DOCSLIB.ORG

12-96 Brief for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund Et Al. in Suppo

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
12-96 Brief for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund Et Al. in Suppo No. 12-96 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States SHELBY COUNTY, ALABAMA, Petitioner, v. ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ET AL., Respondents. On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit BRIEF OF THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE EDUCATION FUND ET AL. AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS LISA M. BORNSTEIN MATTHEW M. HOFFMAN THE LEADERSHIP CONFER- (Counsel of record) ENCE ON CIVIL AND HU- STEPHEN J. POLLAK MAN RIGHTS JOHN TOWNSEND RICH 1629 K St. N.W. SIRISHA V. KALICHETI Washington, DC 20006 ELLA A. CAPONE (202) 466-3311 GOODWIN PROCTER LLP 901 New York Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20001 (202) 346-4000 Counsel for Amici Curiae February 1, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................... iii INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ............................. 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT .................................. 2 ARGUMENT ............................................................ 6 I. There Is Real and Substantial Risk That the Progress Made in Combatting Voting Discrimination Since 1965 Will Be Eroded If § 5 Is Invalidated. ........................................... 6 A. History Shows That Gains In Minority Political Participation Can Be Reversed When Remedial Laws Are Invalidated. ...... 7 B. Recent Court Decisions Show That Without the Protection of § 5 Many Covered Jurisdictions Would Adopt Practices That Abridge Minority Voting Rights. ........................................................ 14 II. Congress’s Decision To Reauthorize § 5 and To Retain the Existing Coverage Formula Are Amply Supported by the Legislative Record and Are Entitled to Deference. ........... 20 A. Congress Reasonably Concluded on an Extensive Record That Discriminatory Voting Practices Still Continue in the Covered Jurisdictions. ............................... 24 ii B. Congress’s Decision To Retain the Existing Coverage Formula Was Reasonable. ................................................ 28 III. The Coverage of § 5 Will Likely Be Reduced Over Time Through the Application of the Bailout Mechanism. ......................................... 33 CONCLUSION ....................................................... 35 APPENDIX A: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Participating Member Organizations APPENDIX B: Additional Amici Curiae iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases: Page City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997) ........... 22 Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 553 U.S. 181 (2008) .......................................... 14, 15 Florida v. United States, No. 11-1428, 2012 U.S. Dist LEXIS 115647 (D.D.C. Aug. 16, 2012) ................................................................. 16, 17 Jeffers v. Clinton, 740 F. Supp. 585, 626-27 (E.D. Ark, 1990) ..................................................... 32 New York Trust Co. v. Eisner, 256 U.S. 345 (1921) ........................................................................ 6 Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder, 577 U.S. 193 (2009) ........................................................... 7, 28, 34 South Carolina v. United States, No. 12-203, 2012 U.S. Dist LEXIS 146187 (D.D.C. Oct. 10, 2012) .................................................... 17, 18 Texas v. Holder, No. 12-cv-128, 2012 U.S. Dist LEXIS 127119 (D.D.C. Aug. 30, 2012) ............ 15, 16 Texas v. United States, No. 11-1303, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121685 (D.D.C. 2012) .................. 19, 20 Turner Broad. Sys., Inc. v. FCC, 520 U.S. 180 (1997) ...................................................... 5, 21, 22, 23 United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876) .......................................................... 10, 11, 12 United States v. Reese, 92 U.S. 214 (1876) ... 10, 11, 12 iv Constitutional Provisions U.S. CONST. amend. XIV ....................................... 2, 31 U.S. CONST. amend. XV ................................. 2, 3, 7, 31 Statutes: Act of Feb. 28, 1871, ch. 99, 16 Stat. 433 ................... 7 Enforcement Act of 1870, 16 Stat. 140 ....................... 7 Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, Pub L. No. 109-246, 120 Stat. 577 (2006): § 2(b)(3) ................................................................ 24 § 2(b)(4)(A) ..................................................... 25, 27 § 2(b)(4)(B) ........................................................... 27 § 2(b)(7) ........................................................... 20-21 § 2(b)(9) ................................................................ 21 § 3(c) .................................................................... 