African migrants in crowded boat July 17, 2023 (GIN) – A memorandum of understanding was signed this week between the European Union and Tunisia to combat irregular migration that has lead most recently to the deaths of 29 migrants from impoverished or war-torn countries seeking a better life in Europe.
The memorandum calls for a “strategic and comprehensive partnership” that will also boost economic ties between the bloc and the North African country, which lies on a major route for migrants and refugees travelling to Europe.
The document, signed by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on one side and Tunisian President Kais Saied on the other. It comes as the number of migrants and refugees departing from Tunisia and trying to reach Europe has significantly increased in recent months.
The Tunisian leader described “inhuman migration”, which he blamed on criminal networks.
After a visit last month by the three European leaders, a financial package was approved that includes a 10-million euro ($11 million) program to boost exchanges of students and 65 million euros ($73 million) in EU funding to modernize Tunisian schools.
Both sides also agreed to cooperate on border management. Von der Leyen pledged 100 million euros ($112 million) for those efforts – a figure she had already announced on the leaders’ previous visit.
Meanwhile, as of Friday, the Italian interior ministry counted more than 75,000 migrants who had arrived by boat on the Italian coast since the beginning of the year compared to about 31,900 in the same period last year.
Yasmine Akrimi, a researcher at the Brussels International Center, criticized the memorandum as an attempt at “reshaping African mobility”.
The EU has been trying to achieve this deal for decades, Akrimi said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “Italy wants to consider Tunisia as what they call a safe third country – meaning that everyone who passes through Tunisia can eventually be relocated back to Tunisia.”
Are migrants being used as political pawns? asked the host of the podcast Inside Story . “Kais Saied hoped to clinch a one-billion-dollar EU bailout. And in return, stem the rising migration to Europe.”
SAG-AFTRA, the major labor union for Hollywood actors, has begun to strike, and this is a huge deal! This is the first time in 60 years that both the actors and writers are on strike. The strike has vast implications for the industry and the unions and executives are reacting. The historic double strike comes after the union, representing nearly all TV and film actors, called the strike due to them not securing a new contract with major studios. The SAG-AFTRA strike means a near-total film and TV production shutdown as actors will skip premieres, fan events, press junkets and more. This will impact the upcoming fall TV season as talent represented by SAG-AFTRA will not be allowed to participate in any upcoming filming or appearances. The Directors Guild of America may have come to their own terms to avoid striking, but what will they do with no scripts or actors to direct? The national board for the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) officially announced the strike at a 3 p.m. news conference on Thursday (July 13) after meeting and voting in favor of the labor action in the hours after the Wednesday deadline expired for a new agreement. Television and radio journalists, who are also SAG-AFTRA members, are not included in the strike. “A strike is an instrument of last resort,” SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in the conference. “Although we are disappointed with their reluctance to cooperate, the solidarity of the SAG-AFTRA members has never been stronger.” They will join an ongoing walkout by Hollywood writers for the first time in 63 years. Industry writers, actors and fans are disappointed in the cruelty of Hollywood studio executives. One Deadline article mentions a studio executive’s direct quote and cold-as-ice approach, saying, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” and called that line of thinking “a cruel but necessary evil.” They would prefer writers starve themselves and their families before coming to terms and meeting their demands. On the flipside, Disney chief executive Bob Iger slammed SAG’s requests calling the demands, “Not realistic.” Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spokesperson Scott Rowe spoke to their position in the strike saying, “A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life.” Neither union has publicly shared how the negotiations have progressed. However, Rowe added more on the strike’s impact saying, “The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.” He added more to his statement saying the actors’ union, “dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses and more.” In terms of how the studios are impacted by all of this, Iger goes on to share the impending effects of Covid on the business. “It’s very disturbing to me,” he said. “We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges that we’re facing and the recovery from covid, which is ongoing; it’s not completely back.” Iger decried “huge collateral damage” the strike would have on support services in the industry. “I respect their right and their desire to get as much as they possibly can in compensation for their people,” he continued. “But you also have to be realistic about the business environment and what this business can deliver.” This all sucks for talent, writers, and the fans who love the entertainment. We wonder which of our favorite Fall shows might be impacted by these changes. (Please don’t take ‘Abbott Elementary’ from us we beg of you). Picketing began Friday (July 14) morning as