August 22, 2011

Too Many African-Americans Lack Work, Hope, and Opportunity

By U. S. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.)

COMMENTARY

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As our nation grapples with wars on three fronts, enormous budget deficits, a stagnant economy, chronic unemployment, and an ever-widening wealth gap, it seems that communities of color bear the brunt of the costs.  We must ask some questions: Who is fighting the wars?  What communities are experiencing depression-era levels of unemployment?  Whose families depend most on Pell grants, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security – the first programs on the chopping block when Republicans talk of cutting government spending?  Which households have seen their assets decline in large part because most of their personal wealth is tied to their homes’ value?

In Congress, I have been deeply involved in the talks aimed at reducing our nation’s debt and deficits.  I was one of the six congressional participants in the talks convened by Vice President Joe Biden to bring together Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate to try to forge a bipartisan consensus.  Although it did not work out as well as we had hoped, Senator Harry Reid said that our work formed the basis of the legislation that he and Senator McConnell finally agreed to.   

I have recently been appointed to the 12-member so-called “super committee” – the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction.   That panel - six Democrats and six Republicans, six Senators and six Members of the House - has until Thanksgiving to produce a bipartisan plan before the “trigger” in the law kicks in with massive across-the-board budget cuts that could devastate Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and severely cut defense spending.  As a Member of Congress who represents communities that depend both on military bases and constituents who rely on our nation’s safety nets, I am not willing to let either group suffer these painful and avoidable cuts.

I am hopeful that the prospect of those massive reductions will be a strong incentive for bipartisan cooperation to forge a balanced plan with real shared sacrifice, a plan that asks the well off to contribute to solving our nation’s economic crises rather than heaping more of the burden on the most vulnerable among us or our middle income families.  Too often, the human side gets lost in the Washington debates about our nation’s debts and deficits.  I will seek to keep those interests on the table.

All options must remain on that table as we begin our deliberations.  There should be no lines in the sand and no hiding behind campaign pledges made to fringe political groups.  Regretfully, a number of my Republican colleagues have signed a no-tax pledge to some D.C. partisan operatives who are using that pledge to argue against closing loopholes in the tax code that shield billionaires from paying their fair share.  That makes no sense.

We need to use the opportunity provided by this powerful new panel to enact economic growth policies that will get our country moving again.  Too many Americans, especially in our African-American communities, lack work or any hope for opportunity.  We need to get about fixing that.

We still await the official dedication of the memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When that ceremony occurs, it will commemorate the 48th anniversary of Dr. King's memorable speech expressing disbelief that the vault of opportunity in this great country was empty.  Yet in 2011, the gap is widening between those who enjoy great wealth and those who struggle to get by with little thought of ever getting ahead.

I look forward to working on this committee to seek solutions to securing our nation's financial future in a fair and balanced way that requires shared sacrifice and creates opportunities for all Americans.

U. S. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) is assistant Democratic leader and the highest ranking African-American member of Congress. 

August 22, 2011

Black Man is Murdered by White Gang in Jackson, Mississippi

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Louisiana Weekly

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Jackson, Mississippi is reeling from yet another deadly attack on a Black man by whites. The difference is that this time the incident was caught on tape and witnesses have come forward.

On June 26, Deryl Dedmon, Jr. led two carloads of white teenagers from Rankin County, Mississippi to Jackson. The group had been drinking and partying when reportedly Dedmon suggested that they to Jackson to harass some Black people.

The first business they came to was a hotel where a Black man, 49-year-old James C. Anderson, an auto plant work was standing in the parking lot.

According to witnesses, the teens beat Anderson repeatedly, while shouting “white power!” and other racial slogans.

Then a group of the teens entered their Ford F250 truck and drove over an embankment to strike and kill the staggering Ander-son. Later he brag­ged about it to his friends by phone and in person. “He was not remorseful. He was laughing, laughing about the killing,” said district attorney Smith.

A surveillance video also reportedly shows the crime as it is being committed.

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says that based on tape and eyewitness testimony he is certain that this is a hate crime. Dedmon’s attorney says he sees no evidence of racism in the entire incident. Of all who participated only two have been charged so far. Dedmon is charged with a racially motivated murder and John Rice was charged with assault. Dedmon faces a possible two life sentences for the crime.

