National
SANFORD, FL — Civil rights leaders are continuing to pressure authorities to make an arrest in the fatal shooting last month of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
During a town hall meeting this week, officials from the NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union and Nation of Islam joined forces in urging residents to remain calm while they seek justice in the slaying, for which George Zimmerman -- a white man -- has admitted to.
No charges have been leveled against Zimmerman in the Feb. 26 shooting which occurred as Martin was returning to a gated community in Sanford after buying candy at a convenience store.
Zimmerman claims he shot Martin in self-defense after the youth attacked him.
"I stand here as a son, father, uncle who is tired of being scared for our boys," Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP, said in an interview. "I'm tired of telling our young men how they can't dress, where they can't go and how they can't behave."
Meanwhile, a group of college students in Florida have demanded a meeting with Gov. Rick Scott over the shooting. Scott has responded that he will make sure justice is served.
"[Authorities] are not going to let Zimmerman do somethig wrong and think he can get away with it -- it's not going to happen," said Scott, who has ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to assist the state attorney in the investigation of Zimmerman.
Outrage over the killing of Trayvon Martin reached Washington Monday as the Congressional Black Caucus called on the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into the shooting death of the Florida teenager by a white neighborhood watch captain. And by late in the day, the Justice Department had announced it will launch an investigation into Martin's killing.
"We urge the Department of Justice to immediately and thoroughly investigate the shooting death of Trayvon Martin as a hate crime," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). CBC chair, said in a statement. "This case compromises the integrity of our legal system and sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice."
Cleaver added that "as a nation we cannot, should not, and will not ignore, Trayvon's brutal murder and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free."
Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, in response to a reporter's question about whether President Barack Obama had planned to weigh in on the case, said, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin's family."
"But obviously, we're not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter," he added.
But late Monday, Justice Department officials announced they were sending its community relations service this week to Sanford, Florida to meet with authorities, community officials and civil rights leaders "to address tension in the community."
"The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation," the agency said in an emailed statement.
Martin, 17, was fatally shot in a gated community in Sanford last month by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain who thought the teen looked suspicious as he walked back from a convenience store carrying only a package of Skittles and an ice tea.
Zimmerman saw Martin as he was patrolling his neighborhood and called 911 to report a suspicious person. He went against the advice of the 911 dispatcher and followed Martin, who was walking home from the store with the bag of Skittles in his pocket.
The teen, described by one of his teachers as an "A and B student who majored in cheerfulness," lived with his mother in Miami, but was visiting his father and stepmother at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford.
The shooting - and apparent shoddy handling of the case by local authorities - has spurred anger in the black community and put an intense media spotlight on the local police. Local killings of blacks rarely garner national attention. Trayvon Martin's case has.
The drumbeat for justice got only louder after 911 calls from Zimmerman and witnesses were released. The tapes raise questions about the motive of the shooting and seem to weaken Zimmerman's argument that he shot Martin in self-defense.
Neighbors have also spoken out in recent days and described Zimmerman as an over-zealous Neighborhood Watch member. The Miami Herald reported that Zimmerman, a criminal justice student, called police at least 46 times since January 2011 to report disturbances, break-ins, or windows left open. In nine of those calls, he reported he saw someone or something suspicious, the paper reported.
As watch captain, he told neighbors to be on the lookout, specifically referring to young black men who appeared to be from the other side of the community's gates, The Herald reported.
Despite questions from the 911 accounts, Zimmerman remains uncharged and free, a travesty of justice, according to Cleaver.
"I am outraged by the way in which this case has been handled by the Sanford Police Department in Florida. Those who are meant to protect us and our children have blatantly turned their backs on fairness and justice ... the Sanford Police Department ....
has shown blatant disregard for justice," he said. "Contrary to the flippant way this case has been handled, his life had meaning and purpose. Trayvon had a family, friends and a future all taken away because of the color of his skin. We will not stop until justice for Trayvon is served because a life is a terrible thing to take."
As the Black Caucus called on the Obama administration to probe Martin's death, students from across Florida demonstrated Monday and demanded Zimmerman's arrest.