SAG will join WGA, who has been hard at work for the past three months. Stay tuned for more updates on the impending SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to step down from leading the Chicago civil rights organization Rainbow PUSH Coalition he founded in 1971, his son’s congressional office said Friday. A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson confirmed the long-time civil rights leader would be retiring from the organization. The elder Jackson, a civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, plans to announce his decision on Sunday during the organization’s annual convention, Rep. Jackson told the Chicago Sun-Times. Jonathan Jackson, an Illinois Democrat, said his father “has forever been on the scene of justice and has never stopped fighting for civil rights” and that will be “his mark upon history.” The organization said Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III will succeed Jackson. Organization officials said Dr. Haynes, a Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. co-chair, has exemplified the same passion and commitment to global racial justice that characterizes Jackson’s legacy. As a co-founder of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC), Inc., Haynes has been a guiding force for over two decades, upholding the mission and ministry of the organization. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who will turn 82 in October, has remained active in civil rights in recent years despite health setbacks. He announced in 2017 that he had begun outpatient care for Parkinson’s disease two years earlier. In early 2021, he had gallbladder surgery and later that year was treated for Covid-19 including a stint at a physical therapy-focused facility. He was hospitalized again in November 2021 for a fall that caused a head injury. Jackson, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King, broke with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1971 to form Operation PUSH — originally named People United to Save Humanity — a sweeping civil rights organization based on Chicago’s South Side. The organization was later renamed the Rainbow PUSH Coalition with a mission ranging from encouraging corporations to hire more minorities to voter registration drives in communities of color. Its annual convention is set Jackson has long been a powerful voice in American politics. Until Barack Obama’s election in 2008, Jackson was the most successful Black candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988. Jackson has helped guide the modern civil rights movement on a wide variety of issues, including voting rights and education. He stood with the family of George Floyd at a memorial for the Black man murdered in 2020 by a white police officer, whose death forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism. Jackson also participated in Covid-19 vaccination drives to battle hesitancy in Black communities. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, said in a statement that he had spoken to Jackson on Friday morning and “told him that we will continue to glean from him and learn from him and duplicate him in whatever our organizations and media platforms are. Because he has been an anchor for me and many others.” Sharpton called Jackson his mentor, adding: “The resignation of Rev. Jesse Jackson is the pivoting of one of the most productive, prophetic, and dominant figures in the struggle for social justice in American history.”
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Kamala Harris, the groundbreaking Vice President who shattered glass ceilings as the first woman and person of color to hold the position, has again etched her name into the annals of history. On Wednesday, July 12, she equaled the record for the most tiebreaking votes ever cast by a Vice President in the U.S. Senate. Harris’s 31st tiebreaking vote propelled the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The only vice president to accumulate such a significant number of tiebreaking votes was John C. Calhoun, who served from 1825 to 1832. Reflecting on her achievement, Harris spoke to reporters and expressed her commitment to paving the way for others. “It is a moment, and I think that there’s still so much left that we have yet to do,” she remarked. Drawing inspiration from her mother’s advice, she added, “My mother gave me great advice, which is that I may be the first to do many things. I’m going to make sure I’m not the last.” Unlike Calhoun, who accumulated his record over eight years, Harris matched the milestone in just two and a half years. This feat underscores her tenure’s unique circumstances, characterized by a narrowly divided Senate and a profoundly partisan atmosphere. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, lauded Harris’s historic tiebreaking vote in a speech delivered on the Senate Floor. “I want to note that this is a history-making moment for the United States Senate,” he declared. Schumer emphasized the weighty responsibility assigned to the Vice President as the President of the Senate, compelled to cast decisive votes in the event of an evenly split chamber. Schumer also commended Harris for her pivotal role in passing crucial legislation. “When it’s mattered most, Vice President Harris has provided the decisive vote on some of the most historic bills of modern times,” he stated. From the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act and the confirmation of numerous federal judges who now contribute to the balance of the federal bench, Harris has exemplified excellence in carrying out her duties, according to Schumer.The Majority Leader expressed gratitude on behalf of the Senate for Harris’s contributions.
