Black Groups Expected Court's Immigration Decision by Frederick H. Lowe

Nov. 15, 2015

Black Groups Expected Court's Immigration Decision
They also don’t like what Obama has done

By Frederick H. Lowe

Black Alliance For Just Immigration protests.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Two groups said they expected a negative court ruling with respect to President Obama’s immigration reform plan. However, they added they weren’t happy with the president’s efforts to improve the lives of this country’s black immigrants.

The two groups, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and the Black Immigration Network, both based in New York, made their comments in a joint statement following a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling Monday that overturned President Barack Obama’s executive order shielding more than 4 million immigrants from deportation. In a 2-1 decision, the court ruled President Obama exceeded his authority. The decision sided with 26 states opposed to President Obama’s plan.

The Obama Administration said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court decides to review the ruling, a decision would be issued after President Obama leaves office in January 2017.

The 5th Circuit Court’s decision mostly stops the Deferred Action for Parents, designed to help foreign-born parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The program, scheduled to begin in May, would grant three-year work permits to more than 4 million adults who have lived in the United States illegally for at least five years.

Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, hailed the decision. He has maintained that 11 million undocumented immigrants should immediately be removed from the country. His opponent Dr. Ben Carson, however, has questioned how Trump would round up undocumented immigrants. Trump has not offered any specifics.

For the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and the Black Immigration Network, the decision was expected because the 5th Circuit is a conservative court.

“It is definitely no surprise that the Fifth Circuit court, which has previously been hostile to immigrants, issued a ruling in favor of 26 hostile states, against an administration that is also hostile towards millions of immigrants,”said Opai Tometi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter.

In addition, the groups have both asserted that black immigrant families have not benefited from Obama’s immigration policies.

“Though black immigrants are only about 10% of the foreign-born population in the U.S., they are detained and deported at five times the rate of their presence in the undocumented immigrant community,” Tometi said.

Tometi added: “Black immigrant families — even those eligible for relief under Obama’s quick fixes — may have yet to reap the benefits of the administration’s relief measures as black immigrants often remain overlooked and excluded from the immigration discourse. We continue to call on the Obama administration to work with Congress to end hostility toward immigrants by providing true relief to families, and eliminating immigrant detention, local ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) collaboration programs like the Priority Enforcement Program and mass deportations,” Tometi said.

A record 3.8 million black immigrants now live in the United States, more than four times the number who lived here in 1980, according to Pew Research Center, which analyzed U.S. Census Department data. Most Americans, however, think of immigrants as being Hispanic, which may or may not be case for black immigrants.

In 1980, there were 3.1 million black immigrants in the U.S. In 1990, the number climbed to 4.9 million and in 2000, the number reached 6.7 million, reported Pew on Thursday. These latest figures are from 2013.

Black immigrants now account for 8.7% of the nation’s black population, but the Census Bureau projects that by 2060, 16.5% of U.S. blacks will be immigrants.

Black immigrants come from all parts of the world, but more than half are from the Caribbean, with Jamaica being the largest source of immigrants, followed by Haiti.

Black immigration is also fueled by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, led by Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Fed's Hiring Practices Void of Diversity, Says Rep. Maxine Waters By James Wright

Nov. 15, 2015

Fed's Hiring Practices Void of Diversity, Says Rep. Maxine Waters

By James Wright

watersofficial

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - U.S. Representative Maxine Waters recently took the federal government’s financial services agencies to task for not promoting racial and ethnic diversity in their employment ranks.

On Nov. 5, Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, along with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Hispanic and Asian- Pacific Islanders caucuses, commented on “The Dodd-Frank Act Five Years Later: Diversity in the Financial Service Agencies” report. The document criticized seven financial services agencies for not implementing the equal employment opportunity portions of Dodd-Frank, the 2010 law that mandated Wall Street and other financial firms improve their practices regarding consumer protection.

“I am disappointed to find that, more than five years after the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act and the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that included provisions intended to promote workforce and supplier diversity and inclusion, the federal financial services agencies have largely failed to improve on these critical matters,” Rep Waters said at a press conference on the report. “As communities of color continue to face an insurmountable wealth gap and as African- American unemployment remains stagnant at 9.2 percent, our nation cannot afford to have a federal government that is out of touch with the needs of racial and ethnic minorities and women and their daily financial challenges.”

The report was compiled by the Democratic staff members of Waters’ committee and focused on the hiring practices, especially of senior management, from 2011-2013 of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

The report concludes that minorities and women remain underrepresented in the workforce of the agencies in a manner that is out of proportion to their percentages of the American population, minorities and women are significantly underrepresented at the level of senior management, and Black employees generally receive lower performance management ratings than White employees.