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton is expected to join Sanford city leaders in a Tuesday evening town hall meeting to discuss with residents how the investigation is being handled. Earlier Monday, students held rallies on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, where prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine if charges should be filed.
Yet authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.
Prosecutors may not be able to charge Zimmerman because of changes to state law in 2005. Under the old law, people could use deadly force in self-defense only if they had tried to run away or otherwise avoid the danger.
Under the new law, there is no duty to retreat and it gives a Floridian the right "to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force," if he feels threatened. "I don't think a man who exited his vehicle after the 911 dispatcher told him to stay inside the car can claim self-defense," Carl McPhail, a 28-year-old Barry University law school student, said at the Sanford rally.
The 70 protesters at the Sanford rally chanted "What if it was your son?" and held posters saying, "This is not a race issue." Many carried Skittles.
"You would think that Sanford is still in the 1800s claiming that this man can call self-defense for shooting an unarmed boy," Linda Tillman, a restaurant owner who attended a rally in Sanford, said Monday.
More than 10,000 members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority - America's first Greek-letter organization founded in 1908 by, and for, African-American college women and one of the nation's leading service organizations - will converge upon San Francisco from July 21-27 for its biennial conference. The event will beheld at the Moscone Center, and among those in attendance will be sorors from as far as Germany, Japan, South Korea and Nassau.
International President Carolyn House Stewart will preside over the weeklong gathering, which will boast the theme: "65th Boule: Gateway to Global Leadership Through Timeless Service."
This marks the second time in the sorority's 104-year history that the convention is being held in San Francisco. The first conference was held in 1955 at the Fairmont Hotel. San Francisco is home to former international president Dr. Ida Jackson and more 1,000 members who serve the surrounding communities.
Paralleling their program theme, the sorority will host a town hall, youth summit, economic summit and a panel on volunteering. Alpha Kappa Alpha will also open the "Unsung AKA Members of the Civil Rights Movement Museum" which will chronicle and graphically dramatize members' contributions to the Movement.
Another feature of the weeklong event will be a public meeting on Sunday, July 22. Its purpose is to acquaint the area with AKA's mission and impressive record of service on a local, regional, national and global arena. Awards will be presented to international leaders during this event, which is free and open to the public.
As an extension of AKA's mission "to serve all mankind," members will donate school supplies to Bay Area social service agencies. The collection drive is expected to yield hundreds of thousands of dollars in school supplies, which will assist families weighed down by the fragile economy and with limited funds.
About Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Alpha Kappa Alpha boasts more than 250,000 women in 965 chapters in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Germany, Bermuda, South Korea, the Bahamas, Japan and on the continent of Africa who are dedicated to service.
Since its founding, members have donated more than 3.5 million hours to programs that have benefited over 16 million people worldwide. Its membership includes a wide array of outstanding luminaries who cross several disciplines and industries.
Among its high-profile members are Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia; poets Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, Dr. Mae Jemison, first woman of color to travel into space, actresses Phylicia Rashad and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Grammy Award winner, Alicia Keys and Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson and newly-elected lawmakers Terri Sewell and Frederica Wilson. The late civil rights champions Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks and Septima Poinsette Clark were also members. Attorney Carolyn House Stewart is the 27th international president. For more information, log on to www.aka1908.com.
A group of leading Black intellectuals met at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to discuss the current plight of African-Americans in the United States.
Curiously, at the recent forum, which took place last month and was entitled "Black America: A Prescription for the Future," alongside their programs, attendees were given an article published in the Journal of Negro Education in 1936.
That conference apparently ended without the delegates accepting any of the proposed solutions.
Those participants might have benefited from the work of the panelists at the Schomburg, particularly the remedies offered by Dr. Bernard Anderson, Dr. William Julius Wilson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr. Richard Kahlenberg.
In 1936, with the solutions seeming unacceptable, the delegates agreed that a next step was necessary and they called for a national Negro congress under the auspices of the great labor leader A. Philip Randolph.