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday reiterated criticisms of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military nominations and again called on congressional Republicans to speak up.
“A cascading effect of delayed promotions threatens to brain-drain from the military,” Jean-Pierre said. “And military families do not know where they will live, where spouses will work, where children will go to school.”
Jean-Pierre also referred to previous statements Tuberville, R-Ala., has made about supporting the military, saying, “Sen. Tuberville from 2021 and 2022 should intervene with 2023 Sen. Tuberville, because clearly there’s a problem here.”
Tuberville has halted the normally routine process for military promotions in Congress as part of his objection to a Defense Department policy supporting service members and dependents seeking abortions.
He said last week that he would consider lifting his holds if the abortion policy were put to a vote in Congress and if the White House and the Pentagon agreed that the policy would be removed if the vote were to fail.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that not having the Pentagon’s abortion policy would have an “extremely, extremely significant impact” on military recruiting and retention.
“What happens if you get assigned to a state like Alabama, which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place, and you’re concerned about your reproductive care? What do you do?” Kirby asked. “Do you say no and get out? Well, some people may decide to do that, and what does that mean? That means we lose talent, important talent.”
Kirby said the military’s policies, including those supporting transgender and female service members, are a “foundational, sacred obligation of military leaders.”
“It matters because it says we’re invested in you because you are being willing to invest in us,” Kirby said. “You’re investing your life, your family’s livelihood with us. We owe you that back in return.”
In response to NBC News’ request for comment, a Tuberville spokesman said that what is really affecting recruiting is “the Biden administration’s politicizing the military.”
“The Biden administration seems a lot more concerned about 260 generals and admirals than about tens of thousands of missing recruits,” the spokesman said.
In April, military officials told the House Armed Services Committee that the Army, the Navy and the Air Force would not meet enlistment goals this year.
Several Senate Republicans have been critical of Tuberville’s hold on nominations. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has expressed concern over putting holds on military promotions as opposed to political nominees, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he does not support “putting a hold on military nominations.”
NBC News reported Thursday that the White House is putting increased pressure on Republicans over Tuberville’s blockade, according to a new memo.
“Right now, a Republican Senator is choosing to erode military readiness and abuse military families in the pursuit of an unrelated and extreme anti-freedom agenda — with barely a sound from his GOP colleagues,” White House communications adviser Andrew Bates wrote in the memo.
July 3, 2023 (GIN) – After an absence of four years, the U.N. will return to UNESCO, a global cultural and education body that contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information.
As a condition of readmission, the US will repay around $619 million in unpaid dues, meet 22% of Unesco’s annual budget, and make contributions to programs supporting education access initiatives in Africa, Holocaust remembrance and journalists’ safety.
Beyond stepping up actions for Africa, Unesco said it would be able to increase its efforts toward gender equality, a strategic priority.
A rift with the U.S. began in 2011 when the organization voted to admit Palestine, which is not formally recognized by the US or Israel as a UN member state. The Obama administration cut Unesco contributions, sending the US into owing millions in arrears to the organization.
Five years later, in 2016, the Unesco World Heritage Committee adopted a decision ruling that Israeli actions related to archaeology, tourism and freedom of movement in the Old City of Jerusalem contravened cultural heritage laws and practices.
