Oct. 7, 2012

Black Presidency Still Viewed as Partial Reason for Growth

Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Southern Poverty Law Center

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The Southern Poverty Law Center has urged the U. S. Senate to place a high priority on fighting rising threats of domestic extremism.

In testimony submitted to the U.S Senate late last month, an African-American President in the White House was specifically cited as one of the reasons for rising hate. The warning came after the massacre of Sikh worshippers and a series of other attacks and plots in recent months.

“Given the explosive growth of extremist groups, it’s imperative that federal law enforcement remain vigilant and make hate crimes and domestic terrorism a high priority,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, which monitors race hate in America. “The recent shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin is a grim reminder of the wanton violence that can be committed by members of extremist groups.”

Wade Michael Page, the shooter in the Aug. 5 attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, was a musician who performed with a variety of White supremacist bands and a member of the Northern Hammerskins, a faction of one of the most violent, racist skinhead gangs in the country. Page killed six Sikhs and wounded four other people, including a police officer, before shooting himself in the head.

Beirich’s testimony was submitted to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, chaired by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The subcommittee is holding a hearing today on “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism.”

In her testimony, Beirich said the nation’s changing demographics, its economic problems and the prospect of four more years under an African-American president are key factors fueling the growth of extremist groups.

Earlier this year, the SPLC reported a third year of extraordinary growth that has swelled the ranks of extremist groups to record levels. The SPLC is tracking 1,018 hate groups – a 69 percent increase since 2000 – in addition to 1,274 antigovernment “Patriot” groups, which include armed militias.

The Wisconsin attack was the latest in a series of violent acts and criminal plots by extremists. In November, for example, the FBI arrested four members of a Georgia militia who were accused of various crimes in a plot to attack cities with the deadly ricin toxin and kill federal officials. In May, members of the American Front, a militia-style white suprema­cist group, were arrested in Florida for planning acts of violence and preparing for “an inevitable race war.”

Ken Bridges

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As she looked back, it was the simple things in life that she missed the most about her father. And all she can do now is remember.

“I turned on the news and saw the car. The license plate was blurred but deep down I knew it was my father‘s car. I knew before they even said anything.”

April Bridges was 22 years old when she heard the news that her father had been killed.  Her borderline disbelief 10 years later continues to resonate as she thinks of him.

“What stands out most are the long walks we had as a family, the nature hikes, and the lunches where we just sat and talked. Those are my fondest memories of him,” April said.

On that fateful day, she had planned to meet with her father at his office. “I could not begin to imagine that we would never see each other again.”

With Ken Bridges being such a family man, his absence as a father and husband took an extraordinary toll on his six children and his wife, Jocelyn. But, Bridges was not just a loss to his family but to the community. In addition to his family, Ken was dedicated to his work for the MATAH Network, an organization dedicated to the economic, spiritual and social progress of Black people. He’d co-founded in MATAH in 1997 with his longtime business partner, Al Wellington.

MATAH dealt with three fundamental aspects of sales: production, marketing, and distribution.  The “Black Channel,” as it was called, was supported by a foundation of cooperative economics, consciousness-raising, education, and a healthy dose of race esteem.

Comprising thousands of members nationwide, MATAH was brought to a screeching halt on Oct. 11, 2002, when Bridges became the eighth of 10 people killed by the “DC Snipers,” John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, who terrorized the Washington, D.C. area for three weeks in the fall of 2002. Muhammad was executed on Nov. 10, 2009 and Malvo was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences in prison without parole.

According to Finalcall.com news, Ken Bridges was “returning home at 9:30 a.m., when a single bullet killed him as he filled his tank at a Fredericksburg, Va. gas station.  Fox News Fact Sheet said, “Bridges’ wife was concerned because he was traveling through the Washington area for this trip.”

Although Ken Bridges was only 53 when he was killed, he left a legacy that remains with his children. The lessons he taught his children will continue to ring in their hearts for a lifetime.

April’s most important lesson from her father was “staying passionate and consistent” no matter the circumstances. “He smiled a lot and always said he was doing great even if things weren’t going so great,” she recalled.

The optimism helped Ken when it came to starting and maintaining his “marketing and distribution organization.”

“Some of our last days together were spent working to expand the MATAH Network and starting what he called the ‘Youth Movement,’” April said.

Not only did Ken Bridges’ work have a positive impact on his family; his influence moved black people to practice cooperative economics.

“Ken’s legacy continues to be one of helping people pursue their dreams. Although he was killed 10 years ago, the work he did is still producing fruit,” said Ashiki Taylor, an Atlanta businessman and friend of Ken Bridges. “My company and product, Ice Supreme, would not exist today if it were not for Ken Bridges.  Not only his inspiration but his insight, his business acumen, and his friendship moved me to start my business.  His words keep me going even now. And if he were here today he would still be working on his beloved MATAH Network.”