For example, the report showed that the agency with the highest percentages of Whites in senior management is the SEC, with 88 percent, and it drops off significantly with Hispanics constituting only five percent at that level, followed by Blacks with four percent and three percent Asian. The study also shows that the agencies with the highest level of Black percentage in senior managers are the FDIC and OCC, with 12 percent each. “As this country’s population is increasingly becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, it is well past time for these agencies to move beyond paying lip service to diversity efforts and instead fully embrace diversity and inclusion policies and practices as vital to achieving their missions by adopting sensible recommendations included in the report,”
Waters said.

She was joined at the press conference by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and CBC members Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Al Green (D-Texas), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio). Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Norma Torres (D-Calif.) represented the Asian-Pacific Islander and Hispanic caucuses, respectively.

The members of the three caucuses, known as the Tri-Caucus on Capitol Hill with 19 percent of all House members in their ranks, said they want the agencies to fully comply with federal laws regarding diversity, and to insure allegations of discrimination lodged by agency employees are fairly investigated. They are also calling for an update on the progress of diversity hiring in four years.

“The gross underrepresentation of minorities, women, and African Americans in their workplaces and senior management positions is alarming,” Butterfield said. “The CBC encourages each of the agencies audited as part of this committee report to address our concerns expeditiously to ensure diversity representation and equal opportunity for all eligible employees and qualified applications.” In response to the dreary numbers of hiring practices for minorities and women in federal agencies, a spokesperson from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told the AFRO, by email, on Nov. 10, “While the number of minorities and women in supervisory and managerial positions at the SEC is increasing, we are actively working on initiatives to enhance diversity.” The representative said that one of the Office of Women and Minorities, under the SEC, is working to formalize internal policies and procedures to guide the agency’s diversity efforts and programmatic activities. Other federal agencies similarly told the AFRO that they too are in pursuing to make their practices and proced men and minorities.

University of Missouri President Resigns After Protests Against Campus Racism

Nov. 9, 2015

University of Missouri President Resigns After Protests Against Campus Racism
Football team had refused to play, one student went on hunger strike
footballteamandsupportersatumo

Protestors, including the coach and professors, stood in solidarity with University of Missouri football team. This photo was
tweeted by the university's football coach, Gary Pinkel, with the message: "The Mizzou Family stands as one. We are united. We are behind our players."
PHOTO: Twitter.com/Gary Pinkel

butler jonothan1

Jonothan Butler PHOTO: CNN.com via StlAmerican.com

Tim Wolfe has resigned from the presidency of University of Missouri.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the St. Louis American

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Tim Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri, announced in a Monday news conference that he was resigning from his post amid a controversy regarding race relations at the school. Wolfe’s resignation comes just two days after African-American football players announced that they would refuse to play until Wolfe’s resignation. The university's Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, also announced that he would step down.

Black football players at the University of Missouri joined calls demanding the ouster of the president of the state's four-campus university system over alleged inaction against racism on campus. About 30 players made their thoughts known Saturday night in a tweet posted by Missouri's Legion of Black Collegians.

"The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe 'Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere,' " read the tweet."We will no longer participate in any football related activities until President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed due to his negligence toward marginalized students' experience."

The actions of the football team were in part inspired by the hunger strike of graduate student Jonothan Butler. Butler was in his seventh day of the strike - vowing to never eat again until the president steps down - when the announcement came from the president and chancellor.

Missouri has had several controversial incidents in the past three months. In September, an African-American student said he was racially abused while walking, and the university did not address the incident for nearly a week.

In October, a student yelled the N-word at members of the Legion of Black Collegians. Later that month, someone smeared feces in the shape of a swastika on a bathroom wall.

Students had been demanding an apology since the #ConcernedStudent1950 action took place on Oct. 10. Then, about 10 African-American Mizzou students linked arms in front of the red convertible that Wolfe was riding in during the parade. They took turns reciting points in history where MU students had endured discrimination – all the way up to September 2015 when Missouri Students Association President Payton Head was called the n-word when walking near campus.

Instead of talking with students, Wolfe tried to drive around them, a video of the demonstration shows. Wolfe’s driver didn’t get past the line, but he did succeed in hitting one of the student demonstrators with the car.

Wolfe also watched as on-lookers manhandled the students and yelled at them, the video shows. Columbia police also threatened the peaceful protestors with pepper spray, only a few feet from where Wolfe remained seated. Wolfe’s handling of the incidents drew protests from students.

Moments after Wolfe's announcement on Monday this week, an emotional Butler told CNN that the students have focused on the history of racism at the University, but particulary on the removal of Wolfe over the past 90 days because "He's been negligent and the time is no longer for PR statements or anything to passify the students. We want real and substantial changes and leadership that's really going to drive this campus forward."

Can Ben Carson Help GOP Attract Black Voters?