US and Israeli officials complained that not including the full Jewish history in any decision about Jerusalem was equivalent to a denial of Jewish history.
In 2017, the US blamed “mounting arrears at Unesco, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at Unesco” as reasons for its withdrawal.
The U.S. was accepted back after a two-day special session held at Unicef’s headquarters in Paris. Ten states voted against the US, including Russia, Belarus, Iran, North Korea and Nicaragua. China, which had become the organization’s biggest financial backer in the absence of the US, also voted against readmittance.
“I am encouraged and grateful that Unesco members have accepted the US proposal that will allow us to continue steps toward rejoining the organization,” American secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Among Unesco’s accomplishments was the reconstruction of destroyed mausoleums of Timbuktu (Mali).
The 13th century mausoleums of Muslim saints had been demolished by extremists and some 4,200 ancient manuscripts were burned or stolen.
Timbuktu was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988 for its Outstanding Universal Value as an African intellectual and spiritual capital in the 15th and 16th centuries.
An international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by Unesco in 1972 cites for protection East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America that make up our world’s heritage.
The UN’s director for the International Crisis Group, Richard Gowan, told CBS News: “Biden’s team believes that Trump ceded a lot of ground to China with its anti-UN attitude. “The decision to rejoin Unesco is just the latest example of the US deciding it can do more to counter China by actively engaging in UN institutions than sitting on the sidelines.”
Audrey Azoulay, Unesco Director-General, added: “We need to send the message that destroying sites classified by Unesco cannot go unpunished.”
Viola Ford Fletcher with Hughes Von Ellis, survivors of the Tulsa Massacre
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackManStreet.Today
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – An Oklahoma judge rejected demands for reparations resulting from the 1920 Tulsa Massacre in which more than 300 Blacks were killed, and hundreds were left homeless following an attack led by Whites of the Greenwood Neighborhood, also known as Black Wall Street. The lawsuit was brought by a Black man and two Black Women over the age of 102 who were children at the time. Lewis Bennington Randle, 108, Viola Fletcher, 109, and Hughes Van Ellis,102, sued Tulsa because the city refused to recover from the plaintiff’s unjust treatment. The City of Tulsa called for the dismissal of the lawsuit, and Judge Caroline Wall agreed. Judge Wall dismissed the lawsuit prejudice, which man the plaintiffs could not bring the lawsuit again. Ike Howard, the grandson of Viola Fletcher, said he was angry about the ruling, “They were blighted and once again not made whole,” Howard said. “We remain blighted. We wish the D.O.J would investigate. … How can we get justice in the same city that created the nuisance? Is justice only for the rich?” A family attorney is expected to address the possibility of an appeal. It started this way with a White woman’s tears. On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main white woman named Sarah Page. Tulsa police arrested Rowland the following day and began an investigation. An inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune spurred a confrontation between black and white armed mobs around the courthouse where the sheriff and his men had barricaded the top floor to protect Rowland. Shots were fired. African American men pulled out their rifles and fought back, according to the Tulsa Historical Society. There was no turning of the cheek, but they were eventually overwhelmed. Whites employed low-flying airplanes to strafed Black-own homes by dropping bombs. In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. Governor Robertson declared martial law, and National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa. Guardsmen assisted firemen in putting out fires, took African Americans out of the hands of vigilantes, and imprisoned all black Tulsans not already interned. Over 6,000 people were held at the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds, some for as long as eight days. No one has been tried for the massacre.4.
