Forgive me, Mrs. Clinton, but I’m about to show my “deplorable” side.

And it has nothing to do with Donald Trump.

It has everything to do with the weak-kneed, “jump-on-the-bandwagon-to-bash-HB 2” decisions of the NCAA and ACC.

While the courts (not athletic, the real ones inside our American halls of justice) have yet to reach a binding decision on the much talked about legislation passed earlier this year by the North Carolina General Assembly, the powers that be within the mega giants known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference have opted to move all neutral site athletic tournaments/games away from North Carolina.

In short, the NCAA and ACC brass are upset that our state legislators approved a law that prevents our 100 counties as well as all municipalities from passing local protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Additionally, they do not agree that our public schools – including colleges and universities – are required by the law to ensure that bathrooms and/or locker rooms are designated for use only by people based on their biological sex.

In its statement about moving championship and tournament games out of North Carolina, the NCAA said, “The Board of Governors emphasized that NCAA championships and events must promote an inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans. Current North Carolina state laws make it challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver on that commitment if NCAA events remained in the state.”

What you really need to read is that the NCAA added that “North Carolina will not host anymore NCAA tournament games until HB2 is fully repealed.”

My question is when did we elect the NCAA to represent us in Raleigh? That last statement is political, pure and simple. The NCAA is backing the liberal agenda put forth by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper by saying it will hold these tournament games hostage until we, the North Carolina voters, kick Republican Governor Pat McCrory and his fellow GOP’ers in the General Assembly to the curb…..followed, of course, by the repeal of HB 2.

Of course, the ACC followed the lead of its liberal national hierarchy and canceled all tournament / championship games scheduled in North Carolina for the remainder of the 2016-17 athletic year.

“The ACC Council of Presidents made it clear that the core values of this league are of the utmost importance, and the opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount. [The] decision is one of principle, and while this decision is the right one, we recognize there will be individuals and communities that are supportive of our values as well as our championship sites that will be negatively affected,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “Hopefully, there will be opportunities beyond 2016-17 for North Carolina neutral sites to be awarded championships.”

Is that to be interpreted as after Cooper defeats McCrory?

Apparently, the ACC’s “core values” are not yet crushed to the point where it feels forced to move its main office out of state (it’s currently in Greensboro).

And, for the icing on the cake, the NCAA’s “inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans” is not keeping that organization from pulling the plug on the “Battle 4 Atlantis” – an eight-team, NCAA-sanctioned men’s basketball tournament set for late November in the Bahamas. This particular tournament has been around since 2011.

“Make no mistake, the Bahamas is far from a sanctuary of transgender equality and inclusion. The Bahamas does not include sexual orientation or gender identity in its anti-discrimination laws,” writes Demi Dowdy for the Civitas Institute.

“Moreover, same-sex marriage is illegal there,” Dowdy continued. “LGBT violence in the Bahamas has also been at an all-time high in recent years and reached a fever pitch just last year during a battle for hate crimes law. Homophobic mobs were chasing people out of festivals. This is true bigotry and hatred. Yet the NCAA pulls out of NC because we don’t provide a ‘safe and respectful environment’.”

But yet this is the new America…a place that currently shatters the core values I was raised on because now what’s right is wrong and what’s wrong is right.

Where else on earth can a big business such as the NCAA throw the proverbial book at Penn State University for turning a blind eye to one of its veteran assistant football coaches who for years raped young boys in the shower during summer camp, but yet through its recent actions here in our state believes it’s perfectly okay for a middle linebacker to shower with a coed cheerleader.

Or it’s widely accepted for the NCAA to decide, without repercussion, who they’ll do business with, but a Christian florist or baker cannot.

And I’m judged as deplorable for mentioning this imbalance.

 

Cal Bryant is the Editor of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact him at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.