Can Ben Carson Help GOP Attract Black Voters?
By Daniel White

NEWS ANALYSIS

Ben Carson speaks to students at Iowa State University. (Instagram)

leah wright

Harvard scholar Leah Wright Rigueur, Ph.D., argues that the GOP is in the middle of a race crisis.

angela lewis

“Republicans either don’t talk about race or they avoid it,” said Angela K. Lewis, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama.

demandrepubgraph

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from TruthBeTold.News

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has launched a new radio campaign — featuring a Carson-inspired rap, meant to grow his appeal among African-American voters, according to his campaign.

The $150,000 advertisement, interspersed with rhymes from rapper Aspiring Mogul and bits from Carson’s stump speech, will air for two weeks in eight urban markets.

The ads are an attempt to connect with Black voters “on a level they appreciate and follow and see if we can attract their consciousness about the election,” Carson campaign spokesman Doug Watts told ABC News. “They need to get involved and express their voice through their vote.”

Carson has a firm hold on second place in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, without much sign of slowing down. This is an odd territory for Carson — being that he is, among other things, a Black man.

Other than the rap ad, Carson hasn’t done much to address the Black vote head on. Nor does he have dedicated campaign staffers who focus specifically on outreach to African-Americans, unlike some of his opponents. All of this — combined with controversies over his comments and questions about his past — contributes to statements that the former neurosurgeon and Democrat will have a hard time helping the Republican Party attract enough Black voters to win the Oval Office.

TruthBeTold.news decided to take a closer look at Carson’s prospects with African-Americans as he prepared for another opportunity to woo voters on the main stage of the Fox Business Network debate in Milwaukee Nov. 10.

The Facts

Citing the 2012 election results, where 80 percent of all non-whites voted for President Barack Obama, Harvard scholar Leah Wright Rigueur, Ph.D., argues that the GOP is in the middle of a race crisis.

“During time of a racial crisis, Black voters tend to reject the Republican Party,” said Wright Rigueur, a professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “That’s because African- Americans generally do not trust the Republican Party to have their best interest in mind when it comes to racial issues.”

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, received the lowest number of support from Black voters since 1964 — only 6 percent. And black turnout at Republican primaries barely hits 2 percent. So how is Ben Carson, a Black man, running a successful campaign for the GOP nomination? He isn’t necessarily relying on Black votes.

Long before he became a political figure, Carson’s 1992 autobiography “Gifted Hands” made him folk hero among African-Americans after detailing his rise from poverty in Detroit to becoming one of the country’s top physicians. By the time his made-for-TV movie came out in 2009, Carson’s already numerous speaking events mushroomed — only this time his audiences all across the country were filled with White, evangelical Christians.

They were enamored with Carson’s up-by-his–bootstraps brand of conservatism exhibited in his personal story, and it has paid dividends for him. The Carson campaign recently announced that it had raised the most among Republican candidates in the third quarter with $20.8 million in donations. Most of these are in the form of small contributions from White conservatives, with whom Carson’s message resonates.

This message has consistently gotten Carson in trouble in the media (and with Black folks) since his infamous political debut at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, where he slammed President Obama. Some of Carson’s positions have cost him heavily among voters not affiliated with the Christian Right — like his outright refusal to see a Muslim president in office, accusing Black Lives Matter activists of “bullying” and, most recently, telling victims of an Oregon school shooting that they should have fought back.

Though controversial, Carson is not entirely unpopular among African-American voters, as they hold him at an almost 35 percent favorability rating, according to The Economist/YouGov survey in October. That’s up from 29 percent in April, but far from Hillary Clinton’s firm hold of 71 percent.

However, the YouGov poll is an opt-in online survey, a method that has not yet gained full acceptance from pollsters around the country. Online polling is still in its infancy, compared to polls conducted over telephone, the industry standard, according to Cliff Zukin, past president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

Strong Groups for the Democratic and Republican Parties

Black conservatives do exist, but their impact on the race may be limited, as they comprise a limited number of voters. So, while Carson may be polling relatively well among-African Americans now, that doesn’t guarantee that they will vote for him — especially with only 11 percent of eligible African- Americans leaning Republican, on occasion.

In a head-to-head with Clinton, Carson held 19 percent of the Black voters surveyed, compared to Clinton’s 73 percent, according to a November poll by Quinnipiac University (conducted via phone).

While his slice of the African-American vote pales in comparison to President Barack Obama in 2008 or 2012 (or even Clinton’s), 19 percent is significant, though it may not be enough to win the race, according to Wright Riguer.

“It’s not enough just to have a Black face run for a Republican nomination,” says Wright Rigueur, the author of “The Loneliness of the Black Republican.”

“Even among the most conservative African-Americans, a Ben Carson figure doesn’t really fit into their ideas of what a candidate that speaks to them would look like.”

