The Greene County Democrat

Month: September 2025

  • Newswire : The violence Trump claims to fear occurs mostly in red states

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

    Donald Trump continues to attack cities and jurisdictions heavily populated by minorities, often painting them as crime-ridden and unsafe despite evidence showing overall declines in many categories of crime. Nowhere is this tension clearer than in Washington, D.C., where residents face relentless scrutiny from Trump while Red States — many with far less diversity — quietly struggle with some of the highest murder rates in the nation.
    The District of Columbia recorded the nation’s highest murder rate in 2023 at 39 per 100,000 residents, with 265 murders. Despite local efforts to address violence, Trump routinely depicts the city as unlivable. To many residents, the greater tragedy is not just the crime itself but the reality that the capital of the United States now looks like an occupied third-world country, with National Guard and federal troops visibly stationed throughout the city.

    Washingtonians, who have already been denied full congressional representation, have become political pawns in Trump’s rhetoric. What Trump avoids mentioning is that several Republican-led states top the list of the deadliest places. Louisiana had a murder rate of 14.5 per 100,000, recording 663 killings in 2023. New Mexico, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas — all governed by Republicans in recent years — also posted murder rates higher than 9 per 100,000 residents.

    In Missouri, another GOP stronghold, the murder rate stood at 9.1 per 100,000 with 564 murders, disproportionately concentrated in cities like St. Louis and Kansas City. South Carolina, Alaska, and Georgia each ranked high, while Mississippi, often touted by conservatives as a bastion of “traditional values,” has at times led the nation in murder rates. Meanwhile, states with larger minority populations that Trump targets — including Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Maryland — often have lower murder rates than many of these Red States. Illinois, home to Chicago, recorded a rate of 6.56 per 100,000, below Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
    Critics argue this is no accident. Trump’s fixation on minority-heavy jurisdictions is part of a long-standing strategy of scapegoating urban areas with large Black and Latino populations, while sidestepping the systemic problems facing states where his support is strongest. “Murders were far more common in [Mississippi] than they were nationwide,” the World Population Review reported, with Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas following close behind. The report’s numbers show that while Trump fixates on minority-heavy cities, the deadliest conditions are playing out in Red States that rarely draw his attention. “Murders are disproportionately concentrated in urban areas, especially in New Orleans and Baton Rouge,” the researchers concluded.

  • Newswire : NAACP sues Missouri and Texas over Congressional maps

     

    By: Blackmansstreet Today

     

    The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, alongside the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP, filed a lawsuit against the State of Missouri to stop an unlawful attempt to convene a special legislative session aimed at redrawing political maps in ways that would diminish the voting power of Black state residents. 

    The NAACP has already sued Texas over its new unconstitutional map. NAACP charged that Texas would eliminate five Democratic congressional seats. The NAACP filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, arguing the new congressional map “was enacted with an impermissible and controlling discriminatory purpose based on race.” It names Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson as plaintiffs.

    The NAACP’s lawsuit is one of the first lawsuits against the new congressional map. Plaintiffs in other ongoing lawsuits against Texas congressional maps have also filed supplemental filings that argue the new maps are discriminatory as well, according to the Texas Tribune.

    In the case of Missouri, “This case is about defending democracy and protecting the voice of every voter,” said NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson. “The Missouri legislature’s attempt to force a rushed, unconstitutional redistricting process in a special session is a blatant effort to silence Black voters and strip them of their fundamental rights. We will not stand by while elected officials manipulate the system to weaken our power and representation.”

    The NAACP’s filing requests immediate judicial intervention to block the governor and legislative leaders from moving forward with the proposed special session. The lawsuit underscores that such actions violate both the Missouri Constitution and the principles of fair representation guaranteed to all citizens.

    “Our communities already face systemic barriers to full participation in our democracy,” said Nimrod T. Chapel Jr., President of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP. “This attempt to redraw maps behind closed doors and outside of regular order is nothing more than an attack on Black Missourians’ ability to choose leaders who reflect and respect their needs. We will use every tool at our disposal to stop it.”

    “The NAACP remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring equal representation and safeguarding the rights of Black voters nationwide. We fight to ensure that democracy works for all.”

  • Newswire : Nation’s report card shows drop in Reading, Math, and Science scores

    Black students in high school class

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

     

    The latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveal troubling declines in academic performance among U.S. students, with twelfth-graders posting lower scores in reading and mathematics and eighth-graders showing setbacks in science.

