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Fact Check: Is There An Anti-Hate Crime Bill Specifically For Black Americans?

Black Americans remain the most frequent victims of racially motivated hate crimes in the U.S. A 2023 study published by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino found that Black people were targeted in over 20% of hate crimes in major U.S. cities last year, the highest proportion among all groups.

Although the overall rate of anti-Black hate crimes fell by 6% from previous years, this decrease was uneven, with many cities and states experiencing record or near-record levels of such crimes. Historically, African Americans have faced the highest rate of hate crimes, a trend that continued into 2022.

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, signed into law in 2022 under the Biden administration, designates lynching as a federal hate crime, making it a distinct federal offense. It was enacted to address both the historical and ongoing violence of lynching, which has predominantly targeted Black Americans. The law imposes criminal penalties—including fines, imprisonment for up to 30 years, or both—on individuals who conspire to commit a hate crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

Hate crime legislation, such as Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, provides protections against crimes motivated by race, gender or sexual orientation among other factors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s website. The federal law, enacted to address and prevent hate crimes, includes race as a protected category, thereby covering crimes committed against Black people. -(source: newsone)

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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson On Electing A Black Woman As President

In her new memoir, “Lovely One,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writes about her journey to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Black female justice. In this web exclusive, she talks with “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell about what having a Black woman as president would mean to her. -(source: cbs evening news)

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Texas Voter Purge May Be Sending A Chilling Message, Lawmakers And Advocates Warn

Texans who may have been wrongly removed from the state’s voter registration list or whose voter registrations have been suspended have little time to reverse course, Democratic state lawmakers and civil rights advocates warned Thursday, a few days after Republican leadership announced the purge of more than 1.1 million names from their voter rolls.

States are required by law to regularly update their voter registration lists to remove people who have died or moved or who are found ineligible to vote for other reasons. But Republican Gov. Greg Abbott touted the routine maintenance of the voter rolls in a series of election integrity bills he signed into laws in 2021.

“Texas’ strong election laws removed over 1 MILLION ineligible voters from our voter rolls,” Abbott wrote Monday on X.

Numbers released by Abbott’s office show that more than 134,000 voters purged from state voter rolls since September 2021 had confirmed they had moved elsewhere and that 457,000 others had died.

But Democratic state representatives and Houston City Council members remain alarmed at the more than 2.1 million Texas voters who remain on the suspended list, mainly because county officials don’t have their current addresses on record.

With nearly 13% of all 17.9 million voters registered in the state on the suspended list, “this represents more barriers for their votes to count,” state Rep. Christina Morales said in Spanish at a news conference. -(source: nbc news)

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Kamala Harris Has Lead Over Trump Ahead Of November Election, According To New Late August Polling

Kamala Harris has a strong chance of beating out Donald Trump in November’s presidential election, according to new findings conducted by the Decision Desk HQ and other widely relied upon polling firms. There was a month-long pause on releasing updated data because of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race on July 21. But with appropriate time now having passed, we are learning that Harris has a 56% chance of winning the presidency. Previously, the organization had predicted a 56% chance of a Trump victory over Biden.

Decision Desk’s analysis not only incorporates current polling data, but also fundraising and partisan leanings district by district. Key updates include North Carolina shifting from Lean Republican to Toss-up, and Michigan moving from Toss-up to Lean Democratic. Other swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin remain Toss-ups, but Harris is performing better than Biden had been performing in them when he was still running.

Decision Desk’s poll currently projects Trump with a 64% chance of winning North Carolina, with Harris having only a 36% chance of winning. But it also shows the state’s voters are beginning to lean toward Harris, narrowing the 10% gap Trump held in May. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won North Carolina was Barack Obama in 2008. Additional polling showed other critical information too.

Harris is showing a strong lead overall according to a new USA Today/Suffolk University Poll published on Aug. 29. The 59-year-old Democrat has a five-point lead in the general elections over Trump (48% to 43%.) And, the poll noted, it was an especially significant jump from late June–an eight-point shift–in favor of Trump who then led President Joe Biden by nearly four points.

Polls suggest that America is poised to support Kamala Harris. -(source: newsone)

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First-Of-Its-Kind Youth Mental Health Corps Trains Young People To Help Their Peers

Growing up in Philadelphia, Nancy Santiago lived in what she described as “tough circumstances, with an outrageous situation on my hands. And every time I went to ask for help, there was none.”

Her drug-addicted father was abusive, while her grandmother ran a speakeasy to help support the family. When Santiago had problems, her evangelical relatives told her to “pray on it.”

Yet her challenging upbringing led her into a career in education, philanthropy and public service, including positions at the Department of Education and the Department of Labor under President Barack Obama and more recently at the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy under President Joe Biden.

It was there that Santiago, reflecting on her own experiences, began thinking about young people and mental health. “Here I am, 54-year-old me, saying, what would 16-year-old me have loved?” she said. “How do we help kids who may not be insured or have access to therapy, or with parents who don’t know how to access services? How do I create a way for these kids to get help?”

