Patsy Keever, running for chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, kind of stepped in it the other day. The candidates were at a forum, all giving speeches and doing their thing. One of the candidates, Janice Covington Allison, is transgender. Now, one of those things you have to get right around trans individuals is to acknowledge their preferred gender. As in, don’t call someone who has chosen to be female “a man.” Which is exactly what Keever did.
It’s unclear exactly the context in which the remark was uttered, as there are disputing accounts. But apparently Allison was listing the multiple identities under which she ran as a delegate to the 2012 DNC in Charlotte: senior citizen, disabled vet, woman, LGBT … “And what did I leave out? There’s one more.” In response to this, Keever made her comment, which was captured on an audio recording.
Despite Keever’s slip of the tongue, she’s probably still the frontrunner to be Democratic chair, and this little incident should amount to nothing more than a tempest in a teapot. While a few activists were outraged, the response from LGBT groups to Keever’s comment was muted. Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC and a gay man himself, still supports Keever and released a statement condemning her remarks but noting her past advocacy on behalf of gay rights. He called the incident a “teachable moment”. Ryan Butler, president of the LGBT Democrats, made a similar statement but didn’t withdraw his endorsement of Keever.
So, no harm, no foul. Then again, most LGBT leaders in the state do not belong to the “T” part of the acronym, so it’s questionable whether they should be able to speak on their behalf. In any case, Keever might want to check her cisgender privilege.
Hopefully, Democrats can put this matter behind them and start discussing the real issues. There are surely a lot more reasons to not support Keever than her impolitic remark the other day. For instance, did you know that Keever is married to the great-great nephew of Gov. Charles B. Aycock, an advocate of white supremacy who died over 100 years ago? Can a person so intimately connected with such a figure really be trusted to lead such a modern and inclusive party as the NC Democrats?
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
Charles Brantley Aycock, as a boy, watched his mother sign a land deed with an X because she was illiterate. Out of that experience and that of growing up in rural North Carolina where education was a privileged experience not a right of all, grew a life-time commitment to what was called universal education. His devotion has high drama to it: starting a new school every day for some years and dying just after saying the word “education” in a speech urging the people of another state to make a commitment to education for all. He did that burdened also by an attitude of discrimination regarding the other race which shared his state that grew out of ignorance and warfare and reconstruction. One might have some idea of the historical, real life context without making any excuse for it. He helped wage one of the most despicable race-based campaigns in North Carolina history. Throughout all of that his commitment to education for children of both races was not only sustained, it grew and matured. Yes, he had an attitude about the inferiority of those of African-American ancestry which deeply stains his memory. Yet, all that enriches this states commitment to all its children – now recognized as a constitutional right of all of them – forms out of his and other leadership in the early years of the last century. He did believe in good schools for all children. When legislators twice threatened action which would have risked destroying schools for African- Americans he said that if they did he would resign. I know of no other North Carolina governor who has been willing to do that. In the main his politics became progressive, centrist, even liberal. Yet there is always clouding his story that awful weakness of heart and intellect. Now one who is not even of his blood but married to one who is would be denied an opportunity of service to her state through service to her political party. Forget that the Aycock family with rare if any exceptions in all the trying moments of North Carolina’s realization of the values and rights and contributions of its races together in equality of opportunity and treatment – in all those times – the 1950 senate campaign, the civil rights movement, the push for better and equal education for – in all those times they have been on the side that history declares the right side. Yet let us forget that, let us just remember the connection with our dark past. Perhaps we should require that all Aycock descendants wear an armband with an A emblazoned on it. Perhaps we can have a red letter for the blood descendants and a yellow one for those just guilty of marrying a descendant. Perhaps we can research the past history of the family of other leaders of those tragic days and protect us from their leadership in the future. We can take other names off of other buildings. If we do that, however, we must look at other dark secrets of our past. What about the freed slaves who when they became free bought others of their race to be their slaves. The great American historian John Hope Franklin even revealed in his work that at one time the per capita ownership of slaves by former slaves was greater than that of Southern American whites. Of course there were many, many more whites than former slaves but the stain is still there. The reasons for the ownership of slaves by former slaves was complex but historians of that race have shown that it was most often for economic gain. How many of the descendants of those people are now if positions of leadership in North Carolina; how many buildings may bear the name of some of those African American slaveowners. Perhaps we can have armbands for them. If we move down thqt path, if we are able to punish Patsy Keever for those awful times, perhaps some will be unhappy; but we will achieve a certain purity of history. We will be pure. So very, very pure.
