ACLU

Recent Articles

Blacks must not play double standards

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“My intention was not malicious, but I broke the ground rule that families are off limits. For that I am sorry.” — MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry. So, she is off the hook with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, ACLU and the rest of the “Let’s get Dan Zimmerman” crew? Can you imagine if one of the FOXNEWS conservatives, such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck, said the following on their TV shows? Let’s pretend the headlines would read “Rush Limbaugh in his creative wisdom was only (only, to minimize his actions) joking about a Romney family photo, which included their adopted African American grandson, Kieran James Romney. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Editorial, ACLU, Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Dan Zimmerman, Jesse Jackson, Kanye West, Kieran Romney

Federal government issues new guidelines on school discipline

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The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released federal guidance to assist schools in administering discipline in a nondiscriminatory way and to provide alternatives to overly punitive school discipline practices. In the guidance, the agencies have stated what we have known to be true for a long time: race discrimination in school discipline is a real problem. Students of color are punished more frequently and more harshly for the same infractions. Data from the 2011-2012 Civil Rights Data Collection provide a national snapshot of the reach of punitive school discipline policies. For example, Black students make up 44 percent of students suspended more than once and 36 percent of students expelled, though they represent only 15 percent of students. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Health, 89.9, 89.9 FM, 89.9 KMOJ, ACLU, african american news, african american newspaper, African Americans

Thanksgiving: lies, retail profits and victimizing the poor

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It never seems to get better, this society, this political, economic, social system we live in. This society, run by a hand full of very rich White men and their lackeys. It really is their world and we are left as proverbial squirrels trying to get nuts. While celebrating Thanksgiving I couldn’t help but think about the lies that come with this time of the year, the biggest of which is the so-called sanctity of the family. Folks in the U.S. are always talking about the glories of humanity and the family but it seems every chance they get they undermine it or destroy it. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Editorial, 89.9, 89.9 FM, 89.9 KMOJ, ACLU, african american news, african american newspaper, African Americans

Five million people of color made voting history in 2008

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Will voting trend continue in 2012? By Charles Hallman

Staff Writer

 

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) approximately five million more voters, including Blacks, Latinos and Asians, went to the polls in the historic 2008 presidential election in which America’s first Black president was elected. However, with the rise in voter suppression laws across the country since 2008, approximately five million voters are expected to be affected, says the ACLU. This includes Blacks and other people of color, the elderly, students, the poor and the disabled. “I don’t think it was any accident that after 2008 we found these huge gains in Blacks and Latinos in voting, as well as Asian Americans and Native Americans voting, then all of a sudden all these Republican-held [state] legislatures decided that voter fraud is a problem,” notes University of Minnesota Journalism Professor Catherine Squires. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, 2008, ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, anti-Obama bumper stickers, Asians, Black Minnesotans, Black president

Ritchie gets a real smack-down

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Mark “The Shark” Ritchie, Minnesota’s secretary of state, was pinned in Minnesota’s wrestling pay-per-view event: 1, 2, 3, and the sound of the referee slapping the mat as Ritchie’s shoulders were down for the count. It must have been excruciating. The Democrats took a serious beating August 27, when the Minnesota Supreme Court tossed mustard on Mark Ritchie’s attempt to rewrite the titles of both the voter ID and marriage amendment questions. This columnist, speaking at various conservative meetings, predicted the court would issue such a ruling. I also provided the idea that the only reason for the challenges was an attempt to delay the matter on the ballot in November, because the expectation was that the matter would not be heard as quickly as it was, leading to motions to delay the matter until the court would decide. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Editorial, ACLU, Lucky Rosenbloom, Mark Ritchie, Mark “The Shark” Ritchie, Minnesota Supreme Court, Sen. Warren Limmer, The League of Women Voters