30 Voting Rights Act of 1965, Pub L. No. 89-110, 79 Stat. 437, as amended: § 2, 42 U.S.C. § 1973 ........................................... 29 § 3(c), 42 U.S.C. § 1973a(c) ................................. 32 § 4(a), 42 U.S.C. § 1973b(a) ................................ 32 § 5, 42 U.S.C. § 1973c ................................. passim Legislative History: 152 CONG. REC. 14,303 (2006) ................................... 24 152 CONG. REC. 14,273-74 (2006).............................. 30 152 CONG. REC. 14,275 (2006) ................................... 31 152 CONG. REC. 14,301 (2006) ................................... 31 152 CONG. REC. 15,325 (2006) ................................... 24 v Extension of the Voting Rights Act: Hearings Before the Subcomm. on Civil and Constitu- tional Rights of the H. Comm. on the Judici- ary, 97th Cong. (1981) ............................................ 13 H.R. REP. NO. 109-478 ....................................... passim S. REP. NO. 109-295 (2006) ........................................ 23 To Examine the Impact and Effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act: Hearing Before the Sub- comm. on the Constitution of the House Comm, on the Judiciary, 109th Cong. (2006) ....... 29 Voting Rights Act: An Examination of the Scope and Criteria for Coverage Under the Special Provisions of the Act: Hearing Before the Sub- comm. on the Constitution of the H. Comm. On the Judiciary, 109th Cong. (2005) .............. 34-35 Other Authorities: Travis Crum, Note, The Voting Rights Act’s Se- cret Weapon: Pocket Trigger Litigation and Dynamic Preclearance, 119 YALE L.J. 1992 (2010) ...................................................................... 32 ERIC FONER, RECONSTRUCTION: AMERICA’S UN- FINISHED REVOLUTION (1988) ................... 8, 9, 11, 12 WILLIAM GILLETTE, RETREAT FROM RECON- STRUCTION 1869–1879 (1979) ................................. 12 BERNARD GROFMAN ET AL., MINORITY REPRE- SENTATION AND THE QUEST FOR VOTING EQUALITY (1992) ................................................. 7, 10 vi J. Gerald Hebert, An Assessment of the Bailout Provisions of The Voting Rights Act, in VOT- ING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION OF 2006: PERSPECTIVES ON DEMOCRACY, PARTICIPA- TION, AND POWER 257 (Ana Henderson ed., 2007) ....................................................................... 35 LEEANNA KEITH, THE COLFAX MASSACRE (2008) ................................................................ 11, 12 MICHAEL J. KLARMAN, FROM JIM CROW TO CIVIL RIGHTS: THE SUPREME COURT AND THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY (2004) ............ 8, 10 CHARLES LANE, THE DAY FREEDOM DIED: THE COLFAX MASSACRE, THE SUPREME COURT, AND THE BETRAYAL OF RECONSTRUCTION (2008) ........... 11 1 GEORGE SANTAYANA, THE LIFE OF REASON; OR, THE PHASES OF HUMAN PROGRESS (1905) ................ 6 RICHARD M. VALELLY, THE TWO RECONSTRUC- TIONS: THE STRUGGLE FOR BLACK ENFRAN- CHISEMENT (2004) ............................................... 7, 10 2 CHARLES WARREN, THE SUPREME COURT IN UNITED STATES HISTORY (1922) ............................. 12 INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (“The Leadership Conference”) is a coalition of over 200 organizations committed to the protection of civil and human rights in the United States.1 It is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. The Leadership Confer- ence was founded in 1950 by three legendary leaders of the civil rights movement—A. Philip Randolph, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wil- kins, of the NAACP; and Arnold Aronson, of the Na- tional Jewish Community Relations Advisory Coun- cil. Its member organizations represent people of all races and ethnicities.2 One of the missions of The Leadership Conference is to promote effective civil rights legislation and policy. The Leadership Confer- ence was in the vanguard of the movement to secure passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. It also played a leading role in gathering evidence to submit to Congress and coor- dinating the efforts of the civil rights community in connection with the 2006 amendments to the Voting Rights Act that are at issue in this case. 1 The parties have consented to the filing of this brief in letters on file with the Clerk. No counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part, and no such counsel or party made a mone- tary contribution intended to fund the preparation or submis- sion of this brief. No person other than amici curiae, their members, or their counsel made a monetary contribution to its preparation or submission. 2 See Appendix A for a list of The Leadership Conference’s member organizations. 2 The Leadership Conference Education Fund
Load more

Recommended publications
  • PAPERS of the NAACP Part Segregation and Discrimination, 15 Complaints and Responses, 1940-1955
