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VOLUME 97 - NUMBER 28
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2018
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913
PRICE: 50 CENTS
NAACP on the Civil Rights
Front Lines: Trump’s War
against Civil Rights
By Derrick Johnson (President and
CEO of the NAACP)
BALTIMORE—Recently, the NAACP, alongside
members of the Congressional Black Caucus,
gathered on the steps of Capitol Hill to demand a halt
of the Trump administration’s continued attempts to
force Thomas Farr—a known racist with ties to the
late segregationist Senator Jesse Helms—into the
federal judgeship of North Carolina.
Located in eastern North Carolina, this federal
district under this judgeship has one of the highest
densities of African American voters than any other
part of the state, making Farr one of the worst
possible candidates that could be considered. Sadly,
instead of representing an anomaly, Farr instead
represents the archetype for federal judge nominees
put forth by the Trump Administration. Whether it’s
nominees that refuse to publicly support the Brown
v. Board decision that desegregated our public
schools or individuals with ties to known racist
organizations, what we are seeing are people whose
attitudes reflect norms more associated with the era
of Jim Crow than our time.
It cannot be ignored that Trump’s White House is
engaged in none other than a war against civil rights.
Though this is a battle we had hoped to have ended
by now, it is not a fight we are afraid of nor is it one
we will lose. We have waged war against the foes
of civil rights for over 109 years. We fought hard
against the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions to
the office of Attorney General and we will continue
to fight against Trump’s nearly all-white and
mostly male federal judge nominees. Mr. Sessions’
redirection of the Department of Justice (DOJ) away
from its civil rights commitment under the Obama
Administration to an agency that condones police
brutality and other racially based injustices is hardly
surprising. We knew he would push the DOJ to
withdraw its support for our legal cases against voter
suppression and he did. The simple point is that these
moves against civil rights cannot be divorced from
his boss—President Trump.
Over the past few months, the NAACP has sued
the Trump administration on its failure to properly
prepare for Census2020. This failure to prepare for the
Census means that communities of color, including
wealthy communities like Prince Georges County,
Maryland, our partner in the lawsuit, will likely be
once again undercounted. When this happens, our
communities lose out on political representation,
federal dollars, and resources that are rightfully ours.
We’ve also taken the fight to this administration on
the decision by Secretary of Education, Betsy De Vos
and the Department of Education to basically throw
civil rights under the bus and arbitrarily determine
that the department no longer has to investigate
complaints of discrimination in our schools. We are
also committed to ensuring that DeVos plans for
privatization, plans that would destroy our public-
school system, never come to completion.
There is a direct correlation between the racism
emanating from the White House and the expansion
of attacks on the humanity of persons of color. This
is clear not only from Trump’s poisonous rhetoric
that disparages people, cultures, and nations, but
Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO
of the NAACP, says that there is a direct
correlation between the racism emanating
from the White House and the expansion of
attacks on the humanity of persons of color.
also in the policies that emanate from his office.
The infection of blatant racist speech and
behavior began the day after Trump was elected
and it has continued to spread, giving inspiration
to closet bigots and encouraging implicit and
explicit racial biases that pervade from the golf
course to the coffee shop and every space in
between.
During our 109th Annual Convention July
14-18 in San Antonio, Texas, the NAACP will
bring together some of our nation’s most brilliant
minds, activists, and legislators, as well as
powerful voices from the hip-hop community to
map out the agenda for moving forward. Our goal
is to unite our voices into a powerful symphony
that resonates with communities of color and
inspires them to join us in standing against
government-sponsored hate. This year’s theme is
simply “Defeat Hate—Vote.”
We’ve extended an invitation to President
Trump to attend our convention and once again he
has declined. His refusal to address the nation’s
premier civil rights organization and its hundreds
of thousands of advocates is, by default, a refusal
to speak to the entirety of the Black Community.
Regardless, we remain “unshook” and “woke,”
in terms of the challenges we face and must
overcome in this administration and we’re up for
the fight.
All we ask of you is to join us to "Make
Democracy Work." Pledge to vote by texting
NAACP to 40649.
Derrick Johnson is the President and CEO
of the NAACP. .Follow him and the NAACP on
Twitter at @DerrickNAACP and @NAACP.
Roberts may hold key vote as
Supreme Court moves right
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice John Roberts is the Supreme Court’s new man in the middle. It’s
just that the middle may have moved well to the right.
The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy means Roberts probably will be the conservative justice
closest to the court’s four liberals, allowing him to control where the panel comes down in some of its
most contentious cases.
Roberts will be the justice who determines “how far they go and how fast they go,” said Washington
lawyer John Elwood.