Now Santiago has helped create the Youth Mental Health Corps, a first-of-its-kind initiative that will launch this fall, initially in four states, to address the country’s youth mental health crisis. This innovative program will recruit young volunteers to work in assisting other youngsters who are struggling with mental health issues. The volunteers who sign up will receive training and also a state-specific credential in the behavioral health field. -(source: nbc news)

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A Grant Program For Black Women Business Owners Is Discriminatory, Appeals Court Rules

A U.S. federal court of appeals panel suspended a venture capital firm’s grant program for Black women business owners, ruling that a conservative group is likely to prevail in its lawsuit claiming that the program is discriminatory.

The ruling against the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund is another victory for conservative groups waging a sprawling legal battle against corporate diversity programs that have targeted dozens of companies and government institutions.

The case against the Fearless Fund was brought last year by the American American Alliance for Equal Rights, a group led by Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the Supreme Court case that ended affirmative action in college admissions.

Blum applauded the ruling, saying “programs that exclude certain individuals because of their race such as the ones the Fearless Fund has designed and implemented are unjust and polarizing.”

Fearless Fund CEO and Founder Arian Simone said the ruling was “devastating” for the organizations and the women it has invested in.

Alphonso David, Fearless Fund’s legal counsel who serves as president and CEO of The Global Black Economic Forum, said all options were being evaluated to continue fighting the lawsuit. -(source: ap)

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Sojourner Truth Statue Unveiled Where She Gave Her 1851 ‘Ain’t I A Woman?’ Speech

Hundreds gathered in an Ohio city on Wednesday to unveil a plaza and statue dedicated to abolitionist Sojourner Truth at the very spot where the women’s rights pioneer gave an iconic 1851 speech now known as “Ain’t I a Woman?”

Truth, a formerly enslaved person, delivered the speech to a crowd gathered at the Universalist Old Stone Church in Akron for the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. In the speech, Truth drew upon the hardships she faced while she was enslaved and asked the audience why her humanity and the humanity of other enslaved African Americans was not seen in the same light as white Americans. -(source: ap)

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“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

Two Virginia Colleges Face Backlash After Backtracking On Plans To Require Diversity Courses

In May, months before the course mandate was set to be rolled out this fall, VCU’s Board of Visitors voted to drop the requirement. The Board, which is made up of 16 members appointed by the governor of Virginia, voted 10 – 5 against making the curriculum mandatory, according to a statement from the University.

The university said the board was committed to “upholding academic freedom while empowering students with flexibility and autonomy in their educational journey.”

The decision came as another Virginia college, George Mason University, announced it would postpone a “Just Societies” diversity-themed course requirement for incoming students that was initially set to take effect in the fall.

In a letter addressed to his colleagues, Kenneth D. Walsh, George Mason’s interim executive vice president and provost, said the school would delay implementation of the courses to the 2025-26 academic year.

“This is clearly an issue that engenders strong feelings on every side,” Walsh said. “Ironically, finding a civil and respectful path forward on this kind of issue is precisely the type of activity the ‘Just Societies’ courses are meant to support students accomplishing.”

The courses will still be optional for students at both universities in the upcoming school year.

But the decisions to drop the course requirements at VCU and postpone them at George Mason have faced backlash from faculty and students who say the material is meant to prepare students for the real world by offering a better understanding of the nation’s history of racism and discrimination. -(source: cnn)

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‘Exonerated 5’ Member Has This Question For Trump Since He’s Now A Convicted Felon

In an interview with CNN’s Victor Blackwell, “Exonerated 5” member Raymond Santana reacts to former President Donald Trump becoming a convicted felon, calling it a “full circle moment.”

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Donald Trump Guilty On All 34 Felony Charges

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MLB Integrates Negro League Statistics Into All-Time Record Book With Josh Gibson Now Career Batting Average Leader

Major League Baseball has incorporated the statistics of former Negro Leagues players into its historical records on its website, meaning legendary leaders in some categories like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb have now been replaced in the record books by players who were not allowed to play on the same fields as them during segregation.

Josh Gibson, one of the greatest sluggers in the history of the Negro Leagues, is now listed as MLB’s new all-time career leader in batting average at .372, moving ahead of Ty Cobb at .367.

The MLB website shows Gibson also overtaking Babe Ruth in career slugging percentage.

“We are proud that the official historical record now includes the players of the Negro Leagues. This initiative is focused on ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement.

“Their accomplishments on the field will be a gateway to broader learning about this triumph in American history and the path that led to Jackie Robinson’s 1947 Dodger debut.” -(source: cnn)

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Israel Kills Dozens In Rafah As Netanyahu Acknowledges “Tragic Mishap”

At least 45 people were killed in airstrikes in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, local health officials said Monday, drawing swift condemnations against Israel. Gaza officials said the strike killed at least 45 Palestinians, including displaced people living in tents that were engulfed by fire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there had been a “tragic mishap” and that Israel was investigating.

The airstrike came hours after Hamas claimed it fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza toward central Israel as rocket sirens rang for the first time in months in cities like Tel Aviv.