    In reading, the 2024 national average for twelfth graders was three points lower than in 2019, and ten points lower than when the assessment was first administered in 1992. Scores fell across nearly all percentiles, with only the highest-performing students at the 90th percentile holding steady. The percentage of students performing at or above the NAEP Proficient level declined to 35 percent in 2024, compared to 37 percent in 2019, while 32 percent of students scored below the NAEP Basic level.

    Mathematics results tell a similar story. The average score for twelfth graders in 2024 dropped three points from 2019 and stood three points lower than in 2005, the year the current trend line began. Scores declined across nearly all percentiles except the 90th. Just 24 percent of twelfth graders scored at or above Proficient in 2024, while 40 percent scored below Basic, up from 37 percent in 2019.
    Eighth-grade science results also fell sharply. The 2024 average score was four points lower than in 2019, with declines across all five reported percentiles. Thirty-eight percent of eighth graders scored below the Basic level, compared to 33 percent in 2019. Students from nearly every demographic and parental education group saw declines, particularly at the lower percentiles. Confidence in science ability also fell, with fewer students reporting that they “definitely” could perform key science tasks.
    Further, African American students remain disproportionately represented among lower performers nationally. Across reading, mathematics, and science, they continue to score below the overall national average, with larger percentages falling below the NAEP Basic level and fewer reaching Proficient or Advanced. Although overall national scores declined in 2024, the long-standing gap between African American students and their White and Asian peers has not narrowed.
    The assessments, administered between January and March 2024, covered tens of thousands of students nationwide. Reading and math were given to twelfth graders, while science was assessed at the eighth-grade level. In addition to academic content, students completed questionnaires about learning opportunities, absenteeism, and engagement, data that NAEP officials say may help explain trends. NAEP, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, is the largest continuing and nationally representative measure of U.S. student achievement. The results are closely watched by educators, policymakers, and researchers as indicators of how students are faring and where learning gaps are widening

  • Dallas County School System in State Department Intervention

    Superintendent Jones resigns from Greene County Schools; accepts superintendency of Dallas County Schools

    In a called emergency meeting of the Greene County Board of Education, Wednesday, August 27, 2025, Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones submitted his resignation to the board, effective September 30, 2025. Since that meeting, the State Department of Education (SDE) has released information that Dr. Jones has been asked to assume the superintendent’s leadership role of the Dallas County School System, which has been taken over by the SDE Intervention due to financial difficulties within that School System.
    Following an executive session, Board President, Mr. Leo Branch, asked Superintendent Jones if he had a statement for the board. Dr. Jones read a prepared statement reflecting on the privilege of having served as superintendent of the Greene County School System for the past six years. He cited several accomplishments during his tenure including renovations to the central office; new roof and flooring at Eutaw Primary School; new HVAC system, new windows, new press box at Robert Brown Middle School; the launch of Phase I Sports Complex at Greene County High School. Jones stated that during his tenure “Greene County has achieved its highest report card score from the Alabama State Department of Education since the introduction of the Accountability Report Card. Preliminary data indicates an even higher score in the upcoming releases this fall.”
    Dr. Jones concluded his remarks stating, “It is with a heavy heart that I submit my resignation…I am fully committed to supporting the transition process in any way I can.”
    Present Branch called for action on the superintendent’s resignation. Board member Veronica Richardson moved to accept Jones’ resignation; Board Member Brandon Merriweather seconded the motion. Richardson, Merriweather and Dancy voted in the affirmative. Mr. Leo Branch registered a resounding No. Board members Robert Davis did not vote on the motion.
    Dr. Jones’ current contract with the Greene County Board was for two years, which had been approved on a split 3-2vote, with reportedly some controversy. He was in the first year of the new contract.
    Dr. Jones has been commended by the State Board of Education for maintaining Greene County School System’s strong financial accountability and reserves. The school system has had ‘clean’ audits’ for multiple years. Jones leadership was noted for his handling of the 
ESSER Grants during the COVID-19 crisis. To support schools and districts in addressing the impact of COVID-19, Congress provided financial support through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. Funds were allocated to each state in the same proportion as their Title I, Part A grants. Greene County received over $3 million in grants, which Jones used for safety and academic enhancements for student learning on and off school sites, including additional reading and Math coaches; home delivery of student meals; capital improvements and other school services.
    Throughout Jones’ tenure as superintendent, the school system has shown improvements in student learning, including an expanded Career Center Curriculum, a highly successful student debate team; increased exposure for students through academic field trips and college and university visits; modernized cafeteria equipment and services. In compliance with the Alabama Literacy Act, 3rd grade scholars must score at a designated proficiency level before advancing to the 4th grade level. In Greene County, nearly all 3rd graders have been successful in meeting this criteria. The few who fell short, were enrolled in summer classes to prepare to retake the test and advance to the next grade.
    As of this writing, no interim superintendent has been named.

