How Senate Republicans Shattered a Citadel and Liberated Trump

North Carolina's progress between 1960 and 2010 was often uneven, imperfect and insufficient, but it was nevertheless impressive. The state went from having some of the lowest wages and worst educational attainment in the country to being what was widely regarded as a...

At the outset of the modern era of North Carolina politics, the state was only 10% urban. Even that statistic overstates the degree of urbanization in early-20th-century North Carolina. The Census Bureau defined "urban" as a jurisdiction in which lived 2,600 people....

The dumpster fire was lit early when White House strategists ballyhooed Trump’s plan to “deconstruct the administrative state.” The plan propagated the dissolution of the tax system, business and environmental regulations, trade pacts, and immigration policies that...

In the collective hagiography of conservative memory, 1984 is remembered as a high point. The Reagan landslide served as a resounding vindication of movement conservatism. It was the fulcrum point of a decade of right-of-center dominance. As in the nation, so in North...

For a state that has long viewed itself as more tolerant than the Deep South, North Carolina has had a remarkably persistent relationship with America's most notorious racial terror group. The Ku Klux Klan planted roots in the state early, committed some of its...

Stone generals of any war are not only shrines, they are politicians who silently speak to the values of a people at a historical moment. But those moments are transient, like the politicians themselves. Times change; values change. Politicians and statues are removed...

In a path breaking act of penitence, the Asheville city council voted 7-0 to provide reparations to Black community members. The legacy of slavery is active in Asheville, as it is in the rest of the state. Given that Asheville produced some of the more racially...

Critics of Governor Cooper sometimes snarkily ask why, if he thinks corporate tax cuts are a mistake, he awards incentives to industrial prospects. Facially, it's a clever point. If reducing a company's tax liability sparks the creation of jobs, even a progressive...

In March of this year, my family and I tested positive for the Coronavirus. We had the frightening experience of realizing COVID-19 was actually causing our flu-like symptoms, and we were not suffering from a common cold. My parents, both my sisters and their...

Despite a slew victories in 2018, North Carolina Democrats remain in an unenviable place. Their Republican foes control a majority of the Council of State, both US Senate seats, and large majorities in the state's Congressional delegation and state legislature. You...