Aug. 12, 2019 (GIN) – It’s hard to believe how far Zimbabwe has fallen since former President Robert Mugabe was ousted in a military-backed coup.
Power cuts now leave citizens without electricity from dawn to long after dusk. Gas is too expensive so families cook on firewood. Bread is unaffordable. Drought has caused failed harvests. And rising inflation has eaten up pensions, leaving the elderly unable to retire with dignity.
Outside Harare, the humanitarian need is greater. The United Nations says more than five million people – almost a third of the population and almost entirely in rural areas – will be in need of food aid. “This year we have more hungry Zimbabweans than ever before,” said Eddie Rowie, the World Food Program’s country director.
Obert Masaraure, the leader of a union that represents rural teachers, said his 30,000 members had been reduced to “paupers”.
“The learners are walking to school on empty stomachs. They are collapsing in class because they are so weak. The teachers can’t pay for their own children’s education. But people are looting millions,” he said.
It is more than a year and a half since Robert Mugabe was removed in a military takeover, and a year since his former right-hand man, Emmerson Mnangagwa, took power after a contested election. Mugabe, 95, has been receiving medical treatment in Singapore since April, an official statement revealed last week.
Most in Zimbabwe hoped that the transition would lead to a change in fortunes for a country once deemed self-sufficient in maize and a major exporter of beef.
Mnangagwa promised democratic reform, a wave of new investment and the prospect of better relations with foreign powers. At rallies, the 77-year-old Zanu-PF loyalist spoke of his country being “open for business” and promised good days ahead.
But exports hit the skids and a terrible drought ended food self-sufficiency. In this week’s NewsDay Zimbabwe, an editorial relayed the author’s emotions. “Some of us feel sad that 39 years after independence – and as we honor this week thousands of our fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives so that the indigenous people regain control of their land – the country is failing each year to feed itself.
“Our gallant brothers and sisters who shed their blood for this land must be turning in their graves – this is definitely not what they hoped for; that we should be going about with begging bowls for food alms in a land of plenty.”
Meanwhile, on the occasion of Heroes Day, opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said demonstrations would soon begin against the ruling Zanu PF to protest the failing economic situation in the country.
The five-time Olympic medalist became the first woman to perfect the triple-twist, double-flip move in her first pass on floor.
By Jenna Amatulli, Huffington Post
Simone Biles doing flip in the air
Simone Biles just can’t stop flipping herself into the record books.
On Saturday at the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championship in Kansas City, Missouri, the five-time Olympic medalist made history, becoming the first gymnast to land a double-twisting, double somersault dismount from the balance beam in a match.
Simone Biles just can’t stop flipping herself into the record books.
On Saturday at the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championship in Kansas City, Missouri, the five-time Olympic medalist made history, becoming the first gymnast to land a double-twisting, double somersault dismount from the balance beam in a match.
The 22-year-old had tried the move in preliminaries on Friday and didn’t exactly nail it. After shorting on the triple-twist, double-flip, she told ESPN: “I still get really frustrated because I know how good I am and how well I can do. So I just want to do the best routine for the audience and for myself out here.”
Biles’ nailing the tricky move on Sunday made her the first female gymnast to land two new moves in competition andher sixth title at the championships, tying Clara Schroth Lomady’s record set in 1952.
If Biles throws either one of her history-making moves at October’s world championships, it will be named after her.
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement on a data breach which exposed account information of over 100 million Capital One customers.
“This data breach shows that it’s not just big technology companies and credit reporting agencies like Equifax that are vulnerable to hacking and data breaches – big banks are vulnerable targets as well. As this is not the first incident in which Capital One’s customer data was exposed, we need to understand what bank regulators have been doing to ensure that this bank, and other banks, have strong cybersecurity policies and practices. We must also understand what bank regulators are doing to ensure strong oversight of third-party technology providers that banks work with.
“As we learn more about this incident, I plan to work with my colleagues and take action in the Financial Services Committee on legislation to improve oversight of the cybersecurity of financial institutions.
