Hey Pat McCrory, It Is 'Tar Heel'

Pat McCrory’s Twitter account features plenty of messages that one should expect to see from a governor in the middle of a close reelection race. It basically boils down to two basic points. He is good. His opponent is bad. That’s how it works. It’s what Roy Cooper’s Twitter feed looks like.

The race between McCrory and Cooper is incredibly close. According to Public Policy Polling, Cooper holds a one-point lead. Cooper has also out-raised McCrory so far in the race. If you need to find a reason to reelect McCrory, just follow him on Twitter. He will give you his reasons.

But, he also might make a horrendous mistake. Let’s take you to a tweet sent on Thursday.

People are flocking to North Carolina. Tourism is booming in the Tarheel state. #ncpol WATCH:https://t.co/90PoWujmNt

— Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) August 11, 2016

“Tarheel.”

What’s up with that?

It is “Tar Heel.”

This is not a column about grammar. Those thoughts should be directed at another politician. This is about our state.

The nickname of the state of North Carolina and its inhabitants is “Tar Heel.” The nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans is “Tar Heel.”

The origin of the Tar Heel nickname is up for debate. There are several legends that explain its beginnings. The earliest story goes back to the American Revolution. British troops were fording what we now call the the Tar River near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Tar had been dumped into the water making it hard to cross.

Throughout most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the tar and turpentine industry was big in North Carolina. Writers, including Walt Whitman, would occasionally use “tar” in reference to North Carolina and its people. Typically, however, the term used the most was “tar boilers” which would not make for a fun basketball chant.

Other stories date back to the Civil War. Author Walter Clark tells one story in his 1901 book Histories of the Several Regiments from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861 to 1865. He writes that after a fierce battle that drove soldiers from Virginia from the field, North Carolina soldiers held their ground and won the fight. Virginia soldiers then mocked the North Carolinians by asking if there was still any tar left in North Carolina.

The reply from the North Carolina soldiers was, “No; not a bit; old Jeff’s [Confederate president Jefferson Davis] bought it all up.”

Virginia asked, “”Is that so? What is he going to do with it?”

“He is going to put it on you’ns heels to make you stick better in the next fight,” the folks from North Carolina replied.

In 1893, some UNC students started a newspaper called The Tar Heel. Eventually, this paper was renamed The Daily Tar Heel.

While the origin of “Tar Heel” can be debated. One cannot debate its proper spelling. The term specifically represents a sticky liquid that would seal boats and a part of one’s foot. We could be living in the Turpentine Toe State. It would never be the Turpentinetoe State.

Cooper is not immune from committing his own Twitter faux pas.

His pinned tweet is his latest campaign ad. It is titled Our Dad.”