Catherine Alexander: Bill diminishes meaning of ‘terrorism’

Regarding the March 6 news article “ ‘Economic terrorism’ bill targets protesters with tougher penalties”: Which describes and which divides: property damage that occurs during legal and generally peaceful protests or “economic terrorism”?

“Economic terrorism” as bandied about in the N.C. state legislature is an extremist term used by those who wish to further divide our country and who, tragically, diminish the real meaning of terrorism in order to demonize protesters. There are laws now on the books to deter and prosecute for property damage and for illegally blocking traffic anytime it happens, but there are no laws to protect our communities from the destruction that hate language causes.

Our criminal justice system protects us from someone yelling “fire” in a crowded theater when no fire exists but not from the more destructive hate rhetoric coming from those who are supposed to be crafting laws to move us forward.

North Carolinians should hold their representatives accountable for promoting such divisiveness and ask them to redirect their energies to one of the many areas of need in this state – better education, for instance, or redistricting to make our state democratic once again.

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Catherine Alexander: Bill diminishes meaning of ‘terrorism’."