Enough is enough

Published May 27, 2016

By Tom Campbell

by Tom Campbell, Executive Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, May 26, 2016.

There are too few statesmen today, but David Gergen qualifies as one. This North Carolina native’s bona fides include service as a high-level advisor in the administrations of four presidents, as co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School and as a senior political analyst for CNN. Having been on the national stage for many decades, he has experience and perspective few can match.

Gergen’s commencement address at Elon University last week didn’t spout traditional platitudes or words of advice. Instead he challenged the graduates – and all of us – to reflect on where we are as a state and to use our talents, our energies and our leadership to move us to a higher ground.

“Enough is enough,” he proclaimed, saying that forces of political extremism have asserted themselves here and represent a sharp break from our past. Gergen, now 74, remembers growing up in Durham. “When I was young, this state was dirt poor. Our people earned on average about 71 cents to every dollar earned by other Americans. Our cities were small and insular; our rural areas were dotted with shacks. Our biggest industries, tobacco, textiles and furniture, were starting to die. And the traditions of Jim Crow hung heavily in the air, dividing whites from blacks. For years, the North Carolina Ku Klux Clan was one of the most powerful in the country.” We slowly began to change under governors Terry Sanford, Jim Holshouser, Jim Hunt and Jim Martin, along with leadership from others like “Skipper” Bowles and Bill Friday.

“These past few years have been especially tough on working people here,” said Gergen. “But we are still much better off than we once were. Best of all, we are learning to live together as one people – black or white; male, female, or transgender: our children barely see the differences anymore.

“That’s why so many native North Carolinians have proclaimed that we are proud to be from here and others have been proud to bring their families and businesses… Then suddenly, without warning, dark clouds arrived. The moderation that characterized our state — the belief among Republicans and Democrats that we are all in this together — gave way to a new, angrier, extremist politics,” Gergen added.

Those elected got to office “fair and square” he said, chosen by the voters to serve, adding he was sure they meant well. “But the signals coming out of the State Capitol in Raleigh have sent a thunderous message rolling out across America: that North Carolina is no longer a pioneer in advancing people of color, people who are gay, people living on the margins. Instead, many here want to go back, far back to a darker time.”

Gergen said that recent actions like HB2, violate two cardinal rules of politics: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and leave as much power as you can in the hands of local people.

David Gergen urged the graduates to “take North Carolina back,” concluding by pleading with them to get off the sidelines, come off the bench and get into the arena. “You will find that many will disagree with you, just as many here will have disagreed with me. But don’t let your disagreements make them your enemies. Find common ground, work hard to respect the views of others. You will get knocked down and there will be severe disappointments. Embrace the fact that change is hard.

“But know this: if you pour your heart and soul into rebuilding a better state and nation, you will look back one day and find an inner satisfaction, a pride that you answered the call to service and leadership.”

Words worth hearing. Words worth heeding. Words worth sharing. Thank you, David Gergen.

May 27, 2016 at 7:57 am
Ray Midgett says:

Perhaps Gergen should have taken a few minutes and explained what made all those textile and furniture industries die away, and how this state, albeit it sympathetic to people of color, people who are gay and those living on the margins got to the point where entitlements, drugs and crime have destroyed traditional family values, perhaps, never to return again. And, while I did not hear his address, did he explain how, in politics today, traveling down the center of the highway has become the safest route for everyone. For, it is the only way any of us will ever make America truly great again.

May 27, 2016 at 8:28 am
Don Pierce says:

There have always been those who, to satisfy their own needs, seek to whether in political office or public forum to stratify and thereby divide society by something other than willingness to contribute. Such people talk about "those people" attributing any number of sociopathic traits to "them" as a group. This is the basis of demagoguery and the greatest trap for peoples with pride and a rich history. Media and more recently social media has greatly amplified their already sly and stentorian voices. We must call them out and vote them out as well

May 27, 2016 at 4:12 pm
John White says:

Well said, Tom Campbell. Great words from David Gergen. While some on the NC Spin program did not hesitate to throw rocks at Mr. Gergen, his call to action for the students of Elon were most appropriate.

Let's just hope that they do become more involved, for the betterment of North Carolina.

May 31, 2016 at 7:28 am
Bennie Lee says:

If he is associated with CNN he has two stricks already