Excerpts from Gov. Bev Perdue at the state NAACP convention, as reported by the High Point Enterprise:
Perdue focused on where North Carolina is and where the state needs to go for racial equality.
“Some may tell us we have freedom, but until we all actually live that freedom, the work is not completed,” she said.
“The fight for equality did not end with the signing of the Civil Rights Act,” Perdue said. “I do not believe our work is finished. I believe we have miles to go.”
Perdue also reflected on some of her personal successes as governor, including her vetoes of the budget that cut millions from public education and of the voter identification bill, which the General Assembly deemed necessary to prevent voter fraud.
“Why would anyone want to make it harder for people to vote? There have been study after study all across the country pointing to the fact that there are no significant voter fraud problems in North Carolina,” she said. “The fact is there are 1 million North Carolina registered voters that do not have a state-issued ID.”
Perdue said the majority of North Carolinians that do not have state-issued identification cards are older, low-income or minority residents.
“You decide if this is all about voter fraud or nothing but voter suppression,” Perdue said.
Perdue closed with her reasoning for why she works for the issues she works for.
“I believe we are all obligated to leave it better than we found it,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Rev. William Barber said:
“We want educational equality, economic justice, voting rights and equal protection under the law,” Barber said. “If you want the NAACP to go out of business, give us those things, and we will close our doors. But until then, we will keep fighting.”
Yeah, but when you can’t define economic justice, how are you supposed to know when you’ve got it? That’s why the NAACP will never go out of business.
