from women’s bathrooms and locker rooms rise to the same level of evil? Surely not. But does that make it right?
We should treat every human with dignity. All are created in the image of God. According to the Declaration of Independence, we all are endowed by our Creator with certain rights.
In this case, the city council and the state legislature are confronted with the difficult choice of whose rights trump whose. Does the right of the transgender person not to feel uncomfortable supersede the right of women to have a separate facility? One body said yes, the other no.
Perhaps the biggest problem caused by bills like this is that the reactions widen the divide. Politics in the 21st century are increasingly characterized by incivility, and worse.
Punches being thrown at rallies, and blocking roads to prevent people from attending rallies, are the most obvious form. But just as insidious is the heated rhetoric. Rather than seeking to understand with differing points of view, and seeking common ground, incendiary words like hate are tossed around.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, has the right idea. He has written a book called “United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good.”
We are always going to disagree on matters of public policy, and the level of government involvement in seeking solutions to problems. That’s why we have two political parties.
But finding common ground, and injecting a note of civility into our discourse, would go a long way toward helping others see and empathize with “our” side, and just maybe help to fight injustice.