    A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of BLACK STUDIES RESEARCH SOURCES Microfilms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections General Editors: John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier PAPERS OF THE NAACP Part Segregation and Discrimination, 15 Complaints and Responses, 1940-1955 Series B: Administrative Files UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA PAPERS OF THE NAACP Part 15. Segregation and Discrimination, Complaints and Responses, 1940-1955 Series B: Administrative Files A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of BLACK STUDIES RESEARCH SOURCES Microfilms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections General Editors: John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier PAPERS OF THE NAACP Part 15. Segregation and Discrimination, Complaints and Responses, 1940-1955 Series B: Administrative Files Edited by John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier Project Coordinator Randolph Boehm Guide compiled by Martin Schipper A microfilm project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA An Imprint of CIS 4520 East-West Highway * Bethesda, MD 20814-3389 Library of Congress Cataloglng-ln-Publication Data National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Papers of the NAACP. [microform] Accompanied by printed reel guides. Contents: pt. 1. Meetings of the Board of Directors, records of annual conferences, major speeches, and special reports, 1909-1950 / editorial adviser, August Meier; edited by Mark Fox--pt. 2. Personal correspondence of selected NAACP officials, 1919-1939 / editorial--[etc.]--pt. 15. Segregation and discrimination, complaints and responses, 1940-1955. 1. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-Archives. 2. Afro-Americans--Civil Rights--History--20th century-Sources. 3. Afro- Americans--History--1877-1964--Sources. 4. United States--Race relations-Sources. I. Meier, August, 1923- .
    [Show full text]
  • Hr 2622—Fair and Accurate Credit
    H.R. 2622—FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS ACT OF 2003 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 9, 2003 Printed for the use of the Committee on Financial Services Serial No. 108–47 ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 92–230 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:51 Mar 05, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 G:\DOCS\92230.TXT FIN1 PsN: MICAH HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES MICHAEL G. OXLEY, Ohio, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana MAXINE WATERS, California SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois PETER T. KING, New York NYDIA M. VELA´ ZQUEZ, New York EDWARD R. ROYCE, California MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York ROBERT W. NEY, Ohio DARLENE HOOLEY, Oregon SUE W. KELLY, New York, Vice Chair JULIA CARSON, Indiana RON PAUL, Texas BRAD SHERMAN, California PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York JIM RYUN, Kansas BARBARA LEE, California STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio JAY INSLEE, Washington DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois DENNIS MOORE, Kansas WALTER B. JONES, JR., North Carolina CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas DOUG OSE, California MICHAEL E.
    [Show full text]
  • For Immediate Release LDF Media Thursday, October 29, 2020 212-965-2200 / [email protected]
    For Immediate Release LDF Media Thursday, October 29, 2020 212-965-2200 / [email protected] NAACP Legal Defense Fund, National Urban League, National Fair Housing Alliance File Suit Against Trump Administration; African American Policy Forum Launches #TruthBeTold Campaign Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the National Urban League (NUL), and the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping” on the grounds that it violates the guarantees of Free Speech, Equal Protection, and Due Process – fundamental rights secured in the United States Constitution. In addition, The African American Policy Forum (AAPF) has launched the #TruthBeTold campaign to rescind the order and raise awareness for the need for even deeper engagement on and examination of issues of race, gender, intersectionality, and justice. President Trump’s Executive Order, issued in September, makes federal contracts contingent upon subscription to a false and revisionist history of our nation and compliance with censorship of what the administration deems “Divisive Concepts,” “Race or Sex Stereotyping,” and “Race or Sex Scapegoating.” It is chillingly punitive, requiring contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and potentially grantees, to comply with exacting speech limitations and submit to the government all plans for diversity and inclusion training to ensure the demand for censorship is satisfied, or risk termination of their contract. “As with the ‘Muslim Ban,’ attempts to add a citizenship question to the Census, and the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, this Executive Order is another attempt by President Trump to erase the lived experiences of people and communities,” said Janai Nelson, LDF’s Associate Director-Counsel.
