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)LUME 92-NUMBER 25 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2013 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 In Trayvon Martin case, history’s ghosts linger By Jesse Washington Focus on the details, and the cases seem very different. One was ed by virulent white racists, the other by a part-Hispanic neigh- hood watchman who insists he faced a vicious attack. One was ighted down and dumped in a river; in the other case, police were led by the shooter himself. Six decades and myriad details separate the deaths of Emmett I and Trayvon Martin, two black teenagers felled by violence. Yet the way America reacted to Martin’s death - and the issues that toed afterward - his case has created a national racial conversation nuch the same manner as the saga of Till, infamously murdered in 55 for flirting with a white woman. Plenty of people do not see the Martin case as about race at all. t for others who study America’s racial past and present, each kill- ; is a defining moment for its era - a fraught microcosm of what we and what we are trying to become. “Trayvon Martin is today’s race case,” says Christopher Darden, a isecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, another defining Ameri- 1 moment. “I don’t know that anybody can really sit there and jectively look at the evidence. It arrives with so many different ids of emotions.” Just as the Till saga remains a searing archetype of the brutal seg- jation that gave rise to the civil rights movement, the Martin case jtures the ambiguous meanings of race in America at a time when th the president and the lowest segments of society are black. (Continued On Page 7) City Council member A.J. Howard Clement, III onated his papers to the North Carolina Collection f the Durham County Public Library. See photos on age 2) NC Senate passes gun expansion, new safeguards The rap group Chuck D and Public Enemy received the key to the City of Durham prior to their concert June 16 at DPAC. From left to right are: Brother James, Malik Muhammad, Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell, Chuck D, Professor Griff and Min. Paul Scott. Racial Justice Act repeal heads to NC Gov. McCrory By Chris Kardish RALEIGH (AP) - A bill that Republicans say is designed to clear the way for executions to resume in North Carolina is headed to Gov Pat McCrory’s desk after receiving final legislative approval June 13. The Senate approved changes made by the House to a bill that repeals the Racial Justice Act, a landmark 2009 law that allows convictec murderers to reduce a death sentence to life in prison if they can prove that race played a major role in their cases. The law had already been weakened last year by Republicans, who successfully pushed to restrict the use of statistics to prove bias and require other forms o1 evidence. The bill also protects medical professionals who assist in an execution from disciplinary action, but the provision repealing a majoi Democratic initiative consumed most of the debate as the measure moved through the legislature. Republicans argue the 2009 law allows virtually any death-row inmate to contest a conviction on racial grounds, which has led to 152 of 156 felons awaiting execution to appeal. They say that even white convicts can prompt an appeal merely by showing a higher frequency of capital cases in their jurisdictions involve people of their race, and plenty of avenues already exist to legitimately contest a conviction on racial grounds. . The true intent, Republicans say, is to force a de facto moratorium on the death penalty for murderers fairly convicted through jury trials “RJA has only been able to be used in cases we know we have a cold-blooded, first-degree murderer who attempts to call the Districi Attorney a racist and himself the victim,” said Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover and the bill’s lead sponsor. Republicans have veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. Democrats argue there’s plenty of evidence that those juries are racially biased. They cite a Michigan State University study of North Carolina that found evidence of prosecutors striking black j urors from capital cases at more than twice the rate of others over two decades Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, said a majority of the law’s original backers support capital punishment but saw a system thai doesn’t provide adequate justice for all. “In my mind it’s really a sad, shameful day in North Carolina to turn our backs on our commitment to eliminate racial bias from cour rulings in capital cases,” he said. McCrory opposed the Racial Justice Act during his 2012 campaign. He called the Racial Justice Act “a lousy bill at a gubernatoria debate last fall. “By the way, it’s not just African Americans who are using the Racial Justice Act to delay the death penalty, it’s everyone ... and tha shows the joke that it’s become,” he said. “And it’s just a delay tactic that’s costing the taxpayer a lot of money.” Kim Genardo, McCrory’s communications director, wouldn’t say whether or not he will sign the bill. “When and if the Racial Justice Act repeal comes our way, the Governor will have ten days to make his decision,” she said in an email Senate Democrats discuss By Chris Kardish RALEIGH (AP) - A measure adding more places to where people in carry or store concealed firearms in North Carolina and repeal- 1g a requirement to get a license to buy a handgun