My concern about Keever is that she was significantly involved in Hagan’s loss last November as she was the leader in sending the nasty letters to those who hadn’t voted recently. Talk about bad judgement! If you want someone to do something, bad-mouthing them does not work as well as saying something positive.
VERY astute observation Nick and RIGHT you ARE !!!
To blame former Representative Keever on Senator Hagans loss is is STUPID!!! First, if you apply common sense or logic you might find that the letters could not possibly have led to a net loss of votes for Hagan. Gee, how many Democrats crossed over to vote for Tillis B/C of the letter. Name 1! You can’t. That’s why this is a ridiculous statement. And if 1 person has that much influence, in the most expensive Senate campaign in history, then I see why republicans are so afraid of her!!!
Ah, the DNC Hen House… where the chickens come home to roost. (And drink the Kool-Aid!)
Where does the “close talker” fit into all this?
Patsy’s husband, Jim Aycock, was the first white president of the Black Mountain NAACP. This is a ridiculous, unfounded attack! If you want what’s best for NC, you’d better be pulling for Patsy!!
What’s best for NC, Bridget, is for the NCDP to be shut down due to decades of criminality and desecration of our once great state !!!
Thank you Bridget. Actually I was the first white chairman of the Swannanoa Valley Dr. MLK Jr. Memorial Corp., which holds an annual prayer breakfast in Black Mountain. In the days of segregated schools, my father was the first school superintendent in NC to put a brand new school bus in the black schools instead an old bus run down in the white schools.
Jim Aycock
Can a person….??? “YES, SHE CAN!”.. I just… I just don’t know what to say this level of idiocy. No two black people in North Carolina are the same shade of brown. You know how massa’ be creepin’. I recently found out that I am patrilineally descended from THE FIRST British slave trader. If my paternal grandfather’s paternal grandfather had been able to marry the mother of his chidlren, my surname would’ve been his instead of hers (Hawkins instead of Green). It matters where we came from, but it matters MORE where we are GOING!
Well, certainly, Taxey should CONCEDE and immediately drop out of the race for the NC democrat ‘party’ chairmanship either to the black female or the transgender lady. I mean in the supreme interest of equality, inclusion, and diversity there is no other choice for her. Step up to the reality Taxey, we tired of old white women runnin the show! …she never saw a tax increase she didn’t LUV…
Quick, somebody call the Onion.
“a biting sense of humor.”
Really? Because I’ve much more often– in this post, in fact– found him to be smarmy and patronizing.
ha ha ha…. john, you nailed it. note that when you get these kinds of responses you got it right. and for the hypocrites, if the roles were reversed and it was a republican who was distantly related, by blood or marriage to someone like aycock, it would be front page news.
It would be “front page news” only in your mind. Any comment –whether by a Dem or GOP’er– suggesting Aycock’s lineage affects anything in today’s world is just plain off-base.
If that were the case, there would be complaints from the Left (including me) that Richard Burr could not be trusted to not conspire to become the Emperor of Mexico. or whip out his dueling pistol to settle political scores.
For the record, folks, John is trolling the Democrats who actually brought up Keever’s husband’s relationship to Aycock and questioned her ability to serve because of it. Yes, it’s as silly and pathetic as it sounds and is a sad comment on the pettiness affecting the North Carolina Democratic Party. John has a biting sense of humor.
That may be true, but George Fisher is now quoting him all over Facebook. John just hand delivered the trolls their next bit of material.
I knew he was joking…but I’m not so sure he knew he was joking
“For instance, did you know that Keever is married to the great-great nephew of Gov. Charles B. Aycock, an advocate of white supremacy who died over 100 years ago? Can a person so intimately connected with such a figure really be trusted to lead such a modern and inclusive party as the NC Democrats?”
If you weren’t just trying (and failing, BTW) to be funny with this remark, John, then it was just about the dumbest comment I’ve yet read on politicsnc.com
And for you (a Republican) to say “Hopefully, Democrats can put this matter behind them and start discussing the real issues” when it’s you (a Republican) who seems intent on hyping a small social faux pas as a substantive issue seems very petty and very partisan to me.
As the current 1st vice chair there is no excuse for not letting another democrat give their introduction or deliver their message heckle free.
With 4 years of negative news coming from the both the previous and current NCDP chairs, the current front runner (who already has negative issues swirling) couldn’t wait to join in and tarnish North Carolina democrats.
Perhaps it’s time everyone rethinks their expectancies.
John, please tell me that Aycock remark was tongue-in-cheek…
I’m sure it was, but you can imagine the haters grabbing it and quoting PoliticsNC on it.