http://nnpa.org/schools-separate-and-unequal-60-years-after-brown-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/megacommunities-bridge-minority-stem-gap-by-freddie-allen/
DR. WARD NAMED INTERIM PRES. OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY - On Wednesday, the St. Augustine's Board of Trustees named Dr. Everett Blair Ward as interim president of the historically black institution, succeeding Dr. Dianne Boardley Suber, who left St. Aug's two weeks ago. Dr. Ward is well known and respected as an alumnus of St. Aug, in addition to being a former executive director of the NC Democratic Party. He is currently a member of the Democratic National Committee.
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
4-24-14
MORE PEOPLE SEARCHED
FOR AND FOUND JOBS IN MARCH
[RALEIGH] Contrary to a previous
trend, at least 8,000 out-of-work North Carolinians in March looked for and
found jobs, thus helping to lower the state’s unemployment rate, says the NC
Commerce Dept. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina’s
jobless rate in March was 6.3 percent, dropping from 6.4 percent in February,
and tracking lower than the national unemployment rate of 6.7 percent. Analysts
say there is evidence that many of the unemployed had given up looking for work
previously, and took themselves out of labor market, thus lowering the
unemployment rate.
DURHAM BOY SCOUT
LEADER CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX CRIMES
[DURHAM] A
fifty-year old Boy Scout leader is charged with taking explicit photos of a
four-year-old female child, says the Durham Sheriff’s Office. The suspect, John
Herbert Adams of Bahama, allegedly contributed to the delinquency of a
juvenile, committed indecent liberties with a child, second-degree sexual
exploitation of a minor and third-degree sexual exploitation of minor between
2010 and April 2014. Adams was leader of the Boy Scout troop in Bahama for the
past three years, officials confirm.
WAKE’S LOSS OF 600
TEACHERS INDICATIVE OF THE STATE
[RALEIGH]
Last week’s alarming announcement that Wake County Public School System has
lost upwards of 600 teachers from its 9,000 is alarming not only because the
bleed is expected to continue unless issues surrounding teacher pay and job
security are addressed, but because the same thing has been happening in other
school districts across the state. Educators are leaving North Carolina schools
in droves, finding jobs in the private sector which pay at least twice as much,
with better benefits. Administrators are challenging state lawmakers to rethink
policies that eliminate tenure and deny teachers long overdue pay raises.
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 4-24-14
WAKE SCHOOL BOARD
PASSES $1.3 BILLION BUDGET PLAN
Drawing a line in the sand, the
Wake School Board Tuesday unanimously approved Supt. Jim Merrill’s $1.3 billion
budget request, which includes $39 million more from the Wake County
Commissioners to provide pay raises for teachers. Board members say if Wake
citizens want an outstanding school system, then they have to invest in it.
County commission members say the budget request may be DOA on arrival, given
that the county has other pressing needs.
NATIONAL BEST HIGH
SCHOOLS LIST INCLUDES SIX FROM THE TRIANGLE
Welcome to
Raleigh – Durham- Chapel, which according to US News and World Report, is home
to six of the best high schools out of 2,000 in the nation. The top Triangle
high school on the newsmagazine’s list is Green Hope High in Cary, which
received “gold medal” at #304. The five other
high schools noted were Panther Creek
High in Cary at #686, Cary High at #1,116, Holly Springs High at #1,202,
Kestrel Heights School in Durham at #1,744 and Hillside New Tech High in Durham
at #1,997. US News and World Reports measures a set of criteria which includes the
scores of low-income children of color.
NEW WAKE REGIONAL
LIBRARY TO OPEN NEXT YEAR
Northeast Raleigh
will be the home next year to a new regional county library. The 20,000-square
foot Northeast Regional Library, scheduled for opening in late 2015 or early
2016 at the intersection of Green Elm Lane and Forest Pines Drive, will serve
the Wake Forest area. The facility will include both adult and youth wings. It
is paid for with funding from the 2003 bond referendum.
-30-
DOES THE HIGH COURT RULING AFFECT
UNC’S AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION POLICY?
Cash Michaels
Editor
Will North
Carolina’s Republican-led Legislature take a cue from the US Supreme Court’s
approval of Michigan’s ban against affirmative active in that state’s colleges
and universities, and sponsor a similar statewide voter referendum prohibiting
the policy in the UNC System?
