Lead Stories

Will ANC Leaders Keep Mandela's Promise or Drift?

July 1, 2013

Will ANC Leaders Keep Mandela's Promise or Drift?

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN

South Africans place flowers at a wall to honor their beloved former President Nelson Mandela, still hospitalized with a severe lung infection. Last reports were that he remains in critical, but stable condition.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Amid the torrent of nostalgic news features about South Africa’s first Black president, still ailing in the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, it has become impossible not to hear the anxieties of ordinary South Africans who fear the country’s new leaders will abandon the Mandela promise for economic prosperity derived from a racially equal society.

"Nelson Mandela wanted everyone to be equal. He was about employment, eradicating poverty," said Fuzile Moyake, a 25-year-old, speaking at a vigil at Mandela’s hospital. "But the current government, that's not what they're striving for. They're striving for me, myself and I."

Mandela was unlike other African leaders, several said. “If every other African leader behaved in the manner he behaved, then Africa would have gone very far,” said Wesley Matlala, a 39 year old civil servant in a press interview.

Others say the ANC has given up on many of the values that Mandela stood for.

"I think that corruption and crime (are) the biggest disappointment to Mandela's struggle and what he fought for," said Kavisha Pillay, 21. "They let the dream down."

Even former ANC stalwart, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, seemed ready to jump ship, from the ruling African National Congress party to the newly-formed Agang party lead by a businesswoman, struggle veteran and former partner of black consciousness founder Steve Biko. "I welcome Dr (Mamphela) Ramphele's arrival on the political landscape,” he said. “Hers is a voice worth hearing, and I look forward to the contribution she will make towards building the society we know we can become."

National elections are slated for 2014.

Disturbing reports aside of a growing millionaire class leaving behind legions of the nation’s poor, the ANC leadership still finds much to applaud.

"South Africa is a much better place than it was in 1994 and the last five years has pushed that change forward," said Pres. Jacob Zuma, crediting the party's achievements since they began governing, but acknowledging there was still some way to go.

"Dealing with the massive task of rebuilding our country could not happen all at once," he said. "There are still communities we must reach."

All types of crime, with the exception of white-collar crime, had been reduced in the past 19 years, he said. “We also admit that the public service must still perform much better than it is doing now, to speed up services.”

Zuma said the government was looking forward to the official visit of US President Barack Obama on June 28. “This is a significant visit as the US is a major trade, investment, tourism and technology partner for South Africa.”

He said the US had about 600 companies operating within the South African economy.

Fireworks Over Voting Rights as Leaders Demand Remedy for Court Decision by Hazel Trice Edney

Posted: July 1, 2013

Updated: July 7, 2013

Fireworks Over Voting Rights as Leaders Demand Remedy for Court Decision
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As the July 4^th Independence Day holiday approached last week, civil rights leaders across the country were focused on honing new strategies to attain the equality that the Declaration of Independence promises.

Stunned by a June 25 U. S. Supreme Court ruling that gutted one of the most crucial sections of the Voting Rights Act, activists and political leaders remain engaged in a recurring battle for the realization of the words of the historic July 4, 1776, declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

The court's decision, which especially jeopardizes the voting rights of African-Americans, has set off a firestorm of criticism that clearly will not end until Congress acts.

“The Supreme Court stuck a dagger into the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most effective pieces of legislation Congress has passed in the last 50 years,” said U. S. Rep. John Lewis, who, as an activist, shed blood during the historic civil rights movement in order for the Act to pass in 1965. “These men never stood in unmovable lines. They were never denied the right to participate in the democratic process. They were never beaten, jailed, run off their farms or fired from their jobs. No one they knew died simply trying to register to vote. They are not the victims of gerrymandering or contemporary unjust schemes to maneuver them out of their constitutional rights.”

In a nutshell, the decision said because most of these extreme atrocities no longer occur, Sections 4 and 5 of the VRA, which preclude certain states and localities from changing any voting laws or take any actions that affect voting unless approved by the U. S. Department of Justice.

Opposition is vehement. “I disagree with the court that the history of discrimination is somehow irrelevant today. The record clearly demonstrates numerous attempts to impede voting rights still exist, and it does not matter that those attempts are not as ‘pervasive, widespread or rampant’ as they were in 1965,” Lewis states.