    [Show full text]
  • July 28, 2020 Dear Member of Congress: the Death Of
    Officers July 28, 2020 Chair Judith L. Lichtman National Partnership for Women & Families Vice Chairs Thomas A. Saenz Mexican American Legal Dear Member of Congress: Defense and Educational Fund Hilary Shelton NAACP Secretary/Treasurer The death of Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights giant, has had a profound impact on Lee A. Saunders American Federation of State, people around the world. Public officials both national and international have offered County & Municipal Employees Board of Directors moving words of praise and admiration in honor of the remarkable life and legacy of Mr. Kevin Allis National Congress of American Indians Lewis. There is no greater way to pay tribute to Mr. Lewis than by turning those laudatory Kimberly Churches AAUW words into action. It is in this spirit that The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Kristen Clarke Lawyers' Committee for Rights and the 154 undersigned organizations write to urge you to honor the life and legacy Civil Rights Under Law Alphonso B. David of the late Representative John Lewis by passing federal legislation to safeguard the Human Rights Campaign Rory Gamble fundamental right to vote. Mr. Lewis helped lead the historic 1965 march for voting rights International Union, UAW Lily Eskelsen García in Selma, Alabama – sustaining a cracked skull at the hands of state troopers – and he spent National Education Association Fatima Goss Graves the next half century at the helm of the nation’s fight for voting rights and equality. Mr. National Women's Law Center Mary Kay Henry Lewis was a civil rights icon, an American hero, and the conscience of the Congress.
    [Show full text]
  • National Urban League Records
    National Urban League A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2011 Revised 2013 October Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms997012 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm73040774 Prepared by Joseph Sullivan, Clarencetta Jelks, and Harry G. Heiss with the assistance of Paul Colton, Patrica Craig, Patrick Kerwin, Melissa Little, Lisa Madison, Sherralyn McCoy, John Monagle, and William Parham Collection Summary Title: National Urban League Records Span Dates: 1900-1988 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1930-1979) ID No.: MSS40774 Creator: National Urban League Extent: 616,000 items ; 2,002 containers ; 821 linear feet ; 18 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Civil rights organization. Correspondence, minutes of meetings, speeches, reports, surveys, statistical data, financial and legal records, scrapbooks, printed material, and other records relating to the programs and policies of the league and its affiliates. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Alston, Harry L., 1914- Barnett, Claude, 1890- --Correspondence. Bell, William Y. (William Yancy) Bethune, Mary McLeod, 1875-1955--Correspondence. Coleman, Clarence D. Granger, Lester B. (Lester Blackwell), 1896-1976--Correspondence. Granger, Lester B. (Lester Blackwell), 1896-1976. Lester B. Granger papers. Harrington, Oliver W.
    [Show full text]
  • Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Biographical Information
    “The Top Ten” Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Biographical Information (Asa) Philip Randolph • Director of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. • He was born on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida. He was 74 years old at the time of the March. • As a young boy, he would recite sermons, imitating his father who was a minister. He was the valedictorian, the student with the highest rank, who spoke at his high school graduation. • He grew up during a time of intense violence and injustice against African Americans. • As a young man, he organized workers so that they could be treated more fairly, receiving better wages and better working conditions. He believed that black and white working people should join together to fight for better jobs and pay. • With his friend, Chandler Owen, he created The Messenger, a magazine for the black community. The articles expressed strong opinions, such as African Americans should not go to war if they have to be segregated in the military. • Randolph was asked to organize black workers for the Pullman Company, a railway company. He became head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black labor union. Labor unions are organizations that fight for workers’ rights. Sleeping car porters were people who served food on trains, prepared beds, and attended train passengers. • He planned a large demonstration in 1941 that would bring 10,000 African Americans to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC to try to get better jobs and pay. The plan convinced President Roosevelt to take action.