“This massive data breach also underscores how important it is that the consumer credit reporting bills that the Financial Services Committee recently passed become law so that any consumer affected by a data breach is not further harmed. Among other things, the bills the Committee passed ensure that consumers can get a free copy of their credit score, provide better tools for victims of fraud, and make it easier for consumers to get errors on their reports corrected.”
On July 11 and July 16, the Financial Services Committee passed a series of consumer credit reporting bills, including:
H.R. 3642, the “Improving Credit Reporting for All Consumers Act,” introduced by Representative Alma Adams (D-NC)
Rep. Adams’ bill addresses burdens consumers experience when removing errors from their consumer reports, including by providing a new right to appeal the results of initial reviews about the accuracy or completeness of disputed items on the report. The bill empowers consumers by clarifying injunctive relief is available to ensure reporting errors are actually fixed when a consumer is harmed.
H.R. 3618, the “Free Credit Scores for Consumers Act of 2019,” introduced by Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
Rep. Beatty’s bill directs the nationwide CRAs to give consumers free copies of their credit scores that are used by creditors in making credit decisions, as determined by the Consumer Bureau, or if not practicable, educational credit scores whenever consumers obtain their free annual consumer reports. A consumer can get their free credit score once a year, and they can get a free credit score if they have reason to believe that their file contains inaccurate information due to fraud.
H.R. 3622, the “Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Consumers Act,” introduced by Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
Rep. Tlaib’s bill would, among other things, establish the right to free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services if a consumer is a victim of identity theft, fraud, or a related crime, or harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s financial or personally identifiable information.
H.R. 3614, the “Restricting Use of Credit Checks for Employment Decisions Act,” introduced by Representative Al Lawson (D-FL)
Rep. Lawson’s bill would generally prohibit employers from using credit reports for employment decisions, except when a credit report is required by local, state, or Federal law or for a national security clearance.
H.R. 3621, the “Student Borrower Credit Improvement Act,” introduced by Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
Rep. Pressley’s bill would remove adverse credit file information relating to defaulted or delinquent private education loans for borrowers who demonstrate a history of timely loan repayments for these loans. The bill would require repayment plans be affordable and reasonable, and permits reasonable interruptions in the consecutive repayment periods for those facing unique and extenuating life events, such as service members who are receiving imminent danger or other special pay duty when deployed.
H.R. 3629, the “Clarity in Credit Score Formation Act of 2019,” introduced by Representative Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Rep. Lynch’s bill would clarify oversight of the development of credit scoring models by directing the Consumer Bureau to set standards for validating the accuracy and predictive value of credit scoring models. The bill would also require the Consumer Bureau to study the impact of having more non-traditional data on consumer reports and the use of alternative data in credit scoring models.
White House with flag at half staff to honor victim of racially motivated violence
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – A coalition of racial justice and civil rights organizations, based in Charlottesville, Va., has launched a campaign to force Twitter to respond to widespread concerns that Twitter allows White supremacists to flourish on its platform.
The Change the Terms Coalition was deliberate in timing the launch on the eve of the second anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that led to the murder of activist Heather Heyer on August 12, 2017. The 32-year-old paralegal civil rights activist, was struck and killed by 22-year-old James Fields, a Neo-Nazi White supremacist who drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Fields is serving a life sentence plus 419 years for the murder.
The announcement also comes on the heels of two mass shootings that killed at least 31 people in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio August 3rd and 4th respectively. The massacres have exacerbated the group’s concerns about racially motivated attacks fueled by inflammatory online hate. They say President Donald Trump is fueling the violence and called for an uprising against it.
“Donald Trump has legitimized violence and it’s time for people to stand up,” said Jessica J. González, co-founder of Change the Terms and vice president of Strategy and Senior Counsel at Free Press.
The coalition, which held a press conference by phone August 7, is demanding that Twitter ban White supremacists and adopt model corporate policies.
“White supremacists fundraise, recruit and normalize the murder of marginalized people,” said González. “We’ve been working with Big Tech to accept our demands. But Twitter is slow to change. It’s the only platform that has failed to commit to banning White supremacists. David Duke, a former grand wizard of the KKK, is one there as is Richard Spencer and key organizers.”
Richard Spencer is a widely known neo-Nazi and president of the National Policy Institute, a White Supremacist Think Tank. Spencer was the leader of the torch-lit march in Charlottesville the evening before the death of Heather Heyer.