More than 75 years later, Norman Hill provided a living connection to Randolph at the Schomburg as president emeritus of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI).
Hill's task was to set the stage for the panelists with an overview of the Civil Rights Movement, and he did that quite elaborately, covering from 1896 to 1965.
Hill delivered his presentation after a general welcome from the moderator, professor Jerald Podair, and greetings from Vincent Alvarez, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Clayola Brown, president of the APRI; and a representative from the NFL Players Association standing in for executive director DeMaurice Smith.
To address the problems facing Black America, Hill said the renewed movement would be wise to follow the principles and credo of his mentor, Randolph.
"At the banquet table of nature," Hill began, quoting Randolph, "there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take and you keep what you can hold. If you can't take anything, you won't get anything, and if you can't hold anything, you won't keepanything.
And you can't take anything without organization." A barrage of statistics came from Anderson and Wilson, with only the cogent words of
Sharpton providing a pause. An esteemed economist, Anderson's analysis is often found in the National Urban League's annual State of the Nation report.
He shared some of that information with a fairly sparse but attentive audience.
On the question of jobs, Anderson said, "Blacks comprise 20 percent of the unemployed."
And that number may be even higher if you include those no longer looking for work and the underemployed. "When you stop looking for work, you are no longer listed among the unemployed," he said.
His was a litany of despair as he compared the prospects of Blacks to a train's caboose. "No matter how fast the train is going, the caboose [Blacks] will never catch up to the engine [whites]."
Sharpton's main thesis had less to do with comparing Blacks to whites and more to do with the expanded Black middle and upper class and the poor or lower class they've left behind. "What we did during the Civil Rights
Movement was to empower and create a Black upper class while ignoring the Black lower class. Our Black billionaires sold their businesses and cashed out.
"We have to get back to a bottom-up movement," he continued. "It's time to get back on track."
Getting back on track, he insisted, would entail paying attention to the GOP and its aim to suppress the Black and minority vote and, with the help of the Supreme Court, put an end to affirmative action.
"I agree with Dr. Anderson: We must, in the tradition of Frederick Douglass, agitate, agitate, agitate!"
Many of the dismal conclusions recited by Wilson merely confi rmed what Anderson had already presented.
And like Anderson, he said it "will take generation for the Black family to catch up with the white family" in terms of wealth and income.
"Seventy percent of Black children who now live in poor communities will continue to live there as adults," Wilson added.
The shift in demographics, he explained, has created largely African-American core centers in our major cities. "The Black middle class has abandoned the inner city and now populates the suburbs," he said.
So what's to be done? "President Obama, rather than specifying a bill that
would target Black Americans, needs to create a bill designed to create public sector jobs," Wilson said.
Of course, most of the people who would benefit from such a bill would be Blacks.
Kahlenberg's report was equally depressing as he focused on the gross disparities between Black and white school children.
He observed that since Black primary and secondary students attend schools in poor areas, they are less likely to receive a quality education and not get the same books, new technology or audio-visual equipment as a white school district.
Unlike one of the conclusions reported by Wilson, Kahlenberg said that Black students perform "better when given a chance to attend better schools."
His solution to some of the problems hindering Black empowerment centers around what he calls "a new type of afirmative action," one based not on race but on class.
"Blacks would still be the greatest beneiciary of an economic approach, since they are the worst off," Kahlenberg concluded.
After four hours, with other pressing engagements, it wasn't possible to hear Velma Murphy Hill's summary, but it's conceivable that she ar-
rived at a conclusion very similar to the one in the article back in 1936, which declared that another step is necessary for a better "prescription for the future."
In other words, past is prologue—or the more things change, the more they remain the same.
First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the Presidential delegation for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympic games in London. Mrs. Obama made the announcement at an event with Samantha Cameron celebrating the Olympic games and Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move!" initiative.
During the event, Olympians and Paralympians -- including Kortney Clemons, Dominique Dawes, Tom Dolan, April Holmes, Lisa Leslie, Lori Ann Lindsey, Dan O'Brien, Becky Sauerbrunn, David Wagner and Mal Washington -- led D.C.-area school children in activities inspired by the Olympic games.