President Obama agrees, and like dozens of civil rights leaders who are up in arms over the court decision, he too has vowed to help create remedies to protect the vote.

“While today’s decision is a setback, it doesn’t represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination,” President Obama said in a statement. “I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls. My Administration will continue to do everything in its power to ensure a fair and equal voting process.”

This is because the polarized Congress has failed to act on other crucial legislation, including a jobs bill, sequestration and Republicans are currently working to overturn the Affordable Care Act. The court’s decision, which acknowledges the Congress’s ability recreate appropriate remedies, has set off a fire storm of criticism by civil rights leaders who have spent the past several years fighting voting infringements by Republican legislatures.

Despite optimism coming from bi-partisan members of Congress, Lewis said he is “deeply concerned that Congress will not have the will to fix what the Supreme Court has broken.”

Initial indications are that congressional Republicans might at least try. Archconservative Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Majority Leader, has indicated he may even take the lead. According to the Richmond Free Press, Cantor, who is second in power to Republican House Speaker John Boehner, “was quick to side with Rep. Lewis and show interest in finding a way to repair the crucial section of the voting law that the Supreme Court majority voided.”

The newspaper quotes Cantor as saying in a statement: “My experience with John Lewis in Selma earlier this year was a profound experience that demonstrated the fortitude it took to advance civil rights and ensure equal protection for all…I’m hopeful Congress will put politics aside as we did on that trip and find a reasonable path forward that ensures that the sacred obligation of voting in this country remains protected.”

Though civil rights leaders were hit hard by the decision, some also express optimism that Congress will find a way to remedy the devastating blow.

Wade Henderson, President/CEO of the Leaders Conference on Civil and Human Rights, described the decision as “a major setback for our Democracy” and said, “We are urging Congress to act responsibly, but with urgency and on a bi-partisan basis to revive the coverage formula to protect voting rights for all Americans.”

Henderson was leading a conference call with reporters on the same day of the Court’s decision.

Henderson was joined on the call by a string of legal stalwarts, including Sherrilyn Ifill, president/direct counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Barbara Arnwine, president/CEO of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

“We want Congress to get creative and to look at present day racial discrimination in our society and to craft laws that will protect the American citizenry,” said Arnwine.

Henderson concluded that rewriting the protections won’t be easy, but strongly believes Congress will unite to get it done.

“We are encouraged by the strong bi-partisan support that the 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights received in both Houses of Congress. It was a record never before achieved,” he said. He said Congress will be fueled by the Court’s appearance of undermining Congress’s 2006 decision to reauthorize. Henderson called the decision “a slap at Congressional authority and power…We suspect that leaders of Congress, both Republican and Democratic, will respond to this challenge in a vigorous and thoughtful way and we expect the Congress to move expeditiously to repair the damage cause by today’s decision.”

Supreme Court Decision Reopens Door for Restrictive Voting Laws by Zenitha Prince

June 30, 2013

Supreme Court Decision Reopens Door for Restrictive Voting Laws
Texas Voter ID Law Revived

By Zenitha Prince

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - One predicted consequence the Supreme Court’s invalidation of a central portion of the Voting Rights Act this week is already manifesting.

Voting rights activists had warned that the high court’s decision could result in the reintroduction and reenactment of previously blocked restrictive voting laws. On June 27, the Supreme Court threw out lower court rulings which barred a Texas voter ID law and a redistricting plan as discriminatory.

The justices ordered the lower courts to reexamine the case in light of their June 25 decision, which effectively gutted the provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires jurisdictions with a history of discrimination against minority voters, such as Texas, to obtain federal preapproval before making any changes to the election laws.

Five out of nine justices said Congress needs to recalibrate the formula used to determine eligible jurisdictions to match the evidence of racial progress.

Many activists and political observers doubt, however, whether this deeply divided Congress would have the political will to get it done. And, in the meantime, critics say, American democracy is being eroded.

At least 180 restrictive bills, which would make it harder to vote, were introduced since the beginning of 2011 in 41 states, the Brennan Center for Justice said in a report. Voting rights advocates fought back and many measures were impeded by citizen referendums, court rulings or by the Department of Justice. But now the Supreme Court’s decision handicaps such efforts and reopens the door to vote-stifling measures.