President Biden with Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education
By Charlene Crowell
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – On June 30, a long-awaited and consequential Supreme Court decision denied forgiveness that would have erased $430 billion of federal student loan balances for 20 million borrowers and lowered the median amount owed by another 23 million borrowers from $29,400 to $13,600. Instead, the nation’s highest court yielded to six states – Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina – that had challenged the plan’s legality. The decision also revealed stark differences within the court that will likely affect future decisions. In his opinion for the 6-3 majority, Chief Justice John Roberts, referring to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote: “The Secretary asserts that the HEROES Act grants him the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal. It does not… The question here is not whether something should be done; it is who has the authority to do it.” In a stark dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Elena Kagen rebuked her colleagues and signaled future problematic decisions with the currently constituted court. “After today,” continued Justice Kagen, “no one will have to go back 50 years for the classic case of the Court manipulating standing doctrine, rather than obeying the edict to stay in its lane…Thus, the Court once again substitutes itself for Congress and the Executive Branch—and the hundreds of millions of people they represent—in making this Nation’s most important, as well as most contested, policy decisions.” Reactions by consumer advocates and civil rights organizations were as swift as they were serious. “The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the President’s program is a clear disregard for what millions of Americans need — especially Black Americans,” stated Derrick Johnson, CEO of the NAACP. “America has so easily forgiven greedy corporations for their debts – why would they refuse to provide the same grace and investment in our own students?” “There is no time to wait–the Administration must act fast to deliver promised relief to worried borrowers and prevent the federal government from sending bills Americans cannot afford to pay in September,” stated Abby Shafroth, Co-Director of Advocacy with the National Consumer Law Center. Concurring with these and other advocates, Jaylon Herbin, Director of Federal Campaigns at the Center for Responsible Lending added, “We urge President Biden to explore all his options, including using his executive and statutory authority, to provide student loan debt relief to the millions of Americans who will face increased financial insecurity when payments restart.” In response to the Supreme Court’s June 30 rejection of student loan forgiveness, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced a three-pronged effort to mitigate student loan debt beginning this summer and before July 1, 2024 when new borrower regulations will take full effect. “[T]he Department finalized our new income driven repayment plan, Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE), which will be the most affordable repayment plan in history,” stated Secretary Cardona. “It will cut monthly payments to zero dollars for millions of low-income borrowers, save all other borrowers at least $1,000 per year, and stop runaway interest that leaves borrowers owing more than their initial loan.” Borrowers who enroll in the plan and pay what they owe will no longer see their loans grow due to unpaid interest. An estimated 70 percent of borrowers who already were on income-driven-repayment (IDR) before the payment pause are expected to see their payments on undergraduate loans cut in half, compared to other IDR plans. This will ensure that borrowers will not see their balance grow as long as they keep up with their required payments. SAVE also provides adjustments for borrowers with varying family status and incomes. For example, single borrowers earning less than $15 an hour or $32,805 annually will not have to make any payments. Borrowers with a family of four can earn up to $67,500 and owe no payments. Married borrowers who file their taxes separately will no longer be required to include their spouse’s income in their payment calculation for SAVE. These borrowers also will have their spouse excluded from their family size when calculating IDR payments, simplifying the choice of repayment plan for borrowers. And borrowers earning above these annual amounts would save more than $1,000 a year on their payments compared to other IDR plans. When the plan is fully implemented next July, additional benefits will begin and include: Borrowers who have undergraduate and graduate loans will pay a weighted average of between 5-10 percent of their income based upon the original principal balances of their loans. For example, a single undergraduate borrower making $50,000 a year would see payments fall an additional $72 a month, bringing their total reduction on the SAVE plan to $163 a month; Borrowers whose original principal balance was $12,000 or less will receive forgiveness after 120 payments, the equivalent of 10 repayment years. An additional 12 payments will be added for each additional $1,000 borrowed above that level, up to a maximum of 20 or 25 years; and Borrowers in default will gain access to the existing income-based repayment (IBR) plan, allowing them to access lower payments and progress toward forgiveness while they work to exit default. However, borrowers in default who provide income information that shows they would have had a $0 payment at the time of default will be automatically moved to good standing, allowing them to access the SAVE plan. Full details of the SAVE plan are available at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2021/idrfactsheetfinal.pdf. An old adage teaches us that where there’s a will, there’s also a way. Many hope that this alternative loan forgiveness program will relieve the nation of its unsustainable debt. Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court has begun a new term after Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was officially added to the bench in September. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The New York Times has uncovered that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a network of connections to wealth and opulent vacations that extend beyond his association with billionaire businessman and controversial figure Harlan Crow, known for his affinity for Nazi memorabilia. According to the report, Thomas has exploited his ties with affluent individuals he met through the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, a prestigious scholarship organization, for personal gain, benefiting himself and his wife, Virginia. Thanks to their Horatio Alger connections, the Thomases have gained exclusive invitations to extravagant vacations, lavish parties, and coveted VIP access to sporting events. Moreover, the association has facilitated encounters for Thomas with prominent figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Ed McMahon, as witnessed during a lavish three-day birthday celebration in Montana for billionaire industrialist Dennis Washington. However, Thomas’ involvement with the Horatio Alger Association extends beyond luxury trips.Notably, the contacts he made through this association, including Washington and investor David Sokol, formerly of Berkshire Hathaway, played a role in financing a documentary that portrayed him as a hero following the release of an HBO movie that depicted Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations during his confirmation hearings. The Sokol family further extended their generosity by hosting the Thomases at their Montana ranch and waterfront estate in Florida. The New York Times discovered that Thomas had not disclosed many of the benefits and gifts he had received from his wealthy and well-connected allies, and he declined to provide the paper with any clarification regarding this matter. Initially, at the start of his tenure on the Supreme Court, Thomas dutifully reported various personal gifts he received, such as private flights, cigars, and clothing. However, after The Los Angeles Times scrutinized his disclosures in 2004, Thomas ceased reporting certain gifts and advantages he received to the court. A recent investigation by ProPublica in 2023 exposed Thomas’ close relationship with Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor with a disturbing collection of Nazi memorabilia and Hitler paintings. Crow had treated Thomas to trips on his private jet and yacht, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, and even purchased a residence where Thomas’ mother resided. Additionally, Crow financed the tuition of Thomas’ nephew, who was under the care of the Thomases. In response to the revelation of his relationship with Crow, Thomas defended his lack of honesty by claiming that “colleagues and others in the judiciary” had advised him that he did not need to disclose trips of a “personal hospitality” nature from friends. Thomas’ acceptance of benefits granted him access to exclusive places he might not have otherwise frequented, and he also extended unusual access to the Horatio Alger Association by hosting their induction ceremony for new members in the Supreme Court’s courtroom. The Times highlights this as an extraordinary privilege granted to an outside group. The newspaper’s examination of fundraising records revealed that the association uses this unique access to raise money for events and scholarships. In an acknowledgment of the significance of the Horatio Alger Association in his life, Thomas expressed, “The Horatio Alger Association has been a home to Virginia and me.” Upon receiving the association’s highest honor in 2010, he made these remarks, further stating that the association had enabled him to witness his dreams come true.If his dreams revolved around undisclosed extravagant vacations and exclusive privileges, then he appears to have achieved them. The Supreme Court recently updated its disclosure regulations, mandating that justices report private jet travel and complimentary stays at hotels and resorts. However, an exception exists for “personal hospitality,” encompassing food, accommodations, or entertainment unrelated to official business. As the layers of Clarence Thomas’ connections to wealth and luxury are gradually peeled back, questions arise about the integrity and transparency of one of the nation’s highest judicial authorities.
