House Bill 237 would increase penalties for protesters who block traffic as well as for protesters who choose to wear a mask or face covering during a protest. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
Vibrant, effective protest movements throughout American history have helped secure the rights and freedom we now take for granted. Without the Civil Rights Movement, for instance, our -children — who are Black and white — would not be able to attend school together nor receive equal access to quality books or facilities. Everything from the five-day work week to protections for immigrants to marriage equality were won with the help of community-driven protest movements.
In North Carolina today, our state legislators are counting on us to forget the successful history of protest in this country, along with the First Amendment, so that they can vote against democracy. For the past few years, state elected officials have introduced multiple bills that would restrict the right to protest by increasing penalties on protesters or else imposing limits on how people protest.
The latest anti-democratic bill of this ilk is House Bill 237. It would increase penalties for protesters who block traffic as well as for protesters who choose to wear a mask during a protest. HB 237 follows on the heels of earlier attempts to impose greater penalties on people who wear masks or hoodies and are accused of criminal activity. The new bill would repeal the health and safety exception to the state’s ban on wearing masks in public, thereby criminalizing protestors who choose to wear a mask for any reason.
HB 237 has passed the Senate and failed the House concurrence vote which means it’s headed to a conference committee for negotiations between chambers. Civil rights organizations across the state have condemned the anti-protest bill and uplifted how the bill not only unconstitutionally restricts protestors’ rights but the enhanced mask ban also opens the door for increased racial profiling against Black, Indigenous, and communities of color. BIPOC communities in North Carolina already experience disproportionately higher rates of being unlawfully stopped as a result of their appearance by law enforcement, which this bill has the clear potential to exacerbate.
HB 237 is unfortunately one of dozens of bills introduced around the country since 2017 that seek to quash dissent and limit the constitutionally protected rights of protesters. Since the beginning of 2024, we’ve already seen 41 anti-democratic bills attempting to restrict protest introduced at the federal level and across 16 states.
The good news is that the vast majority of anti-protest bills introduced since 2017 have not been able to pass in the face of communities mobilizing nationwide to protect democracy by protecting protest. In 2017, we helped stop the passage of a state bill that would have eliminated civil liability for drivers if they injure a protester who is blocking traffic. In 2021, we stopped an anti-protest bill that attempted to increase penalties for protesting. Though a problematic measure passed last year, we pushed elected officials to reduce the harm to our communities in the bill’s final language.
A remarkable thing about protest movements is that the people are nearly always proven correct. The injustices that we spotlight through protest are injustices that society will collectively deem abhorrent and ultimately legislate against and move to eliminate from our society. We saw this with the global movement that ended apartheid in South Africa and the 2020 uprising in defense of Black lives which led to new investments in community-driven public safety — including the growth of alternate response units introduced in North Carolina cities like Durham and Raleigh, where mental health specialists are dispatched in moments of crisis, instead of the police.
Emancipate North Carolina and North Carolina For the People Action have joined with the NC NAACP and ACLU of NC to condemn HB 237, the current anti-protest bill being discussed in the state legislature. Rather than wait for the people to be proven correct, we urge the conference committee members and Governor Cooper to protect democracy and protest today. The past few years have been too tumultuous for our democracy and we cannot withstand any further attempts to weaken the power of people’s voices. Protest is critical to ensure everyday community members can speak up about their needs and priorities.
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