Later that morning, James Craig Anderson’s family were informed that he had died in a hit and run. It was later, when witness statements were taken that they learned the truth.

“This was a crime of hate. Dedmon murdered this man because he was Black,” said Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith. “The evidence will show that.”

August 22, 2011

Post Katrina Pain Index: Race, Gender, Poverty Still Plague New Orleans

By Bill Quigley and Davida Finger

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Six years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast. The impact of Katrina and government-bungling continue to inflict major pain on the people left behind. It is impossible to understand what happened and what still remains without considering race, gender, and poverty.

The following facts offer indicators of pain that remains.

•  HUD and the State of Louisiana agreed to pay $62 million to thousands of homeowners because of racial discrimination in Louisiana’s program to disburse federal rebuilding funds following Katrina and Rita. African-American homeowners were more likely than whites to have their rebuilding grants based on much lower pre-storm value of their homes rather than the higher estimated cost to rebuild them. Source: Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center.

• The current population of the city of New Orleans is 343,829 - about 110,000 less than when Katrina hit.  New Orleans is now whiter, more male and more prosperous. Source: Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. 

•  FEMA is now reviewing the grants it gave to 154,000 people following hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. It is now demanding that some return the long ago spent funds. FEMA admits that many of the cases under review stem from mistakes made by its own agency employees. FEMA’s error rate following Katrina was 14.5 per cent. Source: Michael Kunzelman and Ryan Foley, Associated Press.

•  In the New Orleans metropolitan area, there are now 65,423 fewer African-American women and girls than when Katrina hit. Overall, the number of women and girls decreased since Katrina by 108,116. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

• There were still 47,738 vacant houses in New Orleans as of 2010.  Source: GNOCDC.

•  Over three thousand public housing apartments occupied before Katrina; plus another thousand under renovation were bulldozed after Katrina.  Less than 10 percent, 238 families, have made it back into the apartments built on the renovated sites.  Only half of the 3000+ families have even made it back to New Orleans at all. All were-African American. Source: Katy Reckdahl, Times-Picayune.

•  Nearly 75 percent of the public schools in New Orleans have become charter schools since Katrina. Over 50 percent of public school students in New Orleans attend public charter schools. There are now more than 30 different charter school operators in New Orleans alone. The reorganization of the public schools has created a separate but unequal tiered system of schools that steers a minority of students, including virtually all of the city’s white students, into a set of selective, higher-performing schools and most of the city’s students of color into a set of lower-performing schools. Sources: Andrew Vanacore, Times-Picayune; Valerie Strauss, Washington Post; Institute on Race & Poverty of University of Minnesota Law School.

•  Seventy percent more people are homeless in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.  People living with HIV are estimated to be homeless at 10 times the rate of the general population, a condition amplified after Hurricane Katrina. Source: Unity for the Homeless and Times-Picayune.

•  Only 59 percent of Louisiana’s public school students graduate from high school with their class. Among public school children with disabilities in New Orleans, the high school graduation rate is 6.8 percent.  Source: Education Week and Southern Poverty Law Center.

•  Thirty-four percent of the children in New Orleans live in poverty; the national average is 20 percent.  Source: Annie Casey Foundation Kids Count 2011.  

•  Eleven New Orleans police officers convicted or plead guilty to federal crimes involving shootings of civilians during Hurricane Katrina aftermath.  Source: Brendan McCarthy, Times-Picayune. 

•  At least 10 people were killed by police under questionable circumstances during days after Katrina.  Source: Times-Picayune

• A three-fold increase in heart attacks was documented in the two years after Katrina.  Source: Tulane University Health Study. 

The true impact of the BP oil spill in terms of additional adverse health effects in the Gulf Coast is vast but unknown. Delays by the federal government in studying the spill’s physical and mental health effects hinder any ability to understand these issues with accuracy. A year after the spill, more people are reporting medical and mental health problems. Source: Campell Robertson, New York Times and National Geographic.

Bill Quigley and Davida Finger are professors at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Bill is also Associate Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. You can reach Bill at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Davida at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Aug. 22, 2011

West and Smiley Impact on Obama Voters: Real or Fleeting?