Mrs. Obama emphasized her hope that the Olympic games will inspire more young people to get active and healthy, the goal of her Let's Move! initiative.
"In the months ahead, I'll be talking to Americans all across the country to encourage even more young people to tap into that Olympic spirit and turn their inspiration into action," said Mrs. Obama. "As the Olympic creed states, 'the most important thing ... is not to win, but to take part.' And that doesn't just mean sitting and watching, it means getting up and getting active as well. I hope we use the upcoming games as motivation for all of us to get up and get moving."
"Mrs. Obama's support will only further invigorate the athletes' desire to bring home the gold and motivate all Americans to be active," said Dominique Dawes, three-time Olympic gymnast and co-chair of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. "My work on behalf of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition is a way for me to give back to the country that supported me during my Olympic journey."
CDC Advertising Campaign: Necessary, Long Overdue Step to Reduce Smoking
The recent release of the 31st U.S. Surgeon General's report, "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults," revealed that mass media campaigns are one of the most effective ways tobacco use can be reduced. These campaigns have the effect of prompting smokers to quit and discouraging youth from starting.
The CDC's hard-hitting media campaign profiles real people who are living with smoking-related diseases, including amputations from Buerger's disease, throat cancer, stroke, heart attack and asthma. This ad campaign is a proven approach to encourage current smokers to quit and prevent America's youth and young adults from starting.
"We applaud these individuals for publicly sharing how smoking has shattered their lives so that others may learn from their tragic experiences," said Charles D. Connor, American Lung Association president and CEO. "This campaign is long overdue, is powerful and will have a significant impact on reducing tobacco use."
The ads will air nationwide, primarily on television, but also via radio, print, online, and out of home placements. CDC is strategically increasing coverage of the ads in parts of the country with the highest number of smokers to maximize visibility and effectiveness among its target audience.
The Lung Association commends the CDC for creating an ad, in both English and Spanish that encourages parents to ask people not to smoke around their kids. The Lung Association recently released a health disparity report on the burden of asthma among the Hispanic population, and is confident the Spanish-language ad will help reduce this health disparity.
Every hour of every day, the tobacco industry spends $1 million on marketing. Meanwhile, states' failure to invest in proven policies and programs has resulted in 3 million new youth and young adult smokers, a third of whom will ultimately die from their addiction. Tobacco-related diseases are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 443,000 Americans each year. Smoking alone costs the U.S. economy $193 billion dollars every year, $96 billion in direct health care costs and $97 billion in lost productivity. The CDC's paid media campaign is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money the tobacco industry spends on product marketing targeted for kids and teens. The U.S. cannot afford not to air these ads, and the Lung Association stands in strong support of the ads, and ready to help anyone who wants to end their tobacco addiction.
This is the latest in a series of laudable steps taken by the Obama Administration to reduce tobacco use in the United States. President Obama signed the landmark Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, which gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products; raised the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 61 cents to fund children's health insurance; and dramatically expanded access to comprehensive tobacco cessation services through the Affordable Care Act and other initiatives. The Lung Association has been successfully helping smokers quit for more than 30 years with our Freedom From Smoking program. In addition, the Lung Association's Not-On-Tobacco® (N-O-T) program is designed for smokers aged 14 to 19 who want to quit and is America's most popular smoking cessation program for teens. For assistance with quitting smoking or for additional questions about lung health, please call the American Lung Association's Lung HelpLine at 1-800-548-8252.
African Americans have always consumed media at a greater rate than other segments of the population. But while they watch more hours of TV, and spend more time listening to radio than anyone, black consumers have not abandoned their interest in newspapers and magazines.
In fact, a look at data from the Dept. of Commerce reveals that African-American households have maintained a higher rate of purchases of print media than white households. Black purchases of newspapers and magazines grew 9.2 percent between 2006 and 2010, the latest data available. During the same period, whites' purchases of print media declined 14 percent.
White purchases of single copies of newspapers and magazines have dropped every year since 2006, while black purchases dropped only once in four years. Print media subscriptions for blacks and whites have declined steadily over that period, though the rate of decline for whites was much steeper.