U. S. Supreme Court: Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. PHOTO CREDIT: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
By: Hamil R. Harris and Barrington M. Salmon
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Defying more than 45 years of legal precedent, the United States Supreme Court – in a widely-expected ruling – declared that colleges and universities can no longer consider race in their student admissions, ending decades of an affirmative action push in higher education. The court, dominated by far-right conservative Republican judges, voted 6-2, against the admissions program at Harvard University and 6-3 against admissions policies at the University of North Carolina. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, asserted that both institutions violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, thus rendering their programs unlawful. This is the second time in two years, that the super-majority Republican court has reversed almost 50 years of precedent on an issue that had gone a long way toward leveling the uneven playing field for non-white students in higher education. The ruling – which came after a decades-long effort by Republicans – is out of step with the 63 percent of Americans who in a May AP/NORC poll – support Affirmative Action. Reaction was swift and fierce, particularly from two liberal justices who rebuked the idea posited by the majority that programs designed to offset racism by increasing racial diversity are themselves racist. “Gulf-sized race-based gaps exist with respect to the health, wealth, and well-being of American citizens. They were created in the distant past but have indisputably been passed down to the present day through the generations,” said Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in a blistering 29-page dissent. “Every moment these gaps persist is a moment in which this great country falls short of actualizing one of its foundational principles –the “self-evident” truth that all of us are created equal …” Jackson sparred with Justice Clarence Thomas, who during oral arguments said college admissions have become a “zero-sum game” in which Asian students “suffer because of an outdated overcorrection by courts during the civil rights era.” “This is not 1958 or 1968. Today’s youth do not shoulder moral debts of their ancestors,” added Thomas while criticizing Jackson personally. “As she sees things, we are all inexorably trapped in a fundamentally racist society, with the original sin of slavery and the historical subjugation of Black Americans still determining our lives today,” Thomas wrote. One section of Jackson’s dissent that caught fire on social media was her savaging of the court majority. “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat,” Jackson said. “But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life. And having so detached itself from this country’s actual past and present experiences, the Court has now been lured into interfering with the crucial work that UNC and other institutions of higher learning are doing to solve America’s real-world problems.” Although the toppling of the law was expected, a wide spectrum of observers were left angry, distraught and frustrated. “My frustration is the feeling of powerlessness and being unable to press a button to make things better. If I could, I would,” said James Haywood Rolling, Jr., chair of Arts Education at Syracuse University since 2007. “This outcome was set up by the fools who couldn’t play chess well enough to not get Donald Trump elected. He had no interest in governing … folks allowed him to get the levers of power. There will be reverberations that will affect people we love and will continue to.” Michelle Marks-Osbourne, a Christian minister, scholar and an equity expert, echoed Rolling’s displeasure. “I am upset but I expected nothing more from this court. Just to know that this self-loathing man who spoke Gullah Geechee knows he has received so much affirmative action and voted in the manner he did,” she said. “I’m pissed, not pissed. I wrote on Facebook: ‘Dear Black students, HBCUs are waiting …’” Little will change for African Americans until the composition of the court shifts, Marks-Osbourne said. “It’s not until the (high) court changes that this harm will stop. Alito and Thomas are two oldest on court. It’s a waiting game,” said Marks-Osbourne who grew up in Harlem but now lives in North Carolina. “I am aware that the court struck the law down based on race not gender. If it did, white women would be screaming because they are the beneficiaries of the most affirmative action.” While encouraging universities to double down on new ways to promote opportunity, Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, lamented the far-reaching impact the court’s decision will have on already disadvantaged prospective students. “Through a tortured interpretation of the law, history, and current-day reality, today’s decision threatens to make higher education less accessible, less equitable, and less attainable for students of color,” said Hewitt in a statement. “While seemingly leaving existing precedent undisturbed, the majority’s logic will make it more difficult for all students to have a fair shot at getting the quality education they deserve, especially America’s most marginalized students. This Court is clearly on the wrong side of history.” Republicans like former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and former Vice President Mike Pence applauded the ruling. “I’m grateful to see the conservative majority that we have built on the Supreme Court of the United States bring an end to most of affirmative action. We want to live in a color-blind society,” said Pence, during an interview in Kyiv, Ukraine Thursday. “There may have been a time, 50 years ago, when we needed to affirmatively take steps to correct long-term racial bias in institutions of higher education, but I can tell you that as the father of three college graduates, those days are