    [Show full text]
  • Be Nationwide
    Liberian, Ethiopian Delegations Outstanding At U. N Be Nationwide By STEVEN GERSTEL juries in certain sections of the WASHINGTON — (UPI) — The south. ■ Federal Civil Rights Commission Or. as supposedly happens, frt may not confine its inquiries strict­ other pants of the south certala ly to -the South if it finally de­ Negroes are impaneled but nevei cides ito investigate equal admin­ called on the jury. istration of Justice, a spokesman Other possible subjects include said Saturday. police brutality, administration. -of, vagrancy statutees, prison facllH" The spokesman conceded that complaints received by the com­ ties, paroles and pardons. mission so far "are almost all from the south." But he added that "policemen are the same every­ where." ■ The commission recently an­ nounced that It would make a study to see 11 it had enough mon­ The Liberian Delegation and Ethiopian De­ session of the General Assembly at the World Wisconsin) and Ambassador C. T, O. King of ent Representative to the United Nations, ey and personnel to start looking legation are making laudable records at the Ato body in New York at First Avenue and 42nd Liberia are noted in deep concentration during Goitom Petros. Ato Zauda Hailemariam, Ato into the question. However, it still United Nations where they are among repre­ has not reached a final decision. Street. In left photo. Assistant Secretary of State one of the heated sessions. Behind them is Belachew Asrat with Haile Bera, visiting offic­ sentatives of the 82 members of the United Until now. the commission, Angie Brooks (who holds American degrees Secretary Cox and Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • National Implications: Historical View of Black School Board Members of the State of Texas Until 1985
    NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNAL VOLUME 23, NUMBER 4, 2006 National Implications: Historical View of Black School Board Members of the State of Texas Until 1985 Dr. James E. Ginn Dr. J D Gregory, Jr. Texas Southern University Prairie View A&M University Dr. Henry North Dr. Leola Robinson Scott Texas Southern University Southern University ABSTRACT This study is an examination of the historical, social, economic, and political profile of the state of Texas and their opinions concerning the educational issues of school integration, segregation or desegregation, staff assignment and the overall participation of Black School Board members on their perspective school boards. It indicates an enhanced growth of board members and their concerns of all students comprising the school district. Introduction lacks experienced the horrors of slavery, the war between the states of the United States to preserve the Union and the abolishment of slavery, the Reconstruction BEra, the dismantling of Reconstruction and the introduction of “Jim Crowism”, the dismantling of the “Separate but Equal” doctrine, and the emergence of Blacks into she political arena. The Black electorate, however, experienced appreciable political activity prior to the Reconstruction Era. 1 The advent of the Reconstruction Era facilitated the awareness of the Black freedmen and provided a support system which ensured the inclusion of Blacks in the political process of Texas and other southern states. 2,3 During this period, many Blacks were elected to numerous political positions and held significant positions in the Republican Party. 4 Democrats, on the other hand, made numerous 1 NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNAL 2___________________________________________________________________________________ attempts to destroy the Republican Party and the accompanying political influence of Black Texans during Reconstruction and the subsequent years.
    [Show full text]
  • Family and Friends Vow to Seek Justice for Her Death and Are Determined to Continue Her Legacy of Community Service
    Liberty the adventurous pup- voiced of actress, Marsai Martin Allyson Felix Adds unto Legendary makes ‘PAW PATROL’ delightful, Career in Tokyo Olympics family fun! (See page D-1) (See page D-2) VOL. LXXXVII NO. 31, $1.00 +CA. Sales Tax “For Over Eighty Years, the Voice of Our Community Speaking for Itself.” THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021 VOL. LXXVV, NO. 49 • $1.00 + CA. Sales Tax “For Over Eighty Years The Voice of Our Community Speaking for Itself THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2013 Family and friends vow to seek justice for her death and are determined to continue her legacy of community service BY DANNY J. BAKEWELL, JR. served on the Global Hu- board member for the USC tious smiles with everyone Executive Editor man Resources leadership Black Alumni Association, she met. Prayers of peace team (see Sentinel article on as well as the Centre The- and comfort for her fam- “What I want most is 6/24/2021), and was dedi- ater Group, and the Inter- ily, friends and co-workers, justice for my mother, and cated personally in her role national Black Women’s said Mitchell, president of to continue her legacy,” with the bank in developing Public Policy Institute (IB- Mothers in Action. stated Trevon Avan, the son talent and uplifting those in WPPI). “’I’m Ready ... I love of Michelle Avan, the Bank the community, supporting According to Tracy you,’ were Michelle’s last of America executive who them in reaching their high- Mitchell, every year, with- words to me on Monday, was tragically murdered in est levels of achievement.
