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Republicans Put Steele ‘On A Leash’

lholmes — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:59:07 +0000

According to Politico.com Republican Party Chair Michael Steele does not know his place.

The political website reports a heated meeting took place between Steele and some of the Republican leadership in Congress in which Steele was told to keep his nose out of public policy and focus on fundraising.

To make it plain, he “was placed on a short leash, ” according to a Republican aide who was at the meeting.

Steele, the former Lt. Governor of Maryland is the first African-American to run the Republican National Committee.

Political bloggers at BlackVoices are not surprised at all about the way Republicans treat Steele.

Matter of fact there has been rumbling at the start by some GOP officials that Steele will be removed from office if the GOP does not do well in the 2010 elections.

The FreshXpress blog asks if Steele a classic example of when “keepin’ it token goes wrong,” or is he a competent politician who is simply being undermined by his own party?

Pretty good question to ask.

‘Negro’ Classification Nixed from Fla. School Booklet

ewiley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:19:16 +0000

A White 15-year-old student at a high school near Miami started a petition to get rid of the classification “Negro” on a racial background form, saying that he found the term “offensive.” Jake Edri, a 10th-grader at Deerfield Beach High School, said he was afraid that students would feel as if using “Negro” was OK after seeing it in the Broward County public school booklet, so he ad a friend began the tedious task of collecting signatures. The 200 names they gathered before Tuesday’s School Board meeting paid off. “I figured, if I bring this up to the School Board, I can do something about it,” he Jake said. “I attend an ethnically diverse school,” said Jake. “I and other students have found page 9 of the code of conduct offensive.” Page 9 of the code of student conduct booklet (titled “Required Data From Parents”) asked two questions: “Is your child Hispanic or Latino?” and “What is your child’s race?” Under the race category is Black or African American. It goes on to say that “A person having origins in any Black racial groups in Africa. Terms such as `Haitian’ or `Negro’ can be used in addition to `Black or African American.’” Parents were required to sign the form and return it to the school. The district collects the information in compliance with federal guidelines to help track changing demographics and determine the best way to distribute school funding. Jake wasn’t the only person irked by the term “Negro.” Broward County Schools Superintendent Jim Notter said he “got a call from a parent and asked his staff to investigate. The county sent a memo to principals last week urging them to nix the language. “I couldn’t pull 250,000 books back to completely redo one page, but we gave clear direction to the principals,” Notter said.

Seven Russians Sentenced for Hate-Murders

hbarber — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:17:50 +0000

Seven Russians sentenced for hate-murders. As investigators probe last week’s stabbing of an African-American exchange student in Russia, authorities sentenced seven young men who murdered 19 people in a series of hate crimes. Their prison terms were handed down Monday amid a dramatic rise in racist assaults, xenophobia and neo-Nazism in Russia, The Associated Press reports. The hate group’s leaders, Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky, got 10 years – the maximum possible term since they were minors at the time of the attacks in 2006 and 2007 – and another man was sentenced to 20 years; four others got between six to 12 years, Moscow City Court spokeswoman Anna Usachyova said. The racist attacks appeared to peak earlier this month with the gruesome beheading of a Tajik migrant worker near Moscow, AP reported. Prosecutors say that the murderers preyed upon Central Asians, Caucasians and other non-Slavs with distinctly dark skin or Asian features. The group would attacked their victims on the streets and in pedestrian tunnels with hammers and other weapons, and they often videotaped their attacks and posted the clips online, AP reports. Meanwhile, the mother of 18-year-old Stanley Robinson, the Black student stabbed in the southern Russian city of Volgograd dismissed the notion that his attack was an act of random violence. She said she believes racism was the motivating factor. Stanley Robinson is in grave but stable condition in a Russian hospital, according to AP.

National News: Baltimore’s Mayor Donating Her Salary; Designers Make Web Browser For African Americans

hbarber — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:10:14 +0000

Under pressure, Baltimore’s mayor is donating her salary. Facing outrage from recession-weary Baltimore residents, and criticism from union leaders, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said on Thursday that she will donate her $3,700 raise to a “city government charity.” “I woke up this morning and said, ‘You know what? It is not worth it,’” Dixon said to Baltimore reporters during an impromptu news conference. She said she hopes the decision will help “get things moving forward and stay focused on the bigger plan.” The mayor plans to announce which charity will get the money on Friday, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Designers make a Web browser for African Americans. A group of entrepreneurs recently launched Blackbird, a Web browser based on Mozilla’s Firefox that is designed specifically for African Americans. The browser was developed by a team of African Americans to allow viewers to connect to the African American community. While still in beta testing mode, the Browser includes pre-installed links to various Black-focused news sites, forums and even something called “Black Search.” It has links to social networks, email and popular Web content. To see it for yourself, go here.

Pastor Joel Osteen’s Wife Wins In Court

thenry — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:07:41 +0000

She was accused of roughing up a flight attendant

It took a jury just a couple hours Thursday to kick a flight attendant to the curb who had accused the wife of mega-preacher Joel Osteen of assaulting her in a racist rant over a first-class seat. The case centered on Sharon Brown, an African-American attendant with Continental Airlines, who sued Victoria Osteen for $405,000, claiming that Osteen slammed her against a bathroom door, elbowed her in her breast and attempted to storm the cockpit during a December 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo. Brown’s claims were supported by another flight attendant, Maria Johnson, who is White. Johnson testified earlier in the week that she believes race was a factor because Victoria Osteen told her that she did not want to deal with Brown or the other African-American flight attendant during the trip. But the 12 jurors didn’t buy the story, perhaps agreeing more with Victoria Osteen’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, who characterized the charges as nothing more than a money-grab. “I’m glad it’s over,” Victoria Osteen said afterward. “I expected it because it’s the truth and I know the truth always stands firm.” Brown expressed disappointment. “We gave the truth to the jury,” she said. “We are happy we had an opportunity to try our case.” Victoria and Joel Osteen co-pastor the Lakewood Church in Houston, which draws 42,000 each week at a football stadium.

Health News: Black Lawmakers Want Menthol Cigarette Restrictions

thenry — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:39:09 +0000

Black lawmakers want menthol cigarette restrictions
The Congressional Black Caucus is calling for changes in the House tobacco-regulation bill. The lawmakers are demanding that the legislation place restrictions on menthol cigarettes, the type of cigarettes African-American smokers prefer, reports The New York Times. The 43-member caucus is targeting a provision in the bill that would ban candy-, fruit- and spice-flavored cigarettes but specifically does not touch menthol. Over the past few weeks former Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan and Black anti-smoking groups have spoken out about the provision. Rep. Donna M. Christensen, the Congressional delegate from the United States Virgin Islands who heads the Black caucus’s Health Task Force, said the caucus was working with Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who is House bill’s sponsor, to address concerns about menthol. “We are very aware and gravely concerned about the disproportionate incidence of lung cancer in the African-American community and, along with so many minority health experts, have long been concerned about the role menthol may play,” Christensen said in an e-mail to a Times reporter. The representative did not say exactly how the proposed changes would be worded, but did say the proposed changes would be based on research and reporting about menthol and to give the Food and Drug Administration explicit authority to ban menthol. Some lawmakers had indicated that a menthol cigarette provision might be a deal breaker. Cigarette companies have been working to keep menthol cigarettes out of the bill, which would place cigarettes regulation under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials have raised concerns about the possibility that menthol cigarettes might increase tobacco addiction and possibly cancer rates among Black smokers.