“The devastating images following an IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking,” a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians. But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in an earlier statement that “never before in history has such a large number of mass killing tools been amassed and employed together in front of the world as is happening now in Gaza,” noting severe shortages of water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel. -(source: cbs news)

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“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

Kentucky Governor Designates Juneteenth A Holiday, Bans Hairstyle Discrimination

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear designated Juneteenth as a holiday for state executive branch workers on Thursday and expanded protections in state hiring and employment by banning discrimination based on hairstyles.

The separate executive orders signed by the Democratic governor represented his latest outreach to Black Kentuckians — but also reflected limits to that outreach.

Beshear, seen as a rising Democratic star, took the actions after efforts to make Juneteenth a statewide holiday and outlaw discrimination based on hairstyles failed in the state’s Republican-supermajority legislature.

“After years of inaction, I’ve decided I can no longer wait for others to do what is right,” said Beshear, who was joined by Black lawmakers as he signed the orders in the state Capitol in Frankfort.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued during the Civil War. For generations, Black Americans have recognized Juneteenth. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing it as a federal holiday.

One Beshear order declares that starting this year, Juneteenth will be observed as a state executive branch holiday. All executive branch offices will be closed. -(source: ap)

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Education Secretary Says More Student Debt Relief Is Coming

This week, the Biden-Harris administration announced a new round of student loan debt forgiveness for 160,000 borrowers. In a recent interview with theGrio’s “The Hill with April Ryan,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the numerous announcements of student debt cancellations are a result of three federal programs, including one for those working in public service. -(source: the grio)

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“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

George Floyd’s Murder Led To A National Reckoning On Policing, But Efforts Have Stalled Or Reversed

Four years ago, protests erupted across the country after millions of Americans watched the chilling video of the murder of George Floyd — a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.

In the aftermath, Chauvin was convicted of murder and calls for a nationwide reckoning on issues related to racism and police violence reverberated in city after city. But in the years since then, some of those efforts at change, like the federal George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, have stalled. In several states, calls to pass criminal justice reforms to address decadeslong racial disparities have stalled or been met with tough-on-crime rhetoric and policies.

“The fact that he was stolen from us. We still can’t get over that,” Philonise Floyd said in an interview. “So many people, they felt the same pain all across the world.”

In recent years, many conservative states — and some progressive parts of the country — have passed tough-on-crime policies.

Philonise Floyd said. “And this bill needs to be passed because my brother’s blood is all on this bill. … At the end of the day, if you want to make change, show it to me.” -(source: nbc news)

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“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

‘A Different World’ Cast Reunites As HBCUs See A New Peak In Admissions

Interest in historically Black colleges and universities is surging.

For example, Howard University, among the nation’s top HBCUs, received a record 37,000 applications for its upcoming freshman class.

But this isn’t the first time Black colleges have seen a spike in interest. Though HBCU enrollment increased more than 25% between 1976 and 1994, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a big leap in admissions coincided with the run of the college-set sitcom “A Different World.”

Premiering on NBC in 1987, the “Cosby Show” spinoff was set on the fictional Hillman College campus and ran for six seasons. Its majority-Black cast provided a bold injection of cultural flavor and a counter to many of the stereotypical depictions of young African Americans in the 1980s and early ‘90s.

Now, as the world of higher education continues to shift, the cast is coming back together to celebrate the show’s lasting legacy, 35 years after its premiere, with a tour of HBCUs across the country.

This explosion of interest is happening as racial strife continues to affect students’ lived experiences, alongside the undoing of affirmative action in college admissions; an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and student uprisings over America’s foreign policy. -(source: nbc news)

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“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

Marilyn Mosby Sentenced To Year Of Home Detention For Perjury, Mortgage Fraud

Former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was sentenced Thursday to one year of home detention for her perjury and mortgage fraud convictions, and ordered to forfeit her Florida condo.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby handed down a sentence of three years of supervised release, opting against sending Mosby to prison. Prosecutors had sought 20 months in prison.

Griggsby’s decision followed an approximately four-hour hearing during which prosecutors asked for prison time and Mosby’s lawyers requested probation.

While Mosby was state’s attorney when she perjured herself and committed mortgage fraud, Federal Public Defender James Wyda noted none of Mosby’s crimes related to her role in office. He said Mosby had been punished enough given she lost her job, likely stands to have her law license revoked and endured a grueling trial that put her private life into the limelight.

“Jail is not a just sentence for Ms. Mosby, her family or the community,” Wyda told Griggsby.

He also said that sending Mosby to prison would inflict “extraordinary trauma” on her daughters, citing letters the defense submitted from the children’s therapist and a scholar who wrote about the impacts on children when their mothers are incarcerated.

Maintaining her innocence, Mosby declined an opportunity to speak in court. Wyda said Mosby should not be penalized for pursuing legal rights.

During a brief lunch break, well-known civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump spoke outside the courthouse, reading from remarks he will give in court as the defense presents its case at sentencing.

Crump said other white collar crimes have been met with a “slap on the wrist.”

“What is different here today is that underneath that white collar is the neck of a Black woman who dared to challenge the status quo,” Crump said. -(source: yahoo)

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