Reflecting on the trial of the two men, April said, “It was hard to know the truth from fiction. When I saw the two men accused of the shooting, it was even harder because what happened to my father just didn’t make sense.  After it was all over, it wouldn’t change the fact that dad was already gone.”

April and her family are still cautious when it comes to discussing the incident with the news media, but she is sure now that she does not “want to hide [Ken’s] accomplishments from the community.”

She reflected, “It’s very humbling to know that he was my father and I was his daughter. I know that I have the same potential, the same drive, and the same spirit inside of me that my father displayed when he was alive. I miss him so much.”

Kiah Alexandria Clingman is a journalism student at Howard University School of Communications. She currently serves as student vice-president of the School of Communications. To contact Kiah, visit her website at www.kiahclingman.com or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information, visit the Brookside Memorial dedicated to the victims of the DC snipers located in Wheaton, Md.

PHOTO: Fannie Lou Hamer Statue Committee

A life-sized bronze statue of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer is unveiled at the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Gardens in Ruleville, Miss., Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. Hamer, who died of cancer in 1977, drew national attention in 1964 when she and other members of the racially integrated Freedom Democratic Party challenged the seating of Mississippi's all-white delegation to the Democratic National Convention. Photo Credit/Chance Wright, The Bolivar Commercial

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court vigorously peppered lawyers Oct. 10 with questions in a closely watched case focusing on the University of Texas admissions program that favors some African-American and Hispanic applicants.

But it remains uncertain whether this case will undermine affirmative action policies at universities across the country. The court’s conservatives, such as Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, seemed to use their questions to attack the Texas program, pressing the university’s lawyer on the details of admissions and when race breaks a tie between similar applicants.Chief Justice Roberts, for example, challenged the university’s lawyer to explain how judges would know when the university had achieved its desired level of diversity.

Justice Clarence Thomas stayed silent. He followed his usual practice of asking no questions. He already is counted as being on the side of foes of the Texas plan based on his past writings condemning affirmative action. However, liberal justices, such as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, seemed equally eager to use their questions to show support for the program.

Justice Stephen Breyer in his turn asked the lawyer for program opponents why the court should overturn its past precedents — particularly a 2003 case that upheld such practices — into which “so much thought and attention went” and which “so many people across the country have relied on.”

Only eight justices heard the oral arguments. Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee who would be expected to endorse affirmative action, is not participating. She stepped aside apparently because she worked on the case in her previous job as U.S. solicitor general. A 4-4 tie would affirm the lower court decision in favor of Texas. The court is expected to issue its decision before the end of its term in June.

The overall tone of the hearing suggested that while the sharply divided court might not uphold the Texas plan, it might lack a majority of justices to broadly strike down the use of race in admissions. The justices who appear to be most resistant to the Texas plan are the chief justice, along with Justices Alito, Anton Scalia and Thomas. The justices appearing ready to uphold the Texas program include Justices Ginsburg, Breyer and Sotomayor. Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose position could be decisive, signaled some concerns with the Texas plan but did not suggest by his questions that he was ready to curtail affirmative action practices nationally.

The case revisits ground the court covered just nine years ago. Then the Supreme Court narrowly upheld affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan Law School, which had been sued over its admissions practices. By a 5-4 vote, the court in 2003 said universities could consider an applicant’s race alongside a host of other factors to improve diversity. Public universities in 43 states as well as private colleges and universities have relied on that decision, Grutter v. Bollinger, to include race as a factor in their admissions decisions.

The court has changed since then. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who wrote the University of Michigan decision, retired in 2006 and has been replaced by the more conservative Justice Alito. The former justice watched the arguments in the courtroom on Wednesday.

The Texas case arose after Abigail Fisher, a White student, was denied admission by theUniversity of Texas at Austin. She sued in 2008, claiming that black and Latino students with worse credentials were accepted ahead of her. She argues that the school’s use of race in admissions violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

The case came to the Supreme Court after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her challenge based on the high court’s 2003 precedent. Like other Texas schools, UT fills most of its entering class of freshmen using a policy that grants automatic admission to in-state students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

For the remaining slots, it says it considers an applicant’s race only as one of many factors and only to improve diversity. The University of Texas and its supporters contend that colleges and universities must have the flexibility to consider race to ensure diversity.

Fisher’s claim rests on the legal argument that under the 14th Amendment’s promise of equal protection, universities can use race only if there is no other way to improve diversity.