by STEVEN GEHEGAN//Sports Editor
Sports can play an instrumental role in social change, and right previous social injustices.
The state of North Carolina has made news lately for its unjust bathroom bill that has recently been repealed. While there were many reasons for the change, one was sports related. In a smart move by the National Basketball League, the All-Star game was moved out of Charlotte, N. C. Also, the Atlantic Coast Conference pulled its football and basketball conference championship games from Greensboro, N. C. While moving sporting events out of a state might not seem like a big deal, it cost these cities millions of dollars in lost revenue, because of all the people who flock to the state for the games.
It seems strange that it took North Carolina so long to repeal the bill, because the NBA and the ACC gave the state plenty of time to change the bill. The NBA waited so long that it was starting to get bad press for not moving the All-Star game fast enough, which seems unfair. Changing bills takes time in our system of government, and it was fair for those organizations to give the state time to change the bill, unlike what the National Football League did when moving the Super Bowl out of Arizona serval years ago.
With all the bad press that North Carolina got for that bill, you would think that they would learn their lesson. But it just seems that the state is bitter. There was a new bill just passed that said that the State of North Carolina would pull their funding to the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University if the ACC ever boycotted the state of North Carolina again.
This just seems like a desperate move from a group of angry adults. The ACC has every right to protest a bill that is as unjust as that one. This bill only effects those two university because they are state funded. It would have no effect on Duke University. Since it is privately funded, the state cannot do a thing to them.
This just seems like a petty move that other sports organizations need to do something about. While it may seem like the state has the ACC’s hands tied, and the ACC is moving its championships in football and basketball back to Greensboro in the near future, other leagues can help them out. For one, the ACC may not be able to move the playoff games, but the National Collegiate Athletic Association can. But they seem to care more about money than helping others, so that seems the least likely to happen. But the NBA and the NFL can pull their All-Star and Super Bowl out of the state for as long as the bill remains in place.
The state of North Carolina does not seem to learn its lesson from the past bill. It needs for other people and organizations to help the ACC.
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