Please tell me this is a joke. A group called Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment (CHANGE) approached the Winston-Salem Chief of Police, Scott Cunningham, and offered to issue ID cards to people without identification (some of them “undocumented”). Here, I am afraid, is the punch line, Chief Cunningham has accepted the offer and even held a press conference detailing the joint venture.
The police chief says that the ID’s will be issued to people who don’t have identification already and will help the police when they interact with these people. He went on to say that the group CHANGE will “be looking for different forms of identification that they verify…and after the verification that they do, then they will issue their ID card.” CHANGE describes itself as an organization of good power and is one of the “57 affiliates of the oldest and largest community organizing networks in the United States, The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF).” Click here to read a Civitas Blog on who funds CHANGE.
IAF’s purpose is to create independent organizations (see CHANGE) inventing and establishing new social realities. The IAF website also proclaims that they “build organizations whose primary purpose is power and whose chief product is social change.
The ID card the police chief used as an example at his press conference looked very much like an official ID card. The Winston-Salem Police will now recognize these cards, while admitting they might not be based on reliable information. Who else will accept this very unofficial card as official identification?
This ID card might be very helpful to someone wanting to register and vote at the last minute. In 2008 more than 2.5 million voters voted in the 2 ½ weeks leading up to Election Day and more than 100,000 people registered at the same time that they voted. The people who use Same Day Registration (SDR) are required to show some sort of ID (the term ID is used very loosely here because utility bills and notes from colleges are recognized as ID’s). Could a poll worker mistakenly accept this as official identification?
After your read a little about CHANGE and IAF, I think you will agree that these organizations sound a lot like ACORN or maybe North Carolina Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG). Both ACORN and NCPRIG have been involved (at least) in voter registration fraud. But, CHANGE asserts that they are “not a movement, a protest group, a political action committee, or a service organization.” And they say, “We do not run programs, endorse candidates, or take government money. But, they did lead a successful effort last year to make school-board elections nonpartisan in Forsyth County. They were helped by Sen. Linda Garrou, D-Forsyth, who promoted the bill in the Senate and the Democrat Legislature. Some people believe that this was an attempt to break the Republican majority on the Board.
2010 was the Forsyth school board’s first nonpartisan election and for the record, CHANGE failed to replace any incumbent Republican members – all the incumbents (Republican and Democrat) won re-election.
One of the arguments CHANGE used to get the law on partisan election of the school board was that it was one of the few in the state that was not a nonpartisan race. Ok I can buy that. But when I asked them when they were going to have a law passed requiring the WS City Council elected on a nonpartisan basis I was told that there was no need. Yet WS is one of the few localities where there is a partisan election for city council. What is the difference? Ah I know, the WS school board was composed of Republicans and the WS city council is Democrat. Talk about a bunch of liberal left wing hypocrites.
Thank you so much for picking up this story. We are fighting a huge battle here in Winston Salem trying to stop this CHANGE group. We posted a series of articles on this group as they went after our school board. We have many new articles up on them, the WSPD, and the new identity card. Any help/publicity you help us get puts boots on the street to push back. We need the help. Learn about CHANGE/IAF at http://www.theconservativeshepherd.com
Concerning CHANGE providing ID Cards, North Carolina already has a bureaucracy set up to issue ID cards. That bureaucracy is called the DMV. See the following link for details http://www.dmv.org/nc-north-carolina/id-cards.php#Getting_an_ID_Card
A person needing an ID is required to provide proof of age and identity to the DMV and pay $10.00 for the ID.
Z Smith Reynolds would be better off reimbursing the $10.00 fee directly to DMV for the ID’s rather than crating a new bureaucracy giving an ACORN like organization the authority to “Authorize” ID’s.
It is an ID, not a pass to change immigration status. Just a form of identification to make things easier. To keep track, why not? and to somehow dignify. We are talking about human beings and families trying to make a living. They are not taking anything that belongs to you. Believe me they will pay taxes if they were allowed to. All they want to do is work and support their families. I read these articles and it upsets me. We do not own the land, we do not own anything, but we are responsible to lend a hand to those less fortunate. Criminals are everywhere and come in all genders, race, ages, status and believes. Let’s not discriminate. This is an issue that needs a softer hand. If all illegal immigrants where granted a permit to work legally in this country for 6 months and given the opportunity to renew those permits provided no criminal record reported within those 6 months….would that make you happy? Can the use of a work permit also allow them to obtain a drivers license that can as well be renewable every 6 months…of course making sure no criminal offenses where commited, would that make you happy? If they are allowed to work and pay taxes? would it hurt you or benefit you? They could be contributing to this economy. Who are we to stand up against our brothers and sisters? Who are we to judge? This world will end regardless the illegal immigrants. It has to be a better way to deal with it.
Just a thought.
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself…and you shall live”….see below
http://www.twopaths.com/greatest.htm
Not to turn religious, but to live as we should have, as we were commanded to. Is it too late?…have we already become that selfish and prejudiced that cannot tell who we really are and what we are supposed to learn in this life?
In His Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus challenges us to “Go and do likewise.” We do not have to agree with other people’s beliefs and opinions or condone their actions, but Jesus calls us to overcome our prejudices and show our kindness to all people of the world and consider them our “neighbors.”
What is wrong with us? Who have we become? Are we teaching our children to love? Do we know what love is?