Most legal
experts agree that the High Court’s Tuesday ruling in Schutte v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action certainly opens
the door for other states, including North Carolina, to ask their voters to
endorse a similar racial preference ban. It is not far-fetched, given that the
UNC System is on bad ground with the McCrory Administration and the GOP-led
state Legislature over budget matters.
In years
past, the Supreme Court has ruled that “…achieving a diverse student body is a compelling interest for
universities, and therefore race can be used as one of multiple factors in
college admissions,” according to the Daily Tar Heel student newspaper, meaning
that at UNC System schools, “ … admissions offices must be able to justify
their use of race as a factor in the future.”
But that’s in the courts if a legal
challenged is raised. If lawmakers put the question to the voters via a ballot
initiative, as was done in Michigan, and they vote UNC affirmative action
policy down, then unless the GOP-led General Assembly comes to the rescue with
an unlikely fix, the policy is doomed.
Challenging
the UNC System’s well-known student affirmative action policy would be a moral
victory for North Carolina conservatives who are in vehement opposition. The
challenge may not come as soon as the upcoming May short session, which is
usually reserved to tighten up budget matters, but it could be a sure bet when
the 2015 long session convenes next year.
By a 6-2 vote,
the High court upheld a Michigan ballot initiative banning affirmative action
in public education, stating that a 2006 constitutional amendment did not
“…impose burdens on racial minorities in violation of the US Constitution’s
guarantee of equal protection,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
As a
result, enrollment of African-American students at the University of Michigan
and its law school is down by 30 percent since the ban was put in place,
according to published reports.
Reaction
from the left was swift.
“[Tuesday’s] Supreme Court
decision is a step backward for racial inclusion by allowing voters to overrule
the decision of Michigan university officials to consider race in admissions to
achieve diversity,” stated Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The Court has disregarded
long-standing precedent which prevents the majority from passing legislation
that reconfigures the political process in ways that burden only a racial
minority.”
Greenbaum’s argument is that if majority
white voters wee allowed to decide by referendum many of the previous civil
rights issues, they all would have been voted down.
Richard D. Kahlenburg, Senior Fellow
at The Century Foundation, warned colleges to prepare for other voter
referendum challenges to come their way if they currently have affirmative
action policies in place.
“The Supreme Court has given voters the green light to eliminate the use
of racial preferences in college admissions, which is discouraging for racial
diversity. The good news, however, is that there are alternative ways to
achieve diversity that can also deal with economic inequalities,” said
Kahlenberg.
“This presents a new challenge for
colleges, committed to enrolling diverse student populations and reinforces the
court’s decision in Fisher v University of Texas that universities have
‘the ultimate burden of demonstrating, before turning to racial
classifications, that available, workable, race-neutral alternatives do not
suffice.’
“Together,
these rulings are a call to action for college leaders and administrators to
more aggressively pursue race-neutral policies that give all disadvantaged
students equal opportunities.
“Fortunately,
there are proven race-neutral policies that universities can, and have already
adopted to deliver more opportunities for minority students to enroll in, and
succeed at college.
“A recent
study I conducted with my colleague Halley Potter, found that seven out of 10
leading public universities were able to maintain, or even increase the
proportion of African American and Latino students among their ranks, by
replacing race-based preferences with strategies that target socio-economic
inequality.
“Giving a leg up in admissions to economically disadvantaged students of
all races, eliminating legacy preferences, increasing financial aid, assisting
students to transfer from community colleges to four year degrees and admitting
students at the top of every high school in the state, are just some of the
ways that colleges have delivered racial and socio-economic diversity without
race-based affirmative action.
“In the wake of [Tuesday’s] decision it is imperative that college
communities get educated about the alternatives to class-based affirmative
action, in order to maintain diversity in the US higher education system,”
Kahlenburg concluded.
-30-
NCNAACP SEEKS MEETING
WITH GOP LEADERS
By Cash Michaels
Editor
With the
signatures of thirty-five other clergy members in support, Rev. William Barber,
president of the NC NAACP, has written Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican
leaders of the NC General Assembly, seeking a meeting prior to the May 14th
start of the short session, hoping that they will reverse “the constitutionally
inconsistent, morally indefensible and economically insane nature of the public
policy agenda pushed in the 2013 session…” and urging “…a new and moral
direction to be forged in the upcoming months.”
“Over the course of the last year,
you and your colleagues made several unpopular policy decisions,” wrote Rev.