The Change the Terms Coalition includes more than 55 human-rights, civil-rights and digital-rights groups. They include Free Press, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Center for American Progress, Color of Change, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, MediaJustice, Muslim Advocates and the National Hispanic Media Coalition. It has called on Twitter and other online companies to develop more comprehensive policies to disrupt hate and racism on their platforms and has also urged these platforms to adopt the model corporate policies that Change the Terms has developed.
“When Twitter gives well-known White supremacists a platform, even after they have been deemed too extreme by Facebook and YouTube, their company becomes complicit in normalizing racism and the hateful acts inspired by it,” said González, vice president of strategy and senior counsel at Free Press and co-founder of Change the Terms. “Twitter must tell White supremacists they cannot rely on the platform to espouse harmful rhetoric, intimidate, and plan more attacks.”
Brandi Collins-Dexter, senior campaign director of Color of Change, agreed.
“From Charlottesville two years ago to El Paso this week, we’ve seen the tragic outcomes of White nationalism spreading on Twitter, made even more dangerous every time Trump is allowed to tweet his bigoted rhetoric,” she said. “White nationalists use Twitter every day to harass Black people and users from marginalized communities, to build power and organizational strength, and to amplify violent ideologies in this country. It’s time for Jack Dorsey and Twitter’s leadership to get over their fear of conservative backlash and fully stamp out discrimination on the platform. Our civil rights should not be negotiable.”
Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, president of the diversity consultant firm, Incite Unlimited, cites statistics which illustrate the danger White extremism poses:
According to the most recent FBI data, the number of hate crimes in America has increased three years in a row, jumping about 17 percent in one year alone.
The number of White supremacist groups in America has soared 30 percent in the last four years.
White supremacists account for nearly three out of four murderous terrorist acts in the U.S.
Counties that hosted a Trump rally during his run for president in 2016 have subsequently experienced a 226 percent jump in hate crimes.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the correlation between the political rise of Trump (his campaign run in the primaries, the general election and his time in office), his specific policy negligence around white terrorism, the white supremacist language he infuses in his rhetoric on a daily basis, and the rise in white nationalist violence that has ensued,” Jones-DeWeever said. “When we refuse to speak this truth, we fuel white terrorism. We not only allow it to exist, we also allow it to thrive.”
González, who moderated the August 7 conference call, said Twitter is a space that allows key White nationalist influencers to operate. Reportedly, there are at least 100,000 verified accounts of racists and White extremists who are sophisticated and organized.
“There are 173,000 tweets, 4,000 per white supremacist account and twitter has not removed them,” González said. “Twitter talks a good game while vile, racist extremists continue to spew hate. Latinos have been targeted because of Donald Trump. People are scared to go to school, grocery store, other places because of the color of our skins.”
González said Latino communities including where she lives have been profoundly affected by the shooting in El Paso on August 3. Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old White man drove more than six hours from Dallas to El Paso “to kill Mexicans.”
González said fear has increased exponentially among her friends, family and neighbors and in Latino communities since the killer, who admitted that he is an anti-immigrant white nationalist and Trump supporter, opened fire in a Walmart, killing 22 people and wounded dozens of others.
The coalition notes that a range of Unite the Right organizers and associated White-nationalist influencers continue to benefit from their presence on Twitter. This includes key rally organizers like Richard Spencer, Evan McLaren and Tony Hovater; so-called alt-right podcasters and YouTubers who broadcast live from the rally like Faith Goldy and Mike Peinovich; and figureheads of hate like former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, who attended and broadcast from the deadly rally, and continue to enjoy unfettered use of their Twitter accounts.
Twitter, for its part, released a statement last week saying that it is researching whether white supremacists should be banned or allowed to continue operating on its platform. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, legal and public policy said in published reports that the research aims to understand the effectiveness of both removing such individuals, as well as allowing them to remain online to be debated by others.
Gadde said in an interview with Motherboard that Twitter is working with academics to see if it can be confirmed that “counter-speech and conversation are a force for good” and “can act as a basis for de-radicalization,” which is Twitter’s current position. She also added that Twitter has seen evidence on other platforms that radical viewpoints can change through an exchange of ideas.
