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OLUME 94 - NUMBER 49
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS
Affirmative Action Back
Before Supreme Court
By George E. Curry
Editor-in-chief
George Curry Media
WASHINGTON - Affirmative action is back on the
front-burner at the U.S. Supreme Court, with the justices
hearing oral arguments Wednesday in Fisher v. Univer
sity of Texas-Austin for the second time in two years.
At issue is whether Texas’ affirmative action admis
sion program - which uses a variety of factors including
leadership, extracurricular activities, work experience,
socio-economic status and race - is unconstitutional be
cause it unlawfully denied a White woman admission to
the state’s flagship university.
(Continued On Page 2)
R. Kelly Bryant
R. Kelly Bryant
Dies at 98
R Kelly Bryant died Sun, Dec. 6, after a lengthy illness.
Bryant was born in Rocky Mount, Lifelong friend Dr. John H.
icas, described him as a man “that you could tell everything about”
any body. “He was a man of character,” Lucas said at n the celebra-
on of the 13th Amendment program at White Rock Baptist Church.
Bryant has been described as a “local historian” for his efforts to
ep the legacy of local. African Americans made to the community.
On June 21, 2014, the Durham County Library held a reception
or Bryant.
They described the reception as “The Durham County Library
inh Carolina Collection will host a reception in honor of local his-
ian and civil rights activist Mr. R, Kelly Bryant, Jr. at 3 p.m. on
turday, June 21, at the Main Library, 300. N. Roxboro Street. City
juncilman Eddie Davis wilf serve as emcee for the festivities and
ecial guests, including community leaders John Lucas and Nathan
irrett, will be present to speak about Mr. Bryant’s accomplishments.
Since moving to Durham in 1941, Bryant has been active in the
aking of Durham history and its preservation and study. He worked
elessly to bring equality to scouting during 37 years as a scoutmas-
. He served as secretary-treasurer of the Black Solidarity Com-
ittee for Community Improvement, which orchestrated the most
ccessful boycott of Durham stores in the city’s history. Bryant was
Iso the driving force behind obtaining a historic marker commemo
ting Durham’s 1957 Royal Ice Cream Parlor sit-in. He worked for
te North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company for more than 40
tars before retiring.
Bryant’s collection of approximately 2500 funeral programs, obit-
aries and other materials, housed in the North Carolina Collection,
a treasure trove of information for researchers. These materials
ovide an invaluable record of Durham’s black community.”
This program was sponsored by Durham Library Foundation.
The City of Durham named the Kelly Bryant Bridge Trail(A seg-
ent of the Pearson town. Rocky Creek Greenway). It is .03 miles in
ngth and spans Hwy 147. It begins at S. Alston Avenue and ends at
e corner of Lakeland and Mathison Streets. The lighted bridge was
:dicated Sept. 16, 2010.
The bridge brings two communities that were separated by Urban
enewal and East-West Expressway.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mrs. Artelia Bryant.
Sanders calls for accountability
of Chicago officials
By Lisa Lerer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie
inders said Dec. 4 that any official involved with suppressing the
lease of a video of the shooting death of a black teen by a white
hicago police officer should be “held accountable” and, if neces-
ry, resign.
Though Sanders never mentioned his name, the comments ap-
‘ared aimed at Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a long-time ally
Bill and Hillary Clinton and former White House chief of staff to
esident Barack Obama.
“Any elected official with knowledge that the tape was being
oppressed or improperly withheld should resign. No one should be
lielded by power or position,” Sanders said in a statement.
The October 2014 squad-car video showing police killing 17-year-
d Laquan McDonald first surfaced while Emanuel was running for
■election and seeking support among the city’s black community.
The recent release of the footage led to days of demonstrations in
hicago and prompted Emanuel to fire Police Superintendent Garry
cCarthy on Dec. 1.
Emanuel also announced Dec. 1 that he has created a task force for
dice accountability and the expanded use of body cameras.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago has said it is actively in
stigating the case. Lisa Madigan, the state’s attorney general, asked
e Justice Department on Dec. 1 to investigate whether the police
apartment’s practices violate federal and constitutional law.