  • Alabama’s new tax exemption for menstrual products started Monday

     

    The state’s new sales tax exemption on menstrual and maternity products, as well as baby essentials, will take effect on September 1.2025

    By Mary Claire Wooten, Alabama Political Reporters

     

    Alabama’s new tax exemption on menstrual products and other family essentials will take effect Monday, marking a significant change in how the state treats these necessary items. 

    Beginning September 1, 2025, the state’s 4 percent sales tax exemption applies to tampons, pads, menstrual cups and maternity products, as well as baby formula, bottles, wipes, breast pumps, diapers and maternity clothing. 
    The exemption applies only to state-level sales taxes, which means counties and municipalities may still collect their own local sales taxes unless they pass ordinances to extend the exemption.

    The measure was approved earlier this year. HB152, sponsored by Representative Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham. Rafferty celebrated it as “a big win for Alabama’s working families.” The House of Representatives approved the bill unanimously in March, and Rafferty’s effort drew bipartisan backing throughout the process. 

    During debate, Representative Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, amended the bill to include adult diapers. 

    “You know I’m all about women, children and seniors,” said Shaver.
    The Alabama Senate followed with unanimous approval in May, sending the bill to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk. Ivey signed it into law later that month. 

    Legislative analysts estimate the change will cost the state around $13 million in lost revenue each year, but the impact on the budget was a modest tradeoff for the financial relief it will provide to families.

    Courtney Roark, Alabama Policy and Movement Building director for URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equality, said that these tax cuts are an essential component of family-first agendas.

    “No one should have to choose between affording food or rent and essential healthcare products like tampons or diapers,” said Roarke. “We should all be able to take care of our health, safety, and family needs without it threatening our economic security. This is a huge win that will provide material economic relief for young people struggling to make ends meet and support their families in Alabama.”

    Alongside the removal of the period tax, lawmakers also approved a phased reduction of the state grocery tax and expanded paid parental leave for teachers and state employees. Together, the initiatives represent an effort to ease economic pressures on Alabama households.

    Starting Monday, families across the state will begin to see the effects of those changes. 

  • Newswire : Newbern, AL, first Black mayor, who had been locked out of office, wins re-election

    Mayor Patrick Braxton of Newbern

    By The Associated Press


    NEWBERN, Ala. — The first Black mayor of a tiny Alabama town overwhelmingly won election this week, four years after white residents locked him out of the town hall and refused to let him serve.
    Incumbent Mayor Patrick Braxton was elected as the mayor of Newbern, winning 66 votes to his opponent’s 26, according to results posted by the town. His victory puts a punctuation mark in the dispute over control of the town government that drew national attention.
    “The people came out and spoke and voted. Now, there ain’t no doubt what they want for this town,” Braxton said in a telephone interview Wednesday night.
    The election Tuesday was the town’s first since at least the 1960s, held under a federal settlement. Black residents had sued, challenging what they called the town’s “hand-me-down governance” and refusal to let Braxton serve after he ran unopposed for mayor in 2020.
    Newbern’s residents number just 133 people. A library, the town hall, a mercantile and a flashing caution light anchor the downtown, about 40 miles west of Selma.
    What the town had been without is elections.
    Newbern’s mayor-council government had not been put to a vote for six decades. Instead, town officials held “hand-me-down” positions, with each mayor appointing a successor who appointed the council members, according to the lawsuit filed by Braxton and others. The result was an overwhelmingly white government in a town where Black residents outnumber white residents 2-1.
    Braxton, a volunteer firefighter, qualified in 2020 to run for the nonpartisan position of mayor, and since he was the only candidate, he became the mayor-elect without an election. He then appointed a new town council, as other mayors have done.
    But the locks were changed at the town hall, and Braxton was denied access to the town’s financial accounts. His lawsuit also alleged that outgoing council members held a secret meeting to set up a special election and “fraudulently reappointed themselves as the town council.”
    “I didn’t get a chance to serve but one year out of the five years,” said Braxton, who finally occupied the office last year after a three-year legal battle.
    Town officials had denied wrongdoing, arguing in court filings that Braxton’s claim to be mayor was “invalid.”
    The settlement agreement included a promise to hold a mayoral election in 2025.
    Braxton had one challenger this time — a white auctioneer and Realtor, Laird Cole.
    “Mayor Braxton’s election represents a turning point for Newbern, restoring democratic governance, ensuring fair representation, and reaffirming that every resident has a voice in their local government,” Madison Hollon, program manager of political campaigns for the SPLC Action Fund, said Thursday. The group endorsed Braxton in the race.
    The mayor said his lopsided victory should eliminate any “doubts people had hanging in their heads on if people want me.”
    “It feels good the second time,” Braxton said.

