The NCAA has slam-dunked the state of North Carolina.
On Monday, the NCAA announced that it is moving seven of its championships from North Carolina, including the 2017 NCAA basketball tournament, because of the state’s H.B. 2 law that prevents local governments from passing nondiscrimination ordinances and, most infamously, prevents those individuals making gender transitions from using their preferred restroom in public locales.
{mosads}In a statement from its president, Mark Emmert, the NCAA zeroed in on its fundamental responsibility to promote an atmosphere of inclusiveness at its events. “Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships,” Emmert said. “We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships.”
The NCAA’s board of governors cited that the North Carolina law is different from other states, and thus required sweeping action, in its prevention of local nondiscrimination ordinances and its protection of state workers who refuse to serve LGBT people.
As I wrote back in March when the H.B. 2 law was first passed, North Carolina has become a hotbed for culture-war issues, especially in an election cycle that has promoted fear and indignation. Since Republicans captured the legislature in 2010, and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory was elected in 2012, the state has moved drastically to the right. In the case of the H.B. 2, as North Carolina Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue (D) of Raleigh told me, the state abandoned “the fundamental value of limited government and shared government in this bill. We are essentially rolling back the clock on 40-plus years of anti-discrimination activity and settled law.”
It is fair to say that American politics is in need of a massive overhaul. It is also fair to say, however, that specific to, and highlighted by, this H.B. 2 issue, the Republican Party is in the midst of a critical identity crisis. Historically, the Republican Party has been pro-business and an advocate for local governance at all cost. The inexplicable dilemma with H.B. 2 is that it pits those pro-business, limited-government goals versus its social conservative objectives.
McCrory is up for election this November and trails his Democratic challenger, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, in almost every poll. And yet, McCrory — who initially opposed sending H.B. 2 through the legislative process — has been so incredibly dug-in in defense of the bill, it’s mind-boggling. Especially in light of the fact that musicians have canceled concerts; major corporations have not only publicly admonished the law, but have halted expansion into the state; the NBA moved its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to New Orleans; and now the NCAA has removed its championship events from the state. (And on Wednesday, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced it will move its 2016-17 championship games from the state.)
All told, the cost of H.B. 2 to the state of North Carolina has been, in some estimates, as high as $5 billion a year. That’s a lot of money for a party that claims to be pro-business.
The NCAA does have its critics — for its archaic view of amateurism, to its random and mismanaged enforcement of its bylaws — but the organization does have a record of taking substantive stands on social issues. As recent as 2015, when its Final Four event was to be held in Indianapolis, the NCAA — while not canceling the event — voiced a loud rejection of the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed into law by its governor, and current GOP vice-presidential candidate, Mike Pence. That law, like H.B. 2, was another antagonistic attempt to marginalize the LGBT community.
Conservative Republicans fail to recognize the disconnect between these types of discriminatory laws and the rising tide of tolerance in this country. Laws that blatantly infringe on civil rights eventually find themselves on the wrong side of history. What is not imminently discernible, however, is how a Republican Party that claims to be pro-business will reconcile being so out of touch with the social progression that 21st-century businesses and organizations value.
Eventually, Pat McCrory will repeal this repugnant legislation that was forced upon North Carolinians. Although, based on the way the upcoming election for his office is shaping up, he may not be the one to do it.
Spatola is a West Point graduate and former captain in the U.S. Army. He currently serves as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and is a host on SiriusXM radio.
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