Over six million people in the United States with past criminal convictions cannot vote because of felony disenfranchisement laws. These laws take away a person’s right to vote if they are convicted of a felony offense. As a result of racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system, these laws have a disproportionate effect on blacks … [Read more…]
In the old days, black voter suppression took the form of terrorism (e.g., Ku Klux Klan), poll taxes, the grandfather clause, bogus literacy tests, and felony disenfranchisement. Unfortunately, felony disenfranchisement is still with us as a means of limiting the African American vote. Felony Disenfranchisement is the state taking away the right of a person … [Read more…]
While admitting that her campaign had flaws, Hillary Clinton blames her defeat mostly on the Russian Interference in the election and the action taken in late October by James Comey, the FBI Director. There is one other major cause that gets too little attention in the mainstream media and by major political talking heads. It … [Read more…]
President Trump may not have much legislation to brag about; however, he is continuing to create massive problems with his directives and Executive Orders. One of his latest actions puts into place a mechanism to capitalize on one of his outrageous lies since the November election—that there is massive voter fraud going on in the … [Read more…]
In the Presidential election last fall white working-class voters supported Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton two to one. Leading up to–and since–the presidential election last year the mainstream media tended to label Donald Trump’s supporters as financially disaffected white working class voters. They persistently contended that Trump’s voters were concerned about jobs they had lost … [Read more…]
For some unknown reason, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was invited to deliver the commencement address at Bethune-Cookman University. In a predictable reaction, the graduating seniors stood, turned their backs, and booed her. This was after delivering a petition signed by over 50,000 people that requested her invitation be withdrawn. DeVos was invited to speak … [Read more…]
In 2015 two economists at Harvard University reported on an extensive study they conducted on five million IRS records of anonymous families with children. The study showed that poor children who grow up in some cities and towns have sharply better odds of escaping poverty than poor children in other places. Among the 100 largest … [Read more…]
Twenty-five years ago this week, a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of the use of excessive force in the videotaped arrest and beating of Rodney King, setting off several days of widespread riots in Los Angeles. Are things better now? No. Things are not better. The jury failed to convict the white police officer who … [Read more…]
Our President, Donald Trump, makes many outlandish statements. One of his latest was to praise President Andrew Jackson and suggest that if Jackson had been around a few decades later, there would not have been a Civil War because Jackson “had a big heart.” There is a reason there was a campaign to replace Andrew … [Read more…]
EJI’s New Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration April 12, 2017 Construction is underway in Montgomery, Alabama, on the Equal Justice Initiative’s new racial justice museum, which will explore America’s legacy of slavery, racial terror, segregation, and mass incarceration. EJI’s planned museum attempts to address our country’s failure to create cultural spaces that have honestly … [Read more…]