The Supreme Court decision “is a setback to our democracy and the voting rights of real Americans,” Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a June 27 statement. “We can’t allow discrimination at the ballot box and must prevent minorities from having their votes purged, packed, gerrymandered, and redistricted away. No one should be fooled by the Pollyannaish fantasy that voting discrimination no longer exists…. We urge Congress to act with urgency and on a bipartisan basis to protect voting rights for minorities.”

Senate Bill Quietly Curtails African Immigration by Jason Margolis

June 30, 2013

Senate Bill Quietly Curtails African Immigration

By Jason Margolis

African immigrants rally in front of the White House on April 3 to support keeping the Diversity Visa. Roughly 25,000 Africans come to the US each year through the program. PHOTO: Cameroon American Council

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from New America Media

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Each year, 50,000 people are selected at random to immigrate to the United States. They don’t need specialized job skills or even a relative in the US. What they need most is a little luck, some basic educational or work training qualifications, and to be from a country with few recent immigrants living in the US.

The Diversity Visa, better known as the “Green Card Lottery,” is a little-known program inside the US, but is played by millions of people worldwide each year. It was established in 1990 to diversify the immigration population in the US, designed, in part, to help more Irish settle in the United States.

Over the past two decades though, the complexion of lottery winners has become noticeably darker. Today, about half of visa winners come from Africa.

The immigration bill making its way through the Senate would put an end it.

That’s sparked some anger among Africans living in the US, as well as the Congressional Black Caucus. They say if Africans aren’t fairly represented in the immigration overhaul, they’ll torpedo the bill.

Without the Diversity Visa, Africans like Dominic Tamin would’ve likely never made it to the US. Tamin’s father won the Green Card Lottery in the 1990’s, and Tamin came to New York from Cameroon on January 18, 1997.

“That’s when I arrived here. I remember because it was so cold outside. I’d never experienced that cold weather before.”

Tamin is now a high school math teacher and entrepreneur in Newark, New Jersey. He talks about the high number of African immigrants who work in the healthcare fields, in nursing and in-home caregiving. He’s active in the movement to save the Green Card Lottery.

“It’s something that is dear to my heart. I don’t know how to put this, because I’m so passionate about it.”

So, he decided to express his passion through music. He recently produced this song, “DV Lottery” sung by the artist MayJa Money.

This argument, though, isn’t convincing most leaders in Congress. Many Democrats have quietly turned their backs on the Diversity Visa, giving it up as a bargaining chip.

Republicans, like Congressman Bob Goodlatte from Virginia, have been more outspoken against it. Goodlatte’s office turned down an interview request, but here he is speaking against the Diversity Visa on the House floor last year.

In his floor speech, Goodlatte describes the Diversity Visa as “unfair to people from more than a dozen countries around the world that stand in long lines, on waiting lists, and then watch somebody have their name drawn out of a computer at random with no particular job skills, no ties to this country, and they get to go right past them into a Green Card into the United States.”

Mark Krikorian, the executive the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, a think tank that advocates for less immigration to the US, agrees with that. He said the Green Card Lottery is ripe for fraud, and that terrorists could steal a winning lottery number and enter the US illegally.

Plus, he said, immigration policy should not be based on national origin.

“And so what the (Congressional) Black Caucus seems to be saying is somehow that (ending the Diversity Visa) is unjust because they want more people who look like them in the immigration flow,” Krikorian said. “And what I’d like to know is how is that different from someone saying, ‘Well, I want more white people immigrating to the United States.’ It’s exactly the same thing.”

“C’mon now, let’s look at the population of the nation,” said Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, when I posed this to her. Clarke represents Brooklyn in the House of Representatives and is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Clarke said any new immigration law must include a dedicated flow for African and Afro-Caribbean immigrants. Currently, Africans come to the US in three primary ways: asylum seekers, family visas, and the Diversity Visa program.

“We want to be sure that this nation is not one that doesn’t continue to welcome people of African descent and that it is comparable to what we do for others coming from around the world,” Clarke said.

It’s not comparable right now, argues Sylvie Bello, the founder and CEO of the Cameroon American Council in Washington. Bello said the immigration bill includes programs designed to benefit Asians, Latinos and European immigration, such as 10,500 visas annually set aside for Irish immigrants. But there’s nothing specifically for Africans.