Barber in his April 18th letter to the governor, House Speaker Thom
Tillis, and Senate Pres. Pro Tempore Sen. Phillip Berger. “These decisions cut
resources from an already overstretched K-12 budget; they rejected health
insurance for more than a half million of our poorest; and they rejected
insurance payments that would have sustained out-of-work North Carolinians who
had paid into the unemployment insurance program. Your decisions allow
fracking to go forward while Duke Energy's coal ash spills are permitted at the
expense of our state's water supply. Your decisions cut off women's rights;
undermined incarcerated people's rights; and underfunded our state
universities.”
“Moreover,”
Barber’s letter continued, “ you passed egregious policies that undermine our
democracy by impeding the voting rights of elderly, poor and minority citizens.
There are a host of other negative decisions your leadership group made last
year.”
Rev. Barber, speaking on behalf of
the NCNAACP-led coalition known as the Forward Together Movement, continued
that, “…the policy positions we listed above are not only unpopular -- they are
constitutionally inconsistent, morally indefensible and economically
insane. They are immoral because they negatively impact the lives and
livelihoods of millions of North Carolinians. They strip people of their
hard-earned rights to federal support. They strip others of access to
resources they could receive in most other states. When your leadership group
rejected the federal Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, for
example, experts say nearly 3,000 North Carolinians will die prematurely
because of your decision. These are people you swore to provide equal
protection to, and to govern in their interest. Instead, they will die
unnecessary deaths because of what appears to be an ideological desire to
inflict political harm on the President by a refusing to participate in a
beneficial and free federal health insurance program.”
Citing the
Moral Monday movement efforts to spotlight the “regressive” policies of the
GOP-led state Legislature, Rev. Barber told the legislative leaders,
“…it is
time to move in a different direction, a new direction, a moral
direction. We believe this is an appropriate time to come together to
discuss issues of justice in our state.”
“We propose a meeting before the
short session begins to discuss key matters about the governance of our state
with you and your leadership team,” Rev. Barber wrote. “We represent
people from across our diverse North Carolina; from all different racial,
economic, religious, social and political constituencies. We wish to
share our concerns with you in search of ways to renew our state and to make
our government responsive to the needs of all our people. We believe we
can find some common ground on key issues to move forward together.”
Rev. Barber concluded, “We look forward with
great anticipation to forging a new relationship with you and the other members
of your leadership team to plot a new direction for our state.”
At
press time there was no word on a formal response from Gov. McCrory, Sen.
Berger or Speaker Thom Tillis. They have not been welcoming of Rev. Barber’s
previous missives in the past.
-30-
[RALEIGH ONLY] CASH
IN THE APPLE
By Cash Michaels
DURHAM
DATE – Last week, we told you about our May 9th date for a free
screening of the NNPA – CashWorks HD Productions documentary “Pardons of
Innocence: The Wilmington Ten” at Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 East
Martin Street in Raleigh, 6:30 p.m. Again it’s free and open to the public.
And
we had promised our readers in or near Durham that we would have a free
screening date for you shortly.
Well
“shortly” is here.
One
week from today, we’re bringing a free screening of the film to the Hayti
Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville Street, on Thursday, May 1st,
at 6:30 p.m. Again, this event is free and open to the public.
As
we said last week, Raleigh and Durham are two very different markets, and we’re
extremely interested in hearing the varying views and perspectives of each one,
especially young people. We’re still tweaking this film, which did very well
with a 500+ audience in Wilmington on April 5th, and before we go
further with it, we want to be sure that we’ve produced something which will
positively add to our understanding of history as a people and society.
So
Durham, we’ll see you Thursday, May 1st, 6:30 p.m. at Hayti Heritage
Center.
Raleigh,
we’ll see you one week later on Friday, May 9th, 6:30 p.m. at Martin
Street Baptist Church (Family Life Center).
Both
events are, again, free and open to the public, because we want to hear from
you. On behalf of CashWorks HD Productions and the National Newspaper
Publishers Association, thank you for supporting our film.
RUBIN
“HURRICANE” CARTER – Though he never won a championship title in the ring,
there is little question that Rubin Carter was a great man among men. He had a
tender, compassionate heart, and worked diligently on behalf of those falsely convicted
of crimes they didn’t commit, because he knew firsthand what that injustice
felt like.
Carter,
better known by his boxing moniker of “Hurricane’ because of his ferocious
fighting style in the ring in the 1960’s, had been falsely convicted twice for
a 1966 triple murder in New Jersey, based largely on the false testimony, and
imprisoned for 19 years until a federal judge overturned the conviction.