     

  • Newswire : Spike Lee Documentary shows the refusal to help Blacks during Hurricane Katrina

    Radar image of Hurricane Katrina and Flooded houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

    News media focused on looting, not Black residents
    being denied food, water, and shelter

     

    By Blackmansstreet Today


    When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans 20 years ago on August 28, 2005, many of the city’s Black residents, especially those in the Lower 9th Ward, didn’t own cars or even know how to drive to flee the oncoming flood. The buses weren’t running. Some companies eventually sent buses, but no drivers because they were afraid of coming into the city, because all the news media reported was that looting and murders were widespread.

    Some 100,000 to 150,000 residents remained in the city to sit out the hurricane and to hope for the best, or they stayed because they had no other place to go.

    Many were left without food, safe drinking water, and shelter, but as one woman in Spike Lee’s Netflix documentary “Katrina: Come Hell and High Water” said, they were seeking help but were treated like criminals. 

    In the film, we see one Black cop holding a shotgun on men taking food from a store in circumstances where it was impossible to procure food otherwise.

    The series also points out racist language in news coverage. On the pages of national newspapers, headlines announced, “The Looting Instinct,” “Thugs Reign of Terror,” and the like.

    For the first days after the hurricane, news outlets focused on what we now know to be greatly exaggerated individual acts of crime and violence. 

    White residents stealing from grocery stores were described as “finding” food and beverages for their families, while Black residents doing the same thing were described as looters.

    Even reporter Soledad O’Brien, who covered the Katrina from start to finish, admitted she fell into the trap of calling Black people looters and comparing them with White people seeking food.

    Eddie Compass, New Orleans Chief of Police, said snipers were firing at helicopters, and Governor Kathleen Blanco repeated that there were snipers. Blanco ordered police to shoot to kill. 

    Mayor Ray Nagin fired Compass.

    Instead, we learned that people on the ground were trying to get attention so someone would rescue them. 

    They were not snipers, said General Russal L. Honore, who is the only hero in this disaster. He ordered members of the National Guard to put their “Goddamn guns down and begin helping people.”

    Hurricane Katrina killed 1,392 people, including 520 direct deaths, 341 of which were in Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center in 2023. Hurricane Katrina’s 175 miles per hour winds caused $320 billion in damage when the levee broke, flooding the city.

    Men and women huddled in the Superdome to escape the baking heat, while others walked the highway leading from New Orleans.

    The documentary shows Black men, women, and children floating face down in the water populated by venomous snakes and crocodiles.

    Others stood on their rooftops, holding waving towels, signaling for help. 

    President George W. Bush cut his vacation short to fly over the devastation, but he never went to New Orleans.

    He had declined to visit the impacted areas right away so as not to impede recovery efforts. But that’s not what people saw. 

    The image of the White, Republican president gazing distantly from above was a made-for-TV contrast with the images coming out of heavily Black, Democratic New Orleans. To many Americans, it was a far cry from the Bush who had triumphantly stood with firefighters in the rubble of the World Trade Center days after 9/11, the Bush who had famously said, “I can hear you.” 

    Bush faced almost immediate criticism from Democrats, but several Republicans would soon join in. “If we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?” former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich asked. 

    Then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called the federal response “embarrassing.” And a 2006 report by House Republicans would later criticize Bush’s Department of Homeland Security for inaction that resulted in a delayed evacuation of New Orleans. 

    On Sept. 2, Bush toured the Gulf Coast and signed a Congressionally approved $10 billion relief package. 

    He pledged to crack down on crime, restore power, and get supplies to the needy. He even appeared to criticize his own disaster officials, saying he was satisfied with the government’s response, but “not satisfied with all the results.” 

    That same day, Kanye West would go on TV and proclaim what many were already thinking: “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”

    All three parts of Katrina: Come Hell and High Water are available on Netflix.

  • Newswire : Billionaires pay lower effective tax rates than average Americans, new data show

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

     


    A new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) reveals that America’s wealthiest billionaires pay a lower share of their income in taxes than most workers and even less than the national average.