Reverend Jesse Jackson attends the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Cornelius Blanding and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson
Atlanta, GA- On Thursday evening, August 15, 2019, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF) will present its 18th Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award to Rev. Jesse L. Jackson for his leadership, support and contributions to rural southern people and communities. Several hundred guests attending will include rural farmers, landowners, corporate CEO’s, high-level government officials, and members of the Honorary Committee.
The award dinner to be held at the BJCC complex in Birmingham, Alabama marks the start of the Federation’s 52nd Annual Meeting. The Federation is a regional non-profit membership organization serving 20,000 low-income families organized in 75 cooperatives, credit unions and community development groups. The Federation focuses on providing services, resources, marketing and advocacy for its membership and is the premier Black farmers organization in the nation.
The Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for honoree’s that work toward social change over a lifetime. Estelle Witherspoon was a founding member of the Federation and the manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee in Alberta, Alabama. The Freedom Quilting Bee, formed in 1966 by local women as an outgrowth of the Civil Rights Movement, became nationally known for creating colorful quilts. Past recipients have included: actors Danny Glover and Cicely Tyson, Congresspersons John Lewis, Barbara Lee, James Clyburn and Benny Thompson, author Alice Walker and others.
“We want to honor our leaders and allies in the Civil Rights Movement because their activism for equal rights blazed the trail for rural farmers to mobilize into cooperatives. Decades of vigorous organizing by the Federation has led to many legislative victories. Our most recent and major win includes transformational heirs property legislation, in the 2018 Farm Bill, brings new opportunities to save, protect and expand the landholding of black farmers and landowners. Leaders such as Rev. Jackson gave us momentum in our formative years.” said Cornelius Blanding, current Executive Director of FSC/LAF.
Jackson’s contribution to the Federation’s legacy is based on his civil rights work and in very specific partnerships. In the early years, due to his spearheading work in SCLC’s Operation Bread Basket, and later in Operation PUSH, he worked to open markets for rural southern farmers allowing them to link cooperatives to viable markets in Chicago and other cities. The Federation’s staff accompanied Rev. Jackson to Africa in 1987 to expand the work internationally. “We thank Rev. Jackson for opening the door for us to travel to Southern and Western Africa. As a result, the Federation was able to expand its footprint to help develop cooperatives in the region”, says Jerry Pennick, retired Director of Land Retention.
Land is one of the greatest and most valuable assets African American farmers possess. Black farmland ownership, which peaked in 1910 at 19 million acres, has shown a consistent decrease until recently. The most recent 2017 Census of Agriculture by the National Agricultural Statistical Service shows black land ownership to be at 4 million acres. Those numbers are looking promising but farm income has declined for all farmers, including Black farmers.
Activist John Zippert, retired FSC/LAF Director of the Rural Training and Research Center in Epes, Alabama, feels hopeful. “I recently attended the Bridge Cross Jubilee in Selma this March. In Rev Jackson’s speech, he shared his vision for rural economic reconstruction and renaissance starting in Selma and radiating out to Black Belt counties across the South. This is exactly what FSC/LAF has been dedicated to accomplishing for half a century, by mobilizing farmers, ranchers, and cooperatives in the rural South. We are sure that Rev. Jackson will speak to this vision in his acceptance of the Witherspoon Award.”
After the award dinner, the focus of the 52nd Annual Meeting will shift for the next two days, August 16th-17th, to the organization’s Rural Training and Research Center (RTRC) in Epes, Alabama. These days will feature workshops and business meetings of the organization The RTRC is the hub of operations for FSC/LAF and also the base of operations for the Alabama State Association of Cooperatives outreach and technical assistance staff.
Persons interested in attending and buying tickets for the Witherspoon Award Dinner and other events of the FSC/LAF 52nd Annual Dinner should go to the organization’s website at http://www.federation.coop for more details. You can also call the offices in Atlanta at 404/765-0991 or Epes, Alabama at 205/652-9676.