This research suggests that print information may be more valuable to African-Americans and they are willing to pay more even as the cost per copy increases. It may also suggest that blacks are not getting all the news and information they desire from free sources on the Internet.
The newest edition of Target Market News' "Buying Power of Black America" report shows that black households spent $402 million on newspapers and magazines in 2010. Of that amount, $202 million was spent on buying single copies versus subscriptions. That represents a 16 percent increase over the previous year.
For more information about the upcoming edition of "The Buying Power of Black America" visit www.targetmarketnews.com.
It's a question that comes up every time you hit the home page of the Republican National Committee's website: Where are all the Black Republicans?
Only a year after celebrating the last days of its first African-American chair, the RNC is fairly light on Black faces these days. What was once, especially during the '90s, a fairly aggressive photo-op promotional strategy strung together by a small network of die-hard Black political consultants, former elected officials and partisans, is all but dead. While it did little in the way of yielding any results comparable to Democratic counterparts, there was a sense — leading up to the election of Michael Steele as party chair — that some progress had been made in mending the often bitter relationship between African Americans and the Republican Party.
Now, as a bloody Republican primary carries on, the GOP appears smitten with the Latino vote. Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are bending over backwards, and breaking the bank, to connect with Latinos — looking for every conceivable angle to attract skeptical Brown voters turned off by a wave of anti-immigration sentiments. And the RNC happily trotted out a Director of Latino Outreach in January, eagerly announcing the move in a gritty effort to snatch Hispanic voters away from Democrats in what observers expect to be a grueling November election.
"The RNC will place staff on the ground across the country to coordinate the GOP's Hispanic effort as part of a program to make sure Barack Obama is a one-term president," said RNC Chair Reince Preibus when introducing Betinna Inclan as the point person for Republican Latino strategy. "Latinos play an integral role in our communities, and the Republican Party believes it is essential to involve Latinos at every level of our Party's efforts in 2012."
Meanwhile, the move angered a number of Black Republicans who were already feeling left out in the cold following the abrupt downfall and forced removal of Steele in 2011. Many continue to express disgust at the GOP love fest for Latinos, some out of concern that they have no other political home to turn to.
"You have no Blacks on staff at the Republican National Committee — or any of its other committees — and there are no Blacks on staff of any of the presidential campaigns," snorts longtime Black Republican strategist and marketing expert Raynard Jackson. "But maybe after a few more electoral loses you will awaken to the most loyal customer you have ever had."
Most politically active and prominent Black Republicans — and there are only a few compared to Black Democrats — are not as vocal about their displeasure with the GOP's intense focus on the Latino vote. Most are quiet, some out of fear they might anger RNC bosses who are already stressed trying to keep a fractured party intact. But many are seething over what they view as a combination of betrayal and intrusion, a knife in the back from a Republican Party that was theirs from its Abraham Lincoln beginnings.
However, a source tells the Tribune that focus could shift back to Black outreach as the Romney campaign prepares to hire a senior advisor for that exact purpose. While the source would not give details on the timing of an announcement, it was clear the embattled former Massachusetts governor is thinking ahead to the general election. "We're finalizing the details," said the source. "But, we're not completely there, yet."
The reason behind that reluctance could reflect a larger sense of caution surrounding the primaries. There are still many more states to go, with the delegate-rich "Super Tuesday" on the horizon for March 6. With the Romney campaign nervously gauging the rise of Rick Santorum while smarting from triple losses in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota, it may be difficult to start thinking about the national scene while you're still engaged in state-by-state trench warfare. Plus, finance reports are showing a Romney campaign low on cash and near tapped on donors. Do they even have enough to go the distance?
In terms of the Black vote, it's much more complex than that. Much of it has to do with pure numbers — only 10percent of African-American voters, on average, vote Republican during any given presidential or congressional mid-term cycle. The only Republican in the 21st century to slightly defy that trend was President Bush in 2004 when he won just over 11 percent of the Black vote against Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. In statewide races, Republicans tend to garner 15 percent of the Black vote on average. In 2006, then Lt. Gov. Michael Steele was able to capture more than 20 percent of the Black vote in Maryland's U.S. Senate race — but that was still very negligible for a Black candidate with extensive local roots and who never shied away from his Blackness.
