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a Crates 92 - NUMBER 30 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2013 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 Obama opens up about race, Trayvon Martin trial By Darlene Superville WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama kept his own counsel after the six women deciding whether eorge Zimmerman deserved prison time for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin delivered their verdict releas- g just a written statement appealing for calm the day after the ex-neighborhood watchman had been cleared of 1 charges. But the president was quietly keeping tabs on the country's response to the outcome of the racially charged trial irticularly in the black community. He discussed it with his family. He was ready to address it during a series of terviews with Spanish-language TV stations earlier in the week, if asked. He wasn't. By July 18. aides said Obama was telling top advisers the country needed to hear from him. not in a way the hite House would script it but in a frank discussion of his views and experiences as a black man in America. On July 19. he stepped up to the podium in the White House briefing room and delivered a rare and extensive flection on race by a president who has shied away from the issue even as he is constantly dogged by it. “When Trayvon Martin was first shot. I said that this could have been my son." Obama said* “Another way of ying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." For Obama, the product of black-white parentage who has written about his own struggles with racial identity it has kept the subject at arm s length in office, his remarks represented an unusual embrace of his standing as e nation s first black president and of the longing by many black Americans for him to give voice to their experi- ices. “When you think about why. in the African-American community at least, there's a lot of pain around what ippened here. I think it s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue rough a set of experiences and a history that... doesn't go away," he said. "There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed hen they were shopping in a department store. That includes me." Obama said. (Continued On Page 3) PRESIDENT OBAMA Blacks Who Stand Their Ground Often Imprisoned By Zenitha Prince Special to the NNPA from the AFRO ’he recent acquittal of neighborhood watchman George Zimmer- in the shooting death of 17-year-old unarmed Trayvon Martin led to intense scrutiny of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law and lar "no retreat" self-defense laws and their impact on people of r. I think the Trayvon Martin case highlighted the racial inequali- that exist in American society." said Brendan Fischer, general isel ot the Center for Media and Democracy. "It is a symbol of the American justice system devalues the lives of people of col- And], Stand Your Ground' has embedded a lot of these injustices the system. Statistics have shown its application has been any- g but equitable." upported by the National Rifle Association. "Stand Your Lind" was passed by the Florida legislature in 2005. The measure ed age-old self-defense principle on its head by allowing persons se deadly force to defend themselves, without first trying to re- . it they have what they consider a reasonable belief that they a threat. he law's template was then adopted by the American Legislative lange Council, a nonprofit organization made up of corporations, dations and legislators that advance federalist and conservative ic policies, authorities said. Since Florida passed the law. similar sures have been introduced in one form or another in about 30 S - usually those with state legislatures dominated by Republi- That law gives law-and-order activists, right-wingers and viei- :s an arguable basis for defense and opens up a pathway for un dispositions ot justice because it allows civilians to shoot first make certain determinations later." said Dwight Pettit. 67. a re- ned black attorney in Baltimore. ettit drew comparisons to police-involved shootings of African iricans when the officers make claims such as "I was in fear for ife," or “I thought he was reaching for his gun.” and are exoner- He discusses the phenomenon in his soon-to-be-released book Jer Color of Law." Blacks don't fare well with these laws at all,” Pettit said. "It's her lessening of protection for African Americans." n analysis conducted by the Tampa Bay Tinies last year showed defendants in Florida who employ the "Stand Your Ground" de- - are more successful when the victim is black. In its examina- ot 200 applicable cases, the Tinies found that 73 percent of those killed a black person were acquitted, compared to 59 percent of : who killed a white. imilarly, an analysis of Supplemental Homicide Reports sub- id by local law enforcement to the FBI between 2005 and 2010 instrates that in cases with a black shooter and a white victim, ate ot justifiable homicide rulings is about 1 percent. However, ; shooter is white and the victim is black, it is ruled justified in et-cent of cases in non-Stand Your Ground states. In Stand Your ind states, the rate is even higher - almost 17 percent, accordins’ hn Roman of the Urban Institute. he trends could partly explain Zimmerman's verdict, some lesial rts said. While his defense team did not invoke the law. Circuit t Judge Debra Nelson introduced the principle in her instruc- to the jury. f George Zimmerman was not engaged in an unlawful activity vas attacked in any place where he had a right to be, he had no to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force force, including deadly force, if he reasonably believed that it lecessaryto do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to him- ir another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felonv." aid in her instructions to the jury of one Hispanic and five white en. 'ontinued On Page 3) Tampa, Fla. Attorney Kamilah Perry points out unfairness of Florida laws (Photo courtesy of Florida Courier). Pitt schools segregation lawsuit in federal court By The Associated Press GREENVILLE (AP) - Nearly 60 years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in public schools, lawyers are set to square off in a federal courtroom in eastern North Carolina over whether the effects of that Jim Crow past still persist. A trial was to begin July 22 in U.S. District Court in Greenville in the case of Everett v. Pitt County Board of Education. A group of black parents represented by the UNC Center for Civil Rights will ask the court to reverse a 20U student assignment plan they say effectively resegregated several schools in the district. Lawyers for the Pitt schools will ask a judge to rule that the dis trict has achieved "unitary status." meaning the "vestiges of past discrimination have been eliminated to the extent practicable." The designation would end federal oversight of the Pitt schools, in place since the 1960s. Thisxase is the first of its kind brought in North Carolina since 1999. More than 100 school districts across the South are still under federal court supervision. The decision in the Pitt case is expected to be widely followed by those other school systems. Mark Dorosin, the managing attorney for the UNC Center for Civil Rights, said the case is a critical test of the continued viability ot one of the most fundamental principles of school desegregation: That school districts still under court order must remedy the lasting vestiges of racial discrimination. These districts can t just rely on the passage of time and wait out these orders, they must develop and implement policies that rem edy the continuing legacy of racial disparities in all aspects of their schools. Doronin said last week. "Once a district is declared unitars and the desegregation order is lifted, although school administrators can still utilize race conscious measures to ensure diverse schools, few are willing to do so. The sad reality is that, as a result, many districts quickly resegregate." Nearly half of the more than 23.000 students in the Pitt County schools are black, while about 38 percent are white, according to sta tistics from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. In late 2010. (Continued On Page 3) Trayvon Martin’s friend gets scholarship offer By Suzanne Gamboa WASHINGTON (AP) - While some looked at mur der trial witness Rachel Jeantel and saw either a defiant young woman or a victim. Tom Joyner looked at her and saw potential. The nationally syndicated radio personality and phi lanthropist says he was touched by Jeantel. who spent two days testifying in the trial of George Zimmerman about her last conversation with her friend Trayvon Martin. Miss Rachel Jeantel In fact. Joyner was so moved that he has offered to pay for Jeantel to attend the historically black college of her choice. And she's accepted. Joyner explained the offer in an open letter to Jeantel and "all the young people in this country who. through no fault of their own. find yourself living in underserved communities and not yet figuring out your way in this world." TOM JOYNER (Continued On Page 3)
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