It
was when Denzel Washing not portrayed Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in the 1999
classic film, “The Hurricane,” but indeed won an Oscar nomination for the role,
that the world truly discovered his story.
So
when word came in recent days that Carter, 76, died in his sleep at his home in
Canada, there was sadness, but also pride.
In
a statement, Denzel Washington said of Rubin Carter that he waged “a tireless
fight to ensure justice for all.”
Amen.
HEY,
CNN, GET REAL? – It’s bad enough that CNN gave us weeks of “Where is Flight
370?” without one shred of evidence to answer the question.
Now
the Cable News Network, apparently hungry for any and every angle with which to
beat arch-nemesis Fox News Network with, is asking a deplorably stupid question
in the aftermath of the fatal Jewish Center shootings by white supremacist F.
Glenn Miller.
The
question? Can the Ku Klux Klan rebrand itself?
“Rebrand”
as in refashion its legendary racial hatred and death.
Funny,
but would CNN ever, in its wildest dreams, even ask such a question of, say, al
Qaeda, the foreign terrorist organization that specializes in blowing up people
to make its sick and sad political point? I mean, I’m all for freedom of
speech. Heck, that’s how I make my living. But there’s also such a thing as
common sense. No one in their right might would if ask if the Nazis ever need
to rebrand. You certainly wouldn’t catch any Jewish journalists who know their
history posing such a ridiculous question out loud. So why do such an
outlandish thing about the Klan?
You
know, the more TV networks strive for ratings, the stupider their “please watch
us” stunts get. To ask such an inane and ignorant question out loud, makes it
seem as if the Ku Klux Klan have some meaningful service to render to so
society, and just can’t find the proper, socially acceptable way to get their
otherwise important message across.
That
message… “Kill anyone and everyone who isn’t white.”
Please
enlighten the rest of us, CNN, as to exactly how anyone goes about “rebranding”
their message to spread that croc of racism.
And
CNN wants to know why folks aren’t watching them like they used to?
Gee,
I wonder why?
SHARPTON – The media bashing of Rev. Al Sharpton recently with news
that he was once an informant for the FBI
back in the 1980s was shameless and shameful. With the exception of the
blow-by-blow details provided by newly released documents, the story had been
well out there for years. Indeed Sharpton had written about it in his latest
book, “The Rejected Stone.”
And yet
you’d think Sharpton had just committed a crime. In fact, he served as a wire
man to help bag members of organized crime, and that’s exactly what happened.
Critics say Sharpton was “flipped” by the FBI because he was allegedly selling drugs
himself. Well if that were true, then the feds still could have charged
Sharpton with something, and then tell the judge that because he cooperated, he
deserved leniency.
But that
didn’t New York tabloids with blazing headlines calling Sharpton a “snitch” and
a “rat.” And it was all timed to coincide with the three-day last week
featuring President Obama and US Attorney General Eric Holder.
So yes,
folks, there is no question about media bias, especially when it comes to black
leadership. It can be vicious, cruel, and certain wrong. We’ve seen it against
Pres. Obama. But last week, it was a field day against. Rev. Al Sharpton.
Despicable!
VICTORY –
You have to hand it to President Obama.
After the disastrous rollout of the Affordable
Care Act last October, the failure of which Republicans loudly applauded,
the president buckled down, got his team back in gear, and they successfully
moved the ball down field to goal with over 7 million ACA applicants by the
March 31st deadline. Folks thought the president was politically
dead in the water, but he refused to accept that, and pushed on.
The number
has now surpassed 8 million.
Folks
criticized the president for going on comedy shows to promote the ACA, but
actually, that says more about us than him. Obama was trying to reach Americans
who aren’t paying attention to Fox or CNN or their local newspaper, because
they are the ones who need affordable health insurance the most.
The
president did his job, and we’re proud of him for doing so.
Make sure you tune in
every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen''
on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.myWAUG.com.
And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash
Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
I promise it will be interesting.
Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column
Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist
Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of
2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for
Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep a smile on your face,
GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.
-30-
[WILMINGTON ONLY]
CASH IN THE APPLE
4-24-14
By Cash Michaels
RUBIN
“HURRICANE” CARTER – Though he never won a championship title in the ring,
there is little question that Rubin Carter was a great man among men. He had a
tender, compassionate heart, and worked diligently on behalf of those falsely
convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, because he knew firsthand what that
injustice felt like.