Many Republican strategists and candidates alike are quick to attribute those dismal ratings to Black dismissiveness. "It's hard. We get called 'racists,' but we're expected to go out and do outreach with these people," complains one veteran white GOP campaign expert who wanted to speak off the record. Visibly angered by the question, the senior aide to numerous Republican campaigns accused Black voters of "setting unfair expectations."
Hence, Republican insiders point to the math in recent primaries. For example, only 2 percent of Black voters in South Carolina are registered Republicans. To make it worse, only 1 percent of South Carolina primary voters in January were Black — and that was in an "open primary" where voters of all partisan stripes can vote. In Florida, it was the same: only 1 percent. And, in Iowa (where there are sizeable pockets of African Americans living in such cities as Des Moines), Black votes didn't even register on a significant scale.
The problem is two-fold. The Republican Party's southern strategy in the 1960s alienated Black voters in the race for southern white and segregationist votes. This has led to the prevailing image of a political party either constantly attacking major Black policy priorities, or serving as the face of institutionalized political racism. But there is also the problem of African Americans refusing to force the two major political parties to compete for their voters. Most are fiercely loyal to the Democratic Party to the point where such affiliations are based more on personal considerations than political interests.
In contrast, Latino voters only lean 60 percent Democrat on average. In key primary states like Florida and Arizona, they represent 12 percent of the Republican primary electorate — a significant presence that warrants the attention of campaign strategists battling for every vote they can get. And a recent Cooperative Congressional Election Survey found 14 percent identified as Republican and a significant bloc, 19 percent, identified as "Independent."
It's that 19 percent that gives Republicans reason to believe they can compete for Latino votes in the general election against Barack Obama, despite recent anti-immigration rhetoric and legislation. The survey also found Latinos are more inclined to vote by race than party. With scores more Latino Republican elected officials than Black, Republican elected officials (there are no Black, Republican elected officials under the age of 40), the GOP figures it has a better chance chasing after Brown votes than Black ones.
Political strategist and former congressional candidate Princella Smith argues that because African Americans vote "lopsidedly Democrat — 80 percent to 90percent of the time," the Republican Party fails to see any prospect of a return on the investment. "Why should I campaign to a community who will reject me as soon as I get to the front door?"
Ron Thomas, a Black Republican and former senior advisor to Rep. Michelle Bachmann's, R-Minn., failed presidential bid, agrees, quickly arguing that the GOP's enthusiastic focus on Latino voters should be something for Black Republicans and African Americans in general to worry about. "I have a bottom line philosophy: You have to have tensions on both sides of the aisle. We're the only culture where we don't make the political parties compete for our vote. Until we decide as a people that we're going to do that, we're going to stay in the same situation we're in right now." (Mr. Ellison is managing editor of Politic365.com.)
Study: Blacks, Hispanics Suspended at Higher Rates
It's often a given that black students at public schools take center stage when it comes to corporal punishment, suspension and other acts of discipline. But a new study confirms that they've been unfairly targeted compared to white and other non-minority students.
The study, titled "Part II of the 2009-10 Civil Rights Data Collection" which was released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, Tuesday, March 6 at Howard University, also focused on career readiness, discipline, school finance, and student retention.
"The sad fact is that minority students across America face much harsher discipline than non-minorities, even within the same school," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He expressed hopes that the report would be an eye-opener to educators at all levels in an effort to address educational inequities across the board.
"The power of the data is not only in the numbers themselves, but in the impact it can have when married with the courage and the will to change," Duncan said. "The undeniable truth is that the everyday educational experience for many students of color violates the principle of equity at the heart of the American promise. It is our collective duty to change that," he said.
The study involved 72,000 schools that serve 85 percent of the nation's students. It revealed that black and Hispanic students comprised more than 70 percent of those involved in school arrests or cases referred to law enforcement.
