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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2015
OLUME 94 - NUMBER 20
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10 people seeking
action on NC minimum
wage arrested
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - Another 10 people opposed to Republican state government policies were arrested
ay 13 inside the North Carolina Legislative Building, this time while demonstrating in support of
ising the minimum wage.
General Assembly police led away in plastic handcuffs the nonviolent protesters associated with
e Moral Monday movement, which has been holding regular rallies against GOP actions since 2013,
iding to 1,000 arrests. The group chanted and sang as they visited the closed-door offices of House
leaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger.
The demonstrators were to be charged with second-degree trespassing, according to General Assem-
y Police Chief Jeff Weaver. The building has a 5 p.m. closing time, and police escorted them out of
e building when they declined to leave. Twenty people were arrested two weeks ago when House and
mate members debating legislation inside their chambers said the activity of protesters in the adjoin-
g atrium made it difficult to conduct business.
Those arrested May 13 called attention to their effort to ask the legislature to place a statewide refer-
idum on the ballot to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour. More than 100 people
tended an outside rally late in the afternoon between the Legislative Building and the old Capitol
aiding to endorse the ballot question.
GOP legislative leaders have expressed no interest in raising the minimum wage. Some groups advo-
te for $15 per hour.
If Moore and Berger “are truly guided by the will of the people. If you honor the values of this de-
ocracy, ask the people if they believe we should raise the minimum wage,” said the Rev. Robin Tan-
r, a Unitarian Universalist pastor in Charlotte. “ASk the people if they can survive on $7.25 an hour.”
In advance of the rally, the state Republican Party accused the Moral Monday movement, which
led by the state N AACP but has dozens of partner groups, of being too closely aligned with labor
lions interested in eroding North Carolina’s right-to-work status.
Earlier May 13 more than 300 people attended a separate rally on a mall within the state government
implex urging state leaders to take action to protect eastern North Carolina communities - particularly
ose with high minority populations - from large-scale pork and chicken farms.
Local and national speakers said the industrial-scale farms disproportionate harm black and Hispanic
sidents living nearby with their odors and animal waste. Several groups filed a complaint last Sep
tember with the Environmental Protection Agency, saying way the state regulates the farms violates the
W64 Civil Rights Act. Hundreds of residents have also sued the industry for damages over the odor in
Ideral court.
Speakers said the rally was designed to remind state regulators and lawmakers that the farms’ neigh-
prs were still seeking help two decades after massive fish kills were caused by ruptured hog waste
goons.
“The people of this state own the waterways of the state, and they own fisheries of the state and they
in the air of the state,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, told the mid-
ly crowd. It doesn’t belong to the wealthy or pork industry executives, he added: “It belongs to the
tople.”
After the rally, North Carolina Pork Council CEO Deborah Johnson said in a release it was “absurd”
r anyone to claim the hog industry targets disadvantaged communities in siting farms and that opera-
inal improvements continue.
Most North Carolina hog farms are owned and operated by people who live in those communities,
irnson said: “They do not want to harm the air, the water or the land where their families live.”
‘Moral Monday ’ leader to
outline plans for future
RALEIGH (AP) - The leader of the “Moral Monday” protests used a speech Sat-
irday to outline plans for the movement’s future, including a mass march in July to
jincide with a federal hearing about North Carolina’s voter rights laws and intensive
kcal organizing at the county level.
The Rev. William Barber, president of the state chapter of the NAACP, told The As-
ociated Press that he woultd discuss the future of the movement, more broadly called
forward Together, when he spoke to the local NAACP chapter in Greensboro.
The mass march tied to voting rights will be held July 13 in Winston-Salem, where
le federal hearing is scheduled that same day. People from across the nation are being
sked to march, he said.
“The call is that North Carolina is our Selma,” Barber said. “People came to Selma
11965. We’re calling people to come to North Carolina in 2015.”
North Carolina’s new voting law, considered one of the toughest in the nation,
liminates same-day registration during early voting and voids ballots cast outside a
erson’s assigned precinct on Election Day. The law also reduces early voting to 10
ays and adds a voter identification requirement in 2016.
North Carolina legislators passed the law after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a case
alled Shelby v. Holder, ruled that parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 no longer
Pplied to states.
“We believe that our case, being the first and worst since Shelby, really is the
auge,” Barber said. “If we win, we push back on voter suppression. A loss will set us
ack years.”
The NAACP will be back in court at the end of August to argue against North Caro-
na’s redistricting plan. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a North Carolina
’ling that upheld Republican-drawn electoral districts for state and congressional
iwmakers.
