PoliticsNC Book Club: Gene Nichol

by | Apr 14, 2020 | Politics | 5 comments

The nine years since Republicans took over the North Carolina General Assembly have been a period of severe social regression. This era has been documented by sources as diverse as the NC Justice Center, newspaper editorial pages and this blog. Few have spoken more forcefully and paid a greater price, however, than UNC Law Professor Gene Nichol. His new book, “Indecent Assembly,” is his comprehensive manifesto against the policies of Senator Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore and other wielders of the reactionary wrecking ball in the Tar Heel State.

Nichol is a constitutional lawyer by profession, and constitutionalism forms the backbone of this book. Fundamentally, he argues, North Carolina Republicans have broken the compact with the people they are supposed to serve. This argument dovetails interestingly with that of fellow UNC professor Andrew Reynolds, who has provocatively stated North Carolina is no longer a democracy. Professor Nichol does not address that question, but he makes a compelling case that in the areas of basic constitutional concern–fair elections, individual rights, the separation of powers and an inclusive egalitarian commonwealth–the NCGOP has indeed broken with the hard-won traditions of our government.

Though he teaches law, Nichol is also an expert on poverty in North Carolina. “Indecent Assembly” contains a deeply informed portrait of economic hardship and racial inequality in this state. It goes into the even more distressing territory of how Republicans have deliberately reinforced this inequity, an unprecedented campaign by such legislators as Senator Ralph Hise (who represents a brutally impoverished mountain district) to make the unspeakably difficult lives of the poor even more painful. Nichol’s paragraph on NCGOP safety-net cuts is almost unbearable.

When he focuses on law and policy, Nichol produces winning work. But he is not just an a writer; he is an inspired and deeply engaged advocate for the poor and marginalized. His passion infuses a stimulating zest into the book, but he can get carried away at times. The book sometimes echoes populist oratory. Some readers may be roused by his perorations, but I think it undermines the gravitas of what is otherwise a deeply serious work.

It is no exaggeration to say that North Carolina Republican leaders despise Gene Nichol. He and his institution have been personally targeted by legislators and their puppets on the UNC Board of Governors. This book will do nothing to mitigate their angst. The fact, however, is that Berger and Moore’s “Conservative Revolution” has damaged the social welfare of this state on every front from education to poverty to civil rights to LGBTQ equality. They deserve to be called out for it. In “Indecent Assembly,” Nichol makes the most powerful case yet that we need to turn the page on this ugly chapter in our history.

5 Comments

  1. James Moeser

    Gene Nichol is a force of nature. He writes in the long Tar Heel tradition of Howard Odum, Frank Porter Graham, Terry Sanford, and Bill Friday. I am proud to consider him a friend and colleague. James Moeser

  2. Cary Johnston

    My father taught Constitutional Law at Vanderbilt in the 1950s. I look forward to reading the book and am so glad it was written!

  3. Tom Magnuson

    As demonstrated in Nancy McLeans Democracy in Chains the GOP’s first and foremost ambition is to create a one party, minority government. A government of riders to govern the ridden.

  4. Joanne Purnell

    It breaks my heart for my state and its people to see what the Rep. have done and refused to do. In my mind they are almost true evil incarnate.

  5. Rick Gunter

    Thank you, Mr. Jones, for a fine review. I look forward to reading the book.

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