passed the North arolina Senate June 14. The Senate measure has accumulated more opponents as it has roadened the scope of a bill that already passed the House. The bill Iso includes a number of tougher gun-related penalties and requires )cal clerks of court to report mental health findings to a national riminal background-check database. The enhanced reporting requirements earned the approval of the forth Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, but the organization opposes le Senate version as a whole because it ends a law that requires eople to obtain a license from a local sheriff to buy a handgun. At- irney General Roy Cooper, who also opposes the repeal, says sher- ? fs currently check applicants for citizenship, convictions for violent rime and other issues. Gregg Stahl, the Sheriffs’ Association’s lobbyist, said federal ackground checks at gun stores aren’t adequate in the state because te reporting requirements that would be required under the bill have een optional, so the state needs sheriffs to help screen gun buyers. . Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, said the law dates to the Jim Crow ra and was reportedly used to prevent African-Americans from ch aining guns. He also says the five-year licenses allow people who are ater convicted of crimes that would bar them from gun ownership to ise the permit to obtain weapons. Democrats generally opposed the bill, saying it oversteps popular opinion and encourages more gun violence. Republicans say the law argets illegal gun use while promoting the Second Amendment for vell-trained and law-abiding owners. The Senate’s changes allow concealed-carry permit holders to tore weapons in locked cars on the campus of any public univer ity or school. It also clarifies state law to say permit holders can :arry their firearms on trails, other passive recreation areas and play grounds. It keeps the House provision allowing concealed-carry, permit tolders to take weapons to places where alcohol is served or events hat charge admission as long as an owner doesn’t expressly forbid it. need for ‘black agenda’ By Suzanne Gamboa WASHINGTON (AP) - The sole Democratic African-American senator cast doubt on the need for a “black agenda” from the president and on its chances of passage in Congress during a Democratic forum with largely African-American reporters June 13. Massachusetts Sen. William “Mo” Cowan said the issues that black Americans are concerned about are the same as those causing white Americans concern, although to different degrees. “I think he has to stick with the agenda and what he thinks is going to move the country forward,” Cowan said referring to President Barack Obama. Cowan is temporarily filing the seat vacated by John Kerry who is now secretary of state. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina also is African-American. Since his election in 2008 as the first black president, Obama has been hounded by questions about how well his administration has addressed the needs of the black community. He has had some vocal detractors but also supporters, like Cowan. Cowan and other senators participating in the forum organized by the Democratic Steering Outreach Committee, agreed that if Obama had sent a package of legislation as a “black agenda,” its chance for passage would be slim. “It would not be dead on arrival in the Senate. It would be dead on arrival in the House,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. On the other hand, Obama has had some pieces of legislation that could positively impact black Americans, such as the Affordable Care Act intended to provide access to affordable health care, Cowan said. “I think once we come to grips with our budgetary situation and dealing with those realities, getting out of this sequester nonsense, it will go a long way to improve not just the lives of black Americans, but all Americans,” Cowan said. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said entrepreneurship, education and unemployment in the black community, whether called part of the black or American agenda, do deserve more attention. Separately on June 14, the Urban Institute issued a report revisiting issues raised in a landmark 1965 report that became known as the Moynihan report, named for then-Assistant Labor Secretary Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The report focused on the roots of poverty in black America and blamed the growth of single-mother families, causing controversy. The study notes the black community still is struggling with the same problems of joblessness and poverty. Unlike Moynihan, the Urban Institute study said the issues faced by black Americans cannot be solved only by raising more children in two-parent families. Instead, broader strategies are needed to address criminal justice policies, residential segregation and concen trated poverty, the state of public schools in black communities and lingering discrimination. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Congress needs to be prepared “to act legislatively to deal with the likely consequences of a federal government that will be more reined in” should the Supreme Court strike down protections against discrimination in the Voting Rights Act and prohibit colleges from considering race in admissions. “There is, in my view a black agenda because there is a very real experience of ongoing discrimination going on in this country,” Coons said.
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