Moral Mondays blend civil-rights activism with immoral causes

A protest movement to promote civil rights in North Carolina has gained momentum and recognition from the high-profile arrests of its members in the past few years. But conservative African-American commentators say the Moral Monday movement, led by the president of the North Carolina NAACP, does not represent their values.

The Rev. William Barber began Moral Mondays in response to the Republican takeover of the North Carolina government in 2013. Over the last three years, his protests have spread to at least half a dozen states, including New York, Georgia, and Indiana.

Marie Stroughter, an African-American talk radio host, says Moral Monday’s won’t help the black community.

“Politically, I disagree with him,” Stroughter, a conservative blogger and radio-show host, said. “Race is such a complex issue.”

Moral Monday protestors engage in civil disobedience, including sitting in state government offices until they are arrested. They have rallied about topics including women’s rights, gay rights, and the environment. The movement boasts that around 1,000 members have been arrested for their causes. Barber himself has been jailed five times.

One of Barber’s latest causes is a push to change North Carolina’s law requiring voters to present an ID. He claims it is harder for minorities to find an ID to present.

“I disagree,” Stroughter said. She explained she doesn’t want special privileges, but people of every ethnicity should be treated with the same rigor. Stroughter said the racial tension in the news recently might have brought Barber’s idea of civil disobedience back in vogue. She does appreciate Barber’s decision to keep the protests non-violent: “Rioting and looting don’t help race relations. I think it makes it harder for us.”

Barber’s supporters have called him the next Martin Luther King Jr..

“I think you can’t say because you stand for one thing he stood for that you can say you are the next Martin Luther King,” Stroughter said, “He was for non-violent measures. He also stood for a lot of other things too, personal responsibility, life of the unborn.”

Demetrius Minor, a former conservative talk-show host, said African-Americans have issues they need to deal with, but Barber’s movement is not addressing them: employment, fixing the family unit, emphasizing the role of fathers, morality and personal responsibility.

Stroughter said African-Americans might be afraid to disagree with the liberal ideas presented by Barber because they are similar to ideas of President Barack Obama: “We have an allegiance to this man in office because he has a skin color like us. We think it is disloyal, in a way, to disagree with him.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.