Carter,
better known by his boxing moniker of “Hurricane’ because of his ferocious
fighting style in the ring in the 1960’s, had been falsely convicted twice for
a 1966 triple murder in New Jersey, based largely on the false testimony, and
imprisoned for 19 years until a federal judge overturned the conviction.
It
was when Denzel Washing not portrayed Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in the 1999
classic film, “The Hurricane,” but indeed won an Oscar nomination for the role,
that the world truly discovered his story.
So
when word came in recent days that Carter, 76, died in his sleep at his home in
Canada, there was sadness, but also pride.
In
a statement, Denzel Washington said of Rubin Carter that he waged “a tireless
fight to ensure justice for all.”
Amen.
HEY,
CNN, GET REAL? – It’s bad enough that CNN gave us weeks of “Where is Flight
370?” without one shred of evidence to answer the question.
Now
the Cable News Network, apparently hungry for any and every angle with which to
beat arch-nemesis Fox News Network with, is asking a deplorably stupid question
in the aftermath of the fatal Jewish Center shootings by white supremacist F.
Glenn Miller.
The
question? Can the Ku Klux Klan rebrand itself?
“Rebrand”
as in refashion its legendary racial hatred and death.
Funny,
but would CNN ever, in its wildest dreams, even ask such a question of, say, al
Qaeda, the foreign terrorist organization that specializes in blowing up people
to make its sick and sad political point? I mean, I’m all for freedom of
speech. Heck, that’s how I make my living. But there’s also such a thing as
common sense. No one in their right might would if ask if the Nazis ever need to
rebrand. You certainly wouldn’t catch any Jewish journalists who know their
history posing such a ridiculous question out loud. So why do such an
outlandish thing about the Klan?
You
know, the more TV networks strive for ratings, the stupider their “please watch
us” stunts get. To ask such an inane and ignorant question out loud, makes it
seem as if the Ku Klux Klan have some meaningful service to render to so
society, and just can’t find the proper, socially acceptable way to get their
otherwise important message across.
That
message… “Kill anyone and everyone who isn’t white.”
Please
enlighten the rest of us, CNN, as to exactly how anyone goes about “rebranding”
their message to spread that croc of racism.
And
CNN wants to know why folks aren’t watching them like they used to?
Gee,
I wonder why?
SHARPTON – The media bashing of Rev. Al Sharpton recently with news
that he was once an informant for the FBI
back in the 1980s was shameless and shameful. With the exception of the
blow-by-blow details provided by newly released documents, the story had been
well out there for years. Indeed Sharpton had written about it in his latest
book, “The Rejected Stone.”
And yet
you’d think Sharpton had just committed a crime. In fact, he served as a wire
man to help bag members of organized crime, and that’s exactly what happened.
Critics say Sharpton was “flipped” by the FBI because he was allegedly selling
drugs himself. Well if that were true, then the feds still could have charged
Sharpton with something, and then tell the judge that because he cooperated, he
deserved leniency.
But that
didn’t New York tabloids with blazing headlines calling Sharpton a “snitch” and
a “rat.” And it was all timed to coincide with the three-day last week
featuring President Obama and US Attorney General Eric Holder.
So yes,
folks, there is no question about media bias, especially when it comes to black
leadership. It can be vicious, cruel, and certain wrong. We’ve seen it against
Pres. Obama. But last week, it was a field day against. Rev. Al Sharpton.
Despicable!
VICTORY –
You have to hand it to President Obama.
After the disastrous rollout of the Affordable
Care Act last October, the failure of which Republicans loudly applauded,
the president buckled down, got his team back in gear, and they successfully
moved the ball down field to goal with over 7 million ACA applicants by the
March 31st deadline. Folks thought the president was politically
dead in the water, but he refused to accept that, and pushed on.
The number
has now surpassed 8 million.
Folks
criticized the president for going on comedy shows to promote the ACA, but
actually, that says more about us than him. Obama was trying to reach Americans
who aren’t paying attention to Fox or CNN or their local newspaper, because
they are the ones who need affordable health insurance the most.
The
president did his job, and we’re proud of him for doing so.
Make sure you tune in
every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen''
on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.myWAUG.com.
And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash
Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
I promise it will be interesting.
Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best
Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story
Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s
President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep a smile on your face,
GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.
-30-
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