Also, while black students made up 18 percent of students in the survey, 46 percent of them had multiple out-of-school suspensions and 39 percent had been expelled. According to the study, while black students are likely to be expelled or suspended three times more than their white counterparts, African-American male and female students are suspended at higher rates than almost any other group.
Raul Gonzalez, legislative director at the National Council of La Raza, said in a statement that "zero tolerance" policies in both schools and the court system disproportionately affect black and Hispanic kids. He said the policies have created a system that takes kids out of school and ultimately leads them into prison where they become hardened criminals. He said more moderate responses are needed in schools, and he hopes that the report will lead to a change in policies in schools and in state laws.
"We've lost control of all judgment here, and it's almost always a black kid or a Hispanic kid affected," Gonzalez said.
Russlynn Ali, assistant education secretary for civil rights, said during a teleconference with reporters, that the study also looked at disparities among underserved populations, such as the disabled and English as a Second Language (ESL) students who continue to reap less than their fair share of resources.
She said the study – the first of its kind and which included 10,000 school districts – presents a "very disturbing" picture and that if its findings fail to change, it will be difficult to keep pace with President Barack Obama's vision to lead the world in the number of college graduates by 2020.
"What we released was a series of data points, a national data tool that talks about access and opportunity," said Ali. "For many years, you have probably heard Secretary Duncan refer to education as the civil rights issue of our time . . . [and] we are working hard here at the Department of Education to close the achievement gap to help schools transform."
Driving along Broad Street towards the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the landscape is pretty much the same as it was 47 years ago [how do you know? Did a marcher from then say this?] when marchers assembled in the town for what would become a historic day in the annals of the Civil Rights struggle.
Those who marched peacefully along Broad Street on March 7, 1965, probably never considered that they were about to make history. Many of the marchers have a vivid memory of what happened to them on "Bloody Sunday" once they crossed the bridge enroute to the Alabama State Capital. However, for those who were not there, the photographic and video images produced on that dreadful day is indelibly etched on the consciousness of all who strive for justice and fairness.
Yet 47 years later, the Rev. Al Sharpton led thousands of marchers on a five-day trek to re-enact that memorable day but also to draw attention to present-day concerns affecting black and brown people not just in Alabama but across the United States.
Sharpton is convinced that tools of the Civil Rights movement, such as civil disobedience, demonstrations and other methods are still effective in producing change around several hotbed issues. He and those who joined him hit the pavement. The marched and retraced the steps of the brave souls who set out but were unable to complete the journey from Selma to Montgomery the first time. And they slept at the same places their predecessors did in their effort to shed light on current issues, particularly voting rights.
When asked why this march was so important to the younger generation, Sharpton was emphatic.
"The younger generations are the ones that will be in many ways negatively impacted by voter I.D. and immigration laws, so what I've enjoyed in my lifetime from '65 when I was 10 until now, they will not enjoy. This march is more for them than for those of us that are middle age and even the older crowd. We sought the right to the right to vote it is them [the younger generation] that they are trying to disenfranchise."
"I was so happy when Tyrese called me and said he was going to participate in this march because a lot of young people need to fight the battle of their time."
Sharpton recalled the march.
A single order came from the sheriff for some 600 marchers to abandon their march and return home after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. No other words were given as the non-violent marchers were met with the thumps of the billy club, the wrongful use of the teargas, and the kicks and stomps from the mounted state police officers. The aggressive response to marchers led to a symbolic march by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. On Sunday, March 21, about 3,200 marchers led by King set out for Montgomery. They walked about 12 miles a day and sleeping in fields. When they reached the capitol on Thursday, March 25, the demonstrators numbered more than 25,000. Less than five months after the last of the three marches, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
When Johnson, signed the law it was created to end discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States; however, instead of wiping out those discriminatory practices new practices were created like poll taxes and literacy tests.