Kennedy played a similar role for many years - his votes on gay rights, abortion, the death penalty, the
environment, voting rights and affirmative action basically determined the outcome of cases on which the
court was divided between liberals and conservatives.
Roberts has typically been to Kennedy’s right. He did not endorse a constitutional right to marry for
same-sex couples. He dissented when the court struck down Texas abortion clinic restrictions in 2016.
The chief justice also was in dissent from the court’s first major climate change decision in 2007, when
it held that the Environmental Protection Agency could regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases as air pollutants.
New cases on any of those issues could be before the court soon and, even if Roberts is not prepared
to overrule major Supreme Court precedents, he could be in position to cut back on environmental
protections as well as gay rights and abortion rights.
Smaller steps might be in keeping with Roberts’ preference for avoiding major divides where possible,
and attracting votes from both conservatives and liberals. The 63-year-old chief justice may be in no
hurry to move quickly, as he could be on the bench another 15 to 20 years.
“Chief Justice Roberts, more than any other justice on the court, believes in narrow rulings that attract
broad majorities, answering no more than necessary to resolve a given case,” Jonathan Adler, a professor
at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, wrote on the Volokh Conspiracy legal blog.
In one sense, the Supreme Court’s immediate future could look a lot like the term that just ended.
Roberts seemed firmly in control of a court that overwhelmingly went conservative in divided cases,
including upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban, striking a blow at public-sector labor unions,
limiting workers’ rights to band together to complain about pay and affirming Ohio’s aggressive efforts
to purge its voting rolls.
(Continued On Page 10)
Newly Elected Mayor London Breed
Pressed on Every Side...
But Not Defeated
London Breed Overcomes Adversity to Become
San Francisco s First Black Female Mayor
By Jeffrey L. Boney (NNPA
Newswire Political Analyst)
Politics can be a dirty game.
It can oftentimes bring out the
worst in people. It isn’t for the
faint ofheart.
On the flip side, however,
politics gives us an opportunity
to witness individuals rise above
the negative elements usually
associated with politics, as well
as the other challenges they have
endured to help them make their
mark in history.
Such a feat was witnessed
on June 13, as San Francisco
Board of Supervisors President
London Breed, 43, overcame
tremendous adversity and
challenges to become the first
African American woman to
become mayor of San Francisco.
The historic win by Breed
also makes her only the second
woman in San Francisco’s
history to become mayor and the
only female mayor in any of the
top 15 most populous cities in
the United States.
This is a significant victory
for African American female
candidates. It also speaks to the
power of establishing a broad
coalition of voters, including
targeting a large percentage of
Black voters as a base.
While San Francisco has a
population of roughly 870,000,
it also has one of the smallest
percentages of Blacks living
there among all of the major U.S.
cities—less than 6 percent.
Over 50 percent of the voting
electorate came out to vote
in this historic election, with
a large percentage of Black
voters choosing Breed as their
candidate for mayor.
As a result of her historic
win, Breed will now serve out
the remainder of the term of
Mayor Ed Lee, whose sudden
death as a result of a heart attack
in December created the need
for the June 5 th special election.
Breed will serve until to 2020,
and will undoubtedly run again
for a full four-year term.
After the general election,
which was held on June 6, Breed
found herself with a significant
first-choice ballot lead over
her closest opponents. She led
former state Senator Mark Leno,
who is White, by nearly 13 points
and her colleague on the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors,
Jane Kim, who is Asian, by over
12 points.
Because San Francisco does
not use a traditional voting
system, but rather a unique
ranked-choice voting system,
Breed and her supporters had to
wait eight days before finding
out the historic results.
To get a clearer understanding
of what Breed went through to
become mayor of San Francisco,
you have to better understand the
ranked-choice voting . system.
Basically, when San Francisco
voters cast their ballot they get
to rank their top three choices for
mayor. After all the first-choice
votes are tallied, whoever comes
in last place gets eliminated and
that candidate’s supporters get
(Continued On Page 10)
Joe Jackson Dead at 89
By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor)
Joseph Jackson, the patriarch of the Jackson family of superstars,
has died.
Family members said Jackson died at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday at a
hospital in Las Vegas.
Jackson was 89.
After his own failed musical aspirations, Joseph Jackson help
launch his children to international stardom in the 1960s and 1970s.
He managed the Jackson 5 before the group left Motown and was
rebranded as the Jacksons.
Ultimately, the patriarch is responsible for the emergence of the
biggest star in pop music history, the late King of Pop, Michael
Jackson.
Last week, the family announced that Jackson was terminally ill
following a long battle with cancer.
“He’s very frail. It’s any day now,” Jermaine Jackson told reporters
shortly before his father died.