North Carolina, the new South Africa

Dear Children, Once upon a time in America, there were places where there were laws enforcing different treatment for different groups of people for arbitrary reasons. There were also attitudes held by those responsible for creating and enforcing laws, that a blind eye would be turned towards citizens committing illegal acts against the group(s) discriminated against. Naturally, the people being discriminated against were not happy about the situation. In addition, a lot of people not in the affected group(s), who lived far away from the places where discrimination occurred, thought that it wasn't very nice, and should stop. Strangely, however, some of these originally uninvolved people felt strongly enough to go to the affected areas, to protest, march, and ride buses in support, even though they had nothing to gain, would get little to no public adulation for their actions, and put themselves at risk of bodily harm. Many years later, a tempest in a teapot occurred, in which a law was passed that many felt was discriminatory against certain group(s), by not making them special enough. A lot of people, both in the affected and unaffected areas felt this was a bad idea. A lot of other people wished everyone would just shut up and act like adults, so stupid laws didn't have to keep being passed to regulate the behavior of adults. A variety of entertainers decided that somehow it made sense to not perform in this area, in some sort of solidarity with the affected parties, forgetting that many of the attendees might be the affected, and that by coming to the heart of the aggravation, at no personal risk (beyond the inherent risks involved in traveling), they could speak to their fans, the press, and the wider public, saying what was on their minds, and possibly affecting the behavior of many. But apparently the days of traveling to protest are done, and it's easier to stay home and call that a protest.