Hillary Clinton, Sanders’ rival for the Democratic presidential
Pmination, has called for a federal investigation into the death but
is stopped short of asking Emanuel to resign.
At a campaign event Dec. 4 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Clinton said
'Manuel “loves Chicago and I’m confident he’s going to do every-
ing he can to get to the bottom of these issues and take whatever
easures are necessary to remedy them.”
Both candidates have been working hard to woo black voters
1 focusing on policies to reform the criminal justice system. Last
°nth, Clinton met with the mothers of several black men who were
died by police officers in Chicago.
Members of Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Show Choir react as President Barack Obama and First
Lady Michelle Obama join them in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, prior to a Christmas
Holiday reception, Dec. 4. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Justices take up meaning
of ‘one person, one vote’
By Mark Sherman
WASHINGTON (AP) - The growing political influence of Latinos could be slowed by a Supreme Court case over the constitutional re
quirement to make electoral districts roughly equal in population.
Two voters in Texas are asking the court, in arguments set for Dec. 8, to order a drastic change in the way Texas and all other states divide
their electoral districts. Rather than basing the maps on total population, including non-citizens and children who aren’t old enough to vote,
states must count only people who are eligible to vote, the challengers say. They argue that change is needed to carry out the principle of one
person, one vote.
They claim that taking account of total population can lead to vast differences in the number of voters in particular districts, along with
corresponding differences in the power of those voters.
A court ruling in their favor would shift more power to rural areas and away from urban districts in which there are large immigrant popula
tions that are ineligible to vote because they are too young or not citizens.
Civil rights groups note that Texas was the big winner in the 2010 census when it picked up four congressional seats, due mainly to growth
in its Hispanic population.
There’s only one explanation for the court fight, said Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal De
fense Fund. “The plaintiffs in Texas are interested in stemming the growth of Latino political power,” he said.
The legal challenge is being financed by Edward Blum, whose Project on Fair Representation also is behind a Texas affirmative action
challenge that will be argued before the high court on Dec. 9, as well as the lawsuit that led to the 2013 decision that wiped away a key ele
ment ofthe federal Voting Rights Act.
A second case on Tuesday’s agenda also involves the one-person, one-vote principle that the high court established in Reynolds v. Sims in
1964. The court held that a state’s legislative districts must have roughly equal numbers of people.
In a dispute from Arizona, the justices are weighing whether even small differences in population among districts are appropriate if they
are done for partisan advantage or to comply with the now-nullified advance-approval requirement in the Voting Rights Act.
Arizona voters who are challenging the decisions of an independent redistricting commission claim that Democrats benefited from the
legislative district boundaries. The commission denies that its maps were drawn to benefit Democratic candidates and maintains that the Su
preme Court has upheld small differences in population among districts.
The Texas case poses a question the justices have never answered: Must states count everyone, or just eligible voters? The court also might
say states can choose between them without violating the Constitution.
The case brought by Texas residents Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger highlights the difference in eligible voters in the mainly rural
districts outside Houston where they live, and those in a downtown Houston district with equal population, but at least 170,000 fewer people
eligible to vote.
Evenwel and Pfenninger argue that gives urban voters more sway than they have.
The only reference to population and political districts in the Constitution requires the use of the once-a-decade census as the basis for
divvying up congressional districts among the states, said Stanford University law professor and political scientist Nathaniel Persily. He said
the challengers are arguing that the only population count prescribed by the Constitution should not be allowed to be used to draw political
districts.
Demographers who support the challenge argue in court papers that other samplings of the population produce sufficiently detailed infor
mation that already is used in redistricting and focuses on the number of eligible voters. The annual American Community Survey reaches
3.5 million U.S. households each year and helps political line-drawers ensure that districts comply with the Voting.Rights Act, said Peter
Morrison, former director of the RAND Corp.’s Population Research Center, and other demographers.
But Persily said that while that survey has useful information, it is too imprecise for use in redistricting.
Two players who often end up on opposite sides of court disputes are allies in this case. Texas Republicans, who already dominate the
state government using total population, are defending their political line-drawing, in part as the way it’s been “done for decades.” They are
joined by the Obama administration.
(Continued On Page 3)