    [Show full text]
  • Civil Rights Movement
    Civil Rights Movement From the beginning, race has been at the heart of the deepest divisions in the United States and the greatest challenges to its democratic vision. Africans were brought to the continent in slavery, American Indian nations were subjected to genocidal wars of conquest, northwestern Mexico was invaded and annexed, Asians were imported as laborers then subjected to exclusionary laws. Black historian W.E.B. DuBois wrote that the history of the 20th Century would be the history of the color line, predicting that anti- colonial movements in Africa and Asia would parallel movements for full civil and political rights for people of color in the United States. During the 1920s and 1930s social scientists worked to replace the predominant biological paradigm of European racial superiority (common in Social Darwinism and eugenics) with the notion of ethnicity -- which suggested that racial minorities could follow the path of white European immigrant groups, assimilating into the American mainstream. Gunnar Myrdal's massive study An American Dilemma in 1944 made the case that the American creed of democracy, equality and justice must be extended to include blacks. Nathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan argued in Beyond the Melting Pot in 1963 for a variation of assimilation based on cultural pluralism, in which various racial and ethnic groups retained some dimension of distinct identity. Following the civil rights movement's victories, neoconservatives began to argue in the 1970s that equal opportunity for individuals should not be interpreted as group rights to be achieved through affirmative action in the sense of preferences or quotas.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosa Parks and the Black Freedom Struggle in Detroit Downloaded From
    Jeanne Theoharis “The northern promised land that wasn’t”: Rosa Parks and the Black Freedom Struggle in Detroit Downloaded from n 2004, researchers asked could stand to be pushed”—42- high school students across year-old Rosa Parks refused to give Ithe U.S. to name their top ten up her seat on the bus. This was “most famous Americans in his- not the first time she had resisted tory” (excluding presidents) from on the bus, and numerous other http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/ “Columbus to the present day.” black Montgomerians had also Sixty percent listed Rosa Parks, who been evicted or arrested over the was second in frequency only to years for their resistance to bus Martin Luther King, Jr (1). There is segregation. For the next 381 days, perhaps no story of the civil rights faced with city intransigence, police movement more familiar to stu- harassment, and a growing White dents than Rosa Parks’ heroic 1955 Citizens’ Council, Rosa Parks, along- bus stand in Montgomery, Alabama side hundreds of other Montgomeri- and the year-long boycott that ans, worked tirelessly to maintain ensued. And yet, perhaps because the boycott. On December 20, 1956, at University of Birmingham on August 24, 2015 of its fame, few histories are more with the Supreme Court’s decision mythologized. In the fable, racial outlawing bus segregation, Mont- injustice was rampant in the South gomery’s buses were desegregated. (but not the rest of the nation). A Yet the story is even more quiet seamstress tired from a day’s multi-dimensional than previously work without thought refused to recognized.
    [Show full text]
  • American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa
    American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa Suite 700A, 15 East 40th Street, New York 17, N .Y./LE 2-1640-1 All communications to: Theodore E . Brown Director December 13, 1962 CALL COMMITTEE James Farmer Dorothy Height Martin Luther King, Jr. A . Philip Randolph Roy Wilkins Dear Sir Whitney Young The American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa held a three day conference on the Arden House Campus of Columbia University at Harriman, New York on November 23, 24, 25. This conference brought together 100 of America's top Negro organizational leaders for the purpose of analyzing The Role of the American Negro Community in U .S . Policy in Africa,. The work was principally in workshops and plenary sessions, preceded by nine background papers prepared prior to the conference by eminent authorities. We are enclosing a copy of the Resolutions Report of that conference in the hope that you might find its contents of interest . Sincerely yours, Theodore E. Brown Director Encl . CONFERENCE SPONSORS (partial list) ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC ./AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON AFRICA/AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AFRICAN CULTURE BROTHERHOOD OF SLEEPING CAR PORTERS, AFL-CIO/CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY/DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC. GANDHI SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS/IMPROVED BENEVOLENT PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS OF THE WORLD NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE/NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION/NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIA710N/NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE NEGRO AMERICAN LABOR COUNCIL/OPERATION CROSSROADS AFRICA, INC ./PHELPS-STOKES FUND SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE/STUDENT NON-VIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE/TRADE UNION LEADERSHIP COUNCIL UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO/WESTERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE.
    [Show full text]