At an emergency call meeting held July 31, 2019, the Greene County Board of Education added additional personnel to its school rosters. The board approved the following personnel recommendations of Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones: Valerie Moore, Physical Education Teacher, Eutaw Primary School; Lakeisha Johnson, Pre-k Auxiliary Teacher, Eutaw Primary School; Dotha Williams, Long-term Substitute Special Needs Teacher, Robert Brown Middle School; Glenda Hodges, Long-Term Substitute, Special Education Collaborate Teacher; Sanjanika Prince, Long-term Substitute Elementary Teacher, Robert Brown Middle School; Andrea Perry, from 10 ½ month employee to 11 month employee; Dorothy Branch, Long-term Substitute 4th Grade Teacher, Robert Brown Middle School; Ginger Glass, English Teacher, Robert Brown Middle School; Tyler Mitchell, Social Science Teacher, Greene County High School; Mattie Underwood, Bus Aide, Department of Transportation; Frances McGee, CNP Manager, Greene County High School; Nkenge Reynolds, Social Studies, Robert Brown Middle School; Russell Rivers, Automotive, Greene County Career Center. The board approved the voluntary transfer of Gwendolyn Webb, Pre-K 2 Auxiliary Teacher to Pre-K Auxiliary 1 Teacher, at Eutaw Primary School. The following resignations were approved by the board: Shequeria Wright, Pre-K Auxiliary Teacher, Eutaw Primary School, effective immediately; Katlin Whittle, Visual Art Teacher, Eutaw Primary School; Ruby Bell, Social Science Teacher, Greene County High School, effective immediately; Korto Dapolar, Science Teacher, Greene County High School, effective July 16, 2019; Barbara Burroughs, Bus Driver, Department of Transportation, effective August 31, 2019; Cheerleader Sponsor, Supplemental Contract, Linda Little, for the 2019-2020 school year. A supplemental contract was approved for Lurena Smith as Greene County High School Cheerleader Sponsor for the 2019-2020 school year.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently announced that $1.6 million in grants will go towards its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to protect 22 Black sites and organizations. The grants—which were provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—will financially support the organization’s African American fund which was designed to bring unsung narratives about the Black experience to the forefront by protecting and restoring places that are embedded in the fabric of African American history. The funds will go towards project planning, capacity building and programming. The non-profit trust has been dedicated to preserving Black sites throughout the country and the organization is furthering its mission to ensure that these landmarks are conserved. Amongst the 22 sites that were selected are the African Meeting House in Boston which is known to be the oldest Black church in America; Mississippi’s Emmett and Mamie Till Interpretive Center which was created in memoriam of the teen who was tragically murdered; Harriet Tubman’s former home in Auburn, New York; Langston Hughes’ former house in Harlem; the home of Negro League Baseball star Satchel Paige in Kansas City, MO; the Wright Building in Florida which was a grocery and general store for African Americans that featured Black vendors and The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., which was the site of the racially motivated 2015 shooting of nine black parishioners. “The recipients of this funding shine a light on once lived stories and Black culture, some familiar and some yet untold, that weave together the complex story of American history in the United States,” Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, said in a statement. “Beyond saving important African American heritage sites, the Action Fund is helping Americans understand more deeply who we are as a nation,” said Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander. “We applaud the ongoing work of the Action Fund in calling greater attention to the diversity of American history and lifting up narratives that have been too long neglected or forgotten.” The Action Fund has granted a total of $2.7 million since its launch in November 2017. News about the grants comes shortly after the organization launched a campaign to preserve songstress Nina Simone’s childhood home. The campaign was backed by Issa Rae, Talib Kweli, Mahershala Ali, John Legend and other stars. Aside from its work to protect historical Black landmarks, the nonprofit has been focused on diversifying the preservation industry. In an effort to develop career pathways for the next generation of aspiring preservationists of color, the organization created a program that gives young African Americans first-hand experience with the restoration of landmarks.