“They’re taking us back to the Jim Crow era when we could only come to this country through special programs,” Bello said. “Yes, some of us will qualify for the STEM visa, but it was not created with us in mind. Yes, some of will qualify for the DREAM Act, but it was not made with us in mind. Yes, some of us may qualify for the agriculture visa, but it wasn’t made with us in mind. The only visa type that has a high proportion of Africans that come through is the Diversity Visa.”

Bello said she hopes President Barack Obama will speak about immigration on his visit to Africa this week. And that he remembers a time not long ago when very few Africans made it to America, Africans like Obama’s own father. He came here on a student visa.

There is Strong Statistical Evidence that Politics is Resegregating by David A. Bositis, Ph.D.

June 30, 2013

State of Equality and Justice in America:

There is Strong Statistical Evidence that Politics is Resegregating

By David A. Bositis, Ph.D.

NEWS ANALYSIS

David Bositis

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - There are demographic changes occurring in the United States that will change politics and public policy and make this country a more humane and equitable place. In another 20 to 30 years the U.S. will be a majority-minority country and White supremacy will be a discredited idea of the past. But we are not living in that future time. And for African-Americans, more than half of whom live in the southern states, the facts do not speak to a just or equitable society.

Black unemployment is twice that of Whites. The average Black income is much less. Black family financial assets are one-twentieth that of Whites. There are large racial disparities in health and access to health care and much higher high school drop-out rates for African-Americans; and of course much higher incarceration rates.

The gains that African-Americans have seen since the Civil Rights movement were substantially built on Black votes and civic participation. But despite the hardship and struggles that many African-Americans face, there are many who would oppose the progress and promise the future holds. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Shelby County v. Holder opened the door to widespread efforts in the South to diminish minority voting rights.

By invalidating Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the court has effectively eliminated Section 5 federal oversight. The current U.S. House of Representatives will almost certainly not provide a new definition for Section 4 coverage, and so Section 5 is out for the foreseeable future.

By next year's midterm elections, there will likely be photo identification laws operative in all the southern states, and Blacks and Hispanics are much more likely than Whites to lack government issued photo ids. The changes will not only involve photo identification laws. There will be a headlong rush to change election laws across Section 5 jurisdictions in order to discourage minority voters. This will involve not only state governments but local ones as well.

Section 2 is still in effect, but with no preclearance provisions. What this means is that all sorts of election changes will be put into effect to diminish minority votes - moving and locating polling places, changing hours, the mechanics of voting - not to mention extralegal intimidation - without federal intervention.

Even when these changes are challenged and the civil rights community 'wins' the legal case, the minority community's preferred candidate may still lose, and then the Section 2 cases result in consent decrees where the opposing side agrees not to do the same thing (actions to discourage minority voters) again - at least until the next election. The results of elections - even unfair elections - are rarely undone.

Following the election of President Barack Obama, some political observers - mostly conservative ones - suggested that the United States was now a post-racial society. At the present time, five years later, in the region of the country where a majority of African-Americans live, the South, there is strong statistical evidence that politics is resegregating with African-Americans once again excluded from power and representation.

Black voters and elected officials have less influence now than at any time since the Civil Rights Movement. Less than a handful of the 320 Black state legislators in the South serve in the majority in their legislative chambers. And southern state constitutions invest in the state legislatures' power over all aspects of government in those states, including local government.

Conservative Whites control all of the political power there, and they are enacting legislation and adopting policies both neglectful of the needs of minorities - in health care, education, employment - as well as some that are downright hostile to the rights of African-Americans , e.g., the assault on voting rights through photo identification laws and other means.

Last month, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies published a report based on a survey of the five Deep South states (the states with the proportionally largest black populations - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina) on attitudes toward Medicaid expansion. Majorities of the populations in all five states, and large majorities of African-Americans in those states, favored expansion. The state legislatures in those five states oppose expansion, and the disproportionally uninsured Black populations of those states will suffer the consequences.

Has the United States become a more just and equitable society? Almost 50 years ago - around the time that the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was founded, Robert F. Kennedy gave a speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention where he quoted from one of his brother's favorite poets: "...but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."

David A. Bositis, Ph.D., a senior research associate for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, is a foremost expert on voting and Black political participation in America. This article - the twentieth of a 20-part series - is written in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, of which Congressman John Lewis is grand marshal. The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today. For more information, please visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.