State judges were told to consider whether lawmakers relied too much on race when
rey drew boundaries that increased minority representation in Raleigh while boosting
SOP fortunes.
Republicans have said they’re confident the courts will uphold the voting laws and
edistricting.
The group also is continuing its weekly Moral Monday protests at the General Assembly, although
'ey’re now held on Wednesdays. Other plans include more intensive organizing at the county level
Per a few Republicans, especially two-term Rep. Tim Moffitt of Buncombe County, lost to Democrats,
arber said.
Possible plans in 2016 include another poverty tour, like the one the NAACP undertook in 2012,
'here Barber and other activists visit poverty-stricken areas. The NAACP also plans to organize a
outh movement and citizenship schools in 2016, Barber said.
NCCU Held graduation ceremonies May 8-9. See photos from the event on Page 6.
Professor: comments on African
Americans were misunderstood
(AP) - A Duke University professor has re
sponded to criticism about online comments he
made regarding African Americans.
The Charlotte Observer reports political science
professor Jerry Hough made comments on The
New York Times website, where he compared
“the blacks” and “the Asians”, writing that Asians
“didn’t feel sorry for themselves, but worked
doubly hard.”
Hough received criticism for his comments on
Twitter and other social media sites. In an email
on Friday, Hough said that his comments were
misunderstood.
Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld distanced
the university from the professor’s comments, but
also pointed out academic freedom provisions in
Duke’s Faculty Handbook.
Hough had been prompted to write about a May
9 editorial in The New York Times on the Balti
more riots and underlying factors of segregation
and poverty.
Duke professor defends comments comparing
blacks, Asians
RALEIGH (AP) - A Duke University professor
criticized for his response to an editorial on racial
issues says he doesn’t believe that it’s racist to com
pare blacks and Asians.
Political science professor Jerry Hough said in
an email to The Associated Press on May 18 that he
frequently responds to columns and editorials. He
says he doesn’t think his response to a May 9 New
York Times editorial was racist.
In the response, Hough compared “the blacks”
and “the Asians.” He wrote in the online comment
section that Asians faced racism but “worked dou
bly hard.”
JERRY HOUGH (Photo Courtesy Duke
Univesity News Service
He said that subtlety is sometimes lost in short
pieces and that there’s a word limit on comments
on the newspaper’s website.
University officials say Hough has been on a
standard academic leave for the 2014-15 school
year.
Duke professor was on leave before racially
charged comments
Asian groups file complaint over Harvard admission practices
By Jesse J. Holland
WASHINGTON (AP) - An alliance of Asian American groups on May 15 filed a federal complaint
against Harvard University, saying that school and other Ivy League institutions are using racial quotas to
admit students other than high-scoring Asians.
More than 60 Chinese, Indian, Korean and Pakistani groups came together for the complaint, which
was filed with the civil rights offices at the Justice and Education departments. They are calling for an
investigation and say these schools should stop using racial quotas or racial balancing in admission.
“We are seeking equal treatment regardless of race,” said Chunyan Li, a professor and civil rights
activist, who said they’d rather universities use income rather than race in affirmative action policies.
Harvard says its approach to admissions has been found to be “fully compliant with federal law.” Of
ficials also say the number of Asian students admitted increased from 17.6 percent to 21 percent over the
last decade.
“We will vigorously defend the right of Harvard, and other universities, to continue to seek the edu
cational benefits that come from a class that is diverse on multiple dimensions,” said Robert luliano,
Harvard’s general counsel.
luliano pointed to the Supreme Court’s landmark 1978 decision in Regents of University of California
v. Bakke, which upheld affirmative action and specifically cited Harvard’s admissions plan as a “legally
sound approach” to admissions.
Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were sued last year by “Students for Fair
Admission,” a nonprofit group based in Austin, Texas, made up of recently rejected applicants who argue
that affirmative action policies should be banned at colleges across the nation.
The federal suits allege Harvard and UNC rely on race-based affirmative action policies that impact
admissions of high-achieving white and Asian American students. The Harvard lawsuit also contends that
the Ivy League university specifically limits the number of Asian Americans it admits each year.
Yukong Zhao, who organized the groups for the May 15 complaint, challenged Harvard to open its
admission books to prove that Asians were not purposefully being put at a disadvantage. “We want to help
this country move forward,” Zhao said.
Other Asian American groups and officials also released statements supporting affirmative action,
including two members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “Neither of us believes that any racial
or ethnic group should be subjected to quotas,” Commissioners Michael Yaki and Karen Narasaki said.
“Nor do we believe that test scores alone entitle anyone to admission at Harvard. Students are more than
their test scores and grades.”