Fast forward to the present. According to the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Urban League, 34 states in the past 12 to 18 months have introduced voter suppression measures and legislation that would require a government-issued photo ID, shorter voting hours, a curtailment of early voting, and/or the imposition of penalties limiting the registration process is pending in 27 states. Overall, efforts to suppress voter turnout now include: photo ID requirements; proof of citizenship requirements for registration; reducing the number of days for early voting; restrictions on third-party voter registration activities; limiting the opportunity to make an address change at the polls on election day; systematic purges of registered voters; challenges to student voters as non-residents; unfounded allegations of voter fraud; and moving or closing precincts in minority communities.
As the presidential election looms nearer the issues of voter rights become more important in the African American community, Sharpton said. As thousands left Montgomery on Friday, March 9, they left with one message: Respect your vote and continue to fight for it.
A recent survey of British scholars shows that our esteemed cousins on the other side of the Atlantic would rate President Obama as the eigth top President of all time. That's if his second term were to take place today. For the sake of comparison, drum roll please, George W. Bush comes in at #31 – but, did you not see that coming? What's funnier is that ranking is also the worst president since Warren Harding presided over the Teapot Dome Scandal. Yes: it's worse than Richard Nixon, too.
Americans, on the other hand, are actually less approving of the job the president is doing in spite of more than 700,000 new jobs created in just the last three months. A recent CBS/NYTimes poll shows his approval rating at 41percent.
There is a reason for this alleged increased disapproval. Conventional wisdom is pointing to rising gas prices at the moment. And, I use the term alleged because other public opinion surveys (Gallup and Real Clear Politics), albeit less newsworthy, show Obama's approval as staying relatively constant over the last month.
The reason Obama's approval ratings might slip is the constant demagoguing of Obama's accomplishments and character from an oddly stereotypical cast of Obama-haters: Franklin Graham, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.
They have taken turns accusing Obama of having some alien theology, of being a Muslim, of wanting $9 gas, and of wanting to end Medicare. Really? Who believes this nonsense? Oh wait – probably the Republican voters in Alabama and Mississippi who are more likely to believe that Obama is a Muslim than believe in evolution.
Given the chance, they will blame him for 17-year cicadas and solar flares, too.
The fact that the GOP contenders and their acolytes focus on these non-issues ("red herrings" in the parlance of eminent political scholar V.O. Key) is because many people see it as absurd to batter Obama over an improved economy. Everyone wants lower unemployment and faster economic growth, but given the positive trends in economic data, the Republican echo chamber is forced into awkward disassembling.
For the most part, Obama has only countered the GOP hostility incrementally. For instance, few have seen his campaign's 17-minute campaign documentary. Obama's lead in the money race should ensure that once his campaign hits full-stride Americans might have actual fair and balanced coverage of the presidential race.
Mural to Honor Brown vs. Board of Education
TOPEKA, KANSAS -- Rep. Valdenia Winn (D - Kansas City), chairperson of the Capitol Preservation Committee, is issuing a national call for artists/artistic teams to submit a Request for Qualification (RFQ) to design a mural in the Kansas State Capitol commemorating the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
"The significance of the Oliver L. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas is known throughout the world and one that has paved the way for the modern revolution for human rights in the United States," said Winn. "The story of the families from Kansas, Virgina, South Carolina, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., must be remembered for the sacrifices that they made so that we all could reach our greatest potentials. This mural will be a legacy for all!"
In 2010, the Kansas Legislature passed Senate Bill 54, which created the Capitol Preservation Committee and authorized the Committee to develop plans for the placement of a mural within the Kansas State Capitol to commemorate the landmark court case that ended the "separate but equal" law across the United States.
Project parameters can be found here:
www.washburn.edu/main/mulvane/files/Brown%20Mural%20Call%20for%20Artists%20RFQ.pdf
The deadline for submitting an RFQ is 5 p.m. CST on May 1. The Capitol Preservation Committee will invite selected artists to provide a Request for Proposal (RFP) to more specifically outline their plan for the mural.
The contact person for submitting an RFQ is Cyndi Morrison at the Mulvane Art Museum. Her e-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ;Phone, 785-670-1124.
The mural will be paid for by private dollars, projected completion in October 2014.
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