    The analysis, conducted by economists Akcan S. Balkir, Emmanuel Saez, Danny Yagan, and Gabriel Zucman, used administrative data from 2010 through 2020, matching Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans with individual, business, estate, and gift tax returns. It found that the top 0.0002 percent of households—roughly the “Forbes 400”—paid an average total effective tax rate of 24 percent from 2018 to 2020.
    That compares with 30 percent for the overall U.S. population and 45 percent for top labor income earners. The authors define the effective rate as all taxes paid relative to “economic income,” which includes labor income, business profits, and capital gains. The report concludes that billionaires “appear less taxed than the average American” when all sources of wealth are considered.

    Why the Wealthiest Pay Less

    The findings point to structural features of the U.S. tax code. C-corporations owned by billionaires distribute relatively little in dividends, which minimizes individual income tax unless the stock is sold. Pass through businesses—such as partnerships and S corporations—often report negative taxable income despite high profits, further limiting tax bills.

    The researchers found that between 2010 and 2017, billionaires’ effective tax rates averaged about 30 percent, but that fell to 24 percent in the years after Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The law slashed the federal corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and expanded provisions like full expensing of investment, allowing companies to reduce taxable income even with high book profits.
    Estate and gift taxes also make little difference. Decedents in the Forbes 400 paid just 0.8 percent of their wealth in estate tax when married and 7 percent when single. Annual charitable giving by the group equaled 0.6 percent of wealth and 11 percent of economic income in 2018–2020.

    The Corporate Tax’s Outsized Role

    Corporate taxes remain a major source of government revenue from billionaires. About 9 percentage points of the top 400’s 23.8 percent effective rate comes from corporate tax. By contrast, their individual income taxes amounted to just 11 percent of economic income. When measured against wealth instead of income, the richest Americans paid only 1.3 percent of their holdings in taxes annually in 2018–2020—down from 2.7 percent in 2010–2013.

    International Comparisons

    The United States is not alone in seeing ultra-rich households taxed at lower rates. Similar studies show billionaires in the Netherlands pay less than 20 percent of economic income, while in France, the top 0.0002 percent paid 26 percent in 2016. Still, U.S. billionaires’ individual income tax rates—about 11 percent of economic income—are higher than those in parts of Europe, where personal holding companies allow greater avoidance.
    The researchers caution that the effective rate at the very top is heavily dependent on how economic income is defined, but across multiple approaches, the results remain consistent: the richest households are taxed at lower rates than most Americans. “Ultra-high-net-worth individuals appear less taxed than the average American,” the authors wrote.

     

  • Newswire : Trump terminates Kamala Harris’s Secret Service protection, but California will fill the gap.Trump is running a narcissistic vendetta


     Vice President Kamala Harris

    By Blackmansstreet Today

    President Donald Trump has dropped Secret Service protection for former Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party nominee in the 2024 election for president, quashing an 18-month extension ordered by President Joseph Joseph Biden after she left office.

    Trump however, ordered the Secret Service detail to end on September 1.He made the decision Thursday to revoke that continued protection, and an executive memorandum was issued to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directing her to rescind Harris’s Secret Service detail, the officials said.

    The directive was then forwarded to the Secret Service, and the agency will comply with the order, the Homeland Security officials confirmed.

    In June, the U. S. Secret Service ran a threat assessment on Harris and did not find anything alarming, that would warrant extending her detail past the usual. six months, according to sources familiar with the situation. 

    “The Vice President is grateful to the United States Secret Service for their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to safety,” Kirsten Allen, a senior adviser to Harris, said in a statement to CBS News.

    Trump is seeking retribution against people he doesn’t like.

    In another recent instance, Trump has demanded that the U.S. Central Bank
    force Lisa D. Cook, and asked her to step down as a Governor of the Federal
    Reserve Board,. This was after Trump officials alleged that Cook was involved in a case of mortgage fraud. Cook has not been charged with a crime. Cook angrily told Trump she is not leaving and that he has no right to force her out of her job. She also sued Trump, her lawyer says.

    Last Friday, the FBI raided former national security advisor and frequent
    Trump critic John Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland. The FBI said the raid was part of a “national security investigation in search of classified
    records,” a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.

    Trump administration has removed Secret Service protection for several others, including John Bolton, who was the president’s national security adviser during his first term, and Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden, the children of former President Joe Biden, were also denied further protective services.

    Trump has fired anyone who opposes him. The White House said on
    The Thursday that it has fired Robert Primus, a member of the Surface Transportation Board because he opposed the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroad companies

    The California Highway Patrol will protect Harris following a meeting between Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.