Truth Be Told

Some say Carson’s growing momentum is enough to lure African-Americans to the GOP and help him get elected. TruthBeTold.news rates this statement as mostly false.

A recent survey from the University of Cincinnati, tracking the 2014 midterm election in Ohio, concluded that Black voters are more likely to vote for Black candidates — unless the candidate was running as a Republican.

“The kind of African-American Republicans who have advanced to high office seem disconnected or even dismissive of African-American issues and concerns,” said David Niven, the researcher for the study.

Carson is extremely short on race, exemplified by the time he told fans at a NASCAR rally that flying the Confederate flag was OK, as long as it was on private property.

“Republicans either don’t talk about race or they avoid it,” said Angela K. Lewis, Ph.D., the director of the political science program at the University of Alabama and author of “Conservatism in the Black Community: To the Right and Misunderstood.”

“And considering everything that has happened in this country with the shootings of black men, how can a Black person go to the voting booth and not think about that?”

And when they think about Carson, political experts say, many Black voters don’t see someone who is going to have their back in a time when they may need it most. Instead, they view Carson as the man who rode the black community to stardom and abandoned them for a whole new base — and Carson will either sink or swim, without a lion’s share of Black voters.

Daniel White is a writer for TruthBeTold.news and a reporter at TIME Magazine’s Washington Bureau. You can find him on Twitter at @danielatlarge

Wade Henderson Stepping Down from Leadership Conference Next Year by Hazel Trice Edney

Nov. 9, 2015

Wade Henderson Stepping Down from Leadership Conference Next Year
Announcement stresses need for ‘generational shift’ in civil rights leadership
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Wade Henderson, nationally known for his searing, but smooth speaking style as president/CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, says he will step down at the end of 2016 after 20 years of leadership.

“This announcement is just one step on a very long path in ensuring the long-term health, integrity and effectiveness of The Leadership Conference and its coalition of more than 200 civil rights groups,” said Henderson. “There’s an unmistakable generational transition happening in the civil and human rights movement. The day-to-day work of civil rights advocacy is extremely important, but on its own, is not enough. Leaders also have the responsibility to cultivate, encourage and make paths for the next generation to lead and to thrive.”

Henderson, 67, is preparing to leave the organization amidst several years of intense youth-led civil rights activity on the national stage and highly covered by national and social media.

Last week’s announcement placed heavy emphasis on the need to transition to younger leadership. The release described Henderson’s pending departure as another step in a “multi-year plan to prepare the organization for a generational shift in civil and human rights leadership.”

Previous steps have included “a restructuring of the organization’s board, a strengthening of its staff capacity, improved fundraising and fiscal controls, and a renewed emphasis on civil rights as human rights.”

Henderson joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in 1996 after serving as Washington Bureau chief of the NAACP and associate director of the ACLU. A statement said that under his leadership, the coalition has grown from 180 to more than 200 member organizations and has grown from a staff of 7 to 45.

High profiled leaders from multiple segments of the civil and human rights communities applauded Henderson’s leadership upon last week’s news of his pending departure in a statement released by the Leadership Conference.

“Wade has led The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights for the last two decades with integrity, honor, and grace,” said former Attorney General Eric Holder. “He has changed our nation—and made it better. Wade is an exceptional leader, a true champion of the voiceless, and a good friend. This announcement truly marks the end of an era, but we are all grateful that he has agreed to stay on to help shepherd The Leadership Conference through this transition, demonstrating his trademark generosity of spirit and commitment.”

Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said, “Just watching him lead our coalition, manage conflict and keep our civil right troops motivated and focused has been inspiring. Wade manages to combine optimism with a strong streak of pragmatism. He knows what should be done and he also knows what can be done.”

U. S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) described him as “a reliable, dependable ally in the struggle for both civil and human rights. He has been a champion for an increase in the minimum wage, equal compensation for women, protecting the environment, and against voting discrimination. His commitment, dedication, and leadership will be missed, not just on Capitol Hill but around the nation.”

Henderson is credited with leading the non-partisan Conference through “the passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Voting Rights Act reauthorization of 2006, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.”

He also advocated for “the historic confirmations of Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former Attorney General Eric Holder in 2009, the first director of the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau Richard Cordray in 2012, Attorney General Loretta Lynch in 2015, and countless federal judges.”

Over the next year, a national search will be conducted for new leadership of The Leadership Conference and its sister organization, The Leadership Conference Education Fund.

Meanwhile, Henderson continues to work with Congress on issues of criminal justice reform and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. He also continues to push for police body camera programs and the restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

“You want to leave at the top of your game,” Henderson said. “The landscape of Washington has clearly changed, but The Leadership Conference has adapted and evolved, and some of its best work is taking place right now.”