President Trump has made a big deal out of his admiration for farmers, calling them “some of the most incredible people in our country,” and “patriots.” But, based on newly acquired data on federal subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, his administration may not have been thinking of all farmers — mostly just the rich, white ones. According to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by New Food Economy, the Trump administration funneled 99.5 percent of funds from its approximately year-old Market Facilitation Program, the largest current source of federal farm subsidies, to white farm operators. Trump announced the MFP last summer as a means of softening the blow of the ongoing trade war with China, allocating $12 billion in direct payments to growers. As of May 15 of this year, the USDA had disbursed more than $8.5 billion from program to farm operations, primarily to soy, corn, wheat, cotton, and sorghum growers, Reuters reports. According to a Department of Agriculture census, there were around 45,000 black farmers in the U.S. in 2017; compare that to nearly 1 million black farmers in 1910. Even though most farmers today are white (3.2 million, or 95 percent of farmers), Black farms tend to be smaller and generate less income compared to white farms. It’s not yet clear if farmers of color applied to the program at the same rate as their white counterparts, but the distribution of funds still reveals disparities between white and black farmers in certain regions. In Mississippi, for instance, where 38 percent of the state’s population is black, about 14 percent of farms have a black principal operator, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture; however, only 1.4 percent of the $200 million in MFP funds distributed to farmers in the Magnolia state went to black operators. The funding disparities didn’t just have to do with race: According to a new reportreleased on Tuesday by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, the vast majority of MFP funds went to the wealthiest 10 percent of recipients — the country’s biggest and most successful farmers. “It seems as though many have turned a deaf ear to America’s small farmers and black farmers alike,” said John Boyd, founder and president of the Black Farmers Association, when he testified before the House Committee on Financial Services earlier this month. “Anytime the government gets involved, when they say it’s going to be a speedy payment to farmers, it’s always last for African American farmers, it’s always last for Latino farmers, for small-scale farmers, and for women farmers,” he said. The USDA did not respond to Grist’s request for comment. For the many U.S. farmers whose crops’ primary market is China, having access to federal subsidies to help them deal with the country’s trade wars is a make-or-break benefit. Growers already deal with a plethora of issues, such as falling farm income and commodity prices, rising debt and floods that disrupt crop growth. And suffice to say, it’s not just white farmers who are suffering. The USDA has a long history of discrimination against farmers of color. A 1994 report commissioned by the department itself said “minorities received less than their fair share of USDA money for crop payments, disaster payments, and loans. “For many years, the USDA systematically favored white farmers by denying or delaying loans to Black farmers,” wrote Scott Faber, senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group, in the organization’s latest report. And as to the latest on the MFP: Last week, President Trump unveiled plans to greenlight $16 billion as part of the second year of the program. About $14.5 billion of those funds will be in the form of direct payments to growers.
Former President Barack Obama called for stricter gun control laws in a Monday statement after two mass shootings over the weekend left more than 30 people dead in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
“We are not helpless here,” Obama said in a statement posted on Twitter. “And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public officials accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.”
Obama said the El Paso shooting followed a “dangerous trend” of violence motivated by racist ideologies. He compared white supremacist websites to terrorist groups like ISIS and called on law enforcement and internet platforms to reduce the influence of hate groups.
The El Paso shooting is being investigated as a possible hate crime after an anti-immigrant “manifesto” posted online was connected to the alleged gunman. Posts on 8chan, an online messaging board used by right-wing extremists, have also been connected to the alleged gunman. Law enforcement officials said on Saturday that the suspect told them he wanted to shoot as many Mexicans as possible.
Obama also called on Americans to “soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments.” He didn’t specify which leaders he was talking about. President Trump is known for anti-immigrant rhetoric, repeatedly referring to a migrant caravan at the U.S.-Mexico border as an “invasion.”
Obama noted that hateful rhetoric and language that demonizes others isn’t new but has been at the “root of most human tragedy.”
“It has no place in our politics and our public life,” he wrote. “And it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much — clearly and unequivocally.”
Obama also called on Americans to “soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments.” He didn’t specify which leaders he was talking about. President Trump is known for anti-immigrant rhetoric, repeatedly referring to a migrant caravan at the U.S.-Mexico border as an “invasion.”
Obama noted that hateful rhetoric and language that demonizes others isn’t new but has been at the “root of most human tragedy.”
“It has no place in our politics and our public life,” he wrote. “And it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much — clearly and unequivocally.”
Trump delivered remarks at the White House on Monday morning, condemning the attacks as “evil” and “wicked.” While he cited “racist hate” in the manifesto, he blamed the shootings on mental illness, violent video games and the internet.
“We must recognize that the internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts,“ Trump said. “We must shine light on the dark recesses of the internet and stop mass murders before they start.”
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – President Donald Trump, in the wake of mass shootings that killed at least 31 people over the weekend, called for a unified condemnation of “racism, bigotry, and white supremacy” while he, himself has consistently promoted and supported racism, bigotry and White supremacy.
At least 22 were killed and more than 20 injured at a Walmart in El Paso Texas on Saturday as parents and children ventured out for back to school shopping. Dallas resident, Patrick Crusius, 21, was arrested in the shootings. According to authorities and widespread reports, Crusius wrote a manifesto claiming responsibility for the attack and railing against what he described as a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” using language mirroring Trump’s language describing “invasion” immigrants.
Crusius also reportedly told authorities that he had intended to kill as many Mexicans as he could. At least 18 Mexican nationals were shot. Nine died, reports say.
Federal investigators, including the FBI, have classified the case as domestic terrorism.
Less than 15 hours later, another White male opened fire at a bar in Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people, six of them Black. Twenty-seven others were injured in Dayton. The shooter, Connor Betts, 24,
was shot dead by responding officers.
“The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate. In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy,” Trump said in a televised speech from the White House Monday morning. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the soul. We have asked the FBI to identify all further resources they need to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism – whatever they need.”
Ironically, Trump also called the Internet “a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts” and described it as a place with “dark recesses”.
But some – including the NAACP – believe it has been clearly Trump himself who has used social media – mainly Twitter – to fuel racism, White supremacy and bigotry throughout the nation and around the world through his attacks on people of color, portraying them as less than human.
Following the recent shootings, NAACP President Derrick Johnson
called out Trump’s own hate-filled behavior on the Internet over past
years, months, weeks and days.
“These tragic shootings are stark reminders of the dangers that plague our communities under the resurgence of white nationalism, domestic terrorism, intolerance, and racial hatred germinating from the White House,” wrote Johnson in a statement.
Other civil rights leaders chimed in, appearing to be at a loss for answers.
“When is Enough, enough?” asked Melanie Campbell, president/CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) and Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable (BWR). “Gun violence in America must end, and it must end now. How many more lives must be lost by senseless gun violence for
elected officials to step up and lead?”
Campbell issued the following statistics on gun violence to date in 2019:
• There have been 253 mass shootings in America in 216 days of this year. That is more than one mass shooting per day for 2019. And we still have five more months to go this year.
• According to the Gun Violence Archive, to date, the total number of gun-related incidents in this country now stands at 33,076, resulting in 8,744 deaths and 17,366 injuries.
• The number of youths killed, ages 1 to 17, now stands at 2,197.
•
“This is absolute insanity for a so-called ‘civilized’ nation. The shootings in El Paso and Dayton were senseless acts of hate that could possibly have been prevented had there been laws in place to control access to high powered, rapid-fire, military grade weapons. The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and the Black Women’s Roundtable strongly urges the U. S. Senate to come off of vacation and deal with this crisis by passing a
national common sense gun safety law now.”
In Trump’s speech, he mentioned mental illness that leads to gun violence, but said nothing about his own hateful tweets.
He said, “We must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure those people not only get treatment, but, when necessary, involuntary confinement.”
He said he is directing the Department of Justice to work in “partnership with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as social media companies, to develop tools that can detect mass shooters before
they strike.”
He said the “glorification of violence in our society” through “gruesome and grisly video games” must end.
He added,“We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms, and that, if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process. That is why I have called for red flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders.”
Finally, Trump said he was “directing the Department of Justice to propose legislation ensuring that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty, and that this capital punishment be delivered quickly, decisively, and without years of needless delay.”
Still civil rights leaders lay blame for the El Paso and Dayton massacres squarely at Trump’s feet:
Johnson wrote: “The NAACP is calling on the Trump administration to cease its use of divisive and discriminatory rhetoric which fuel these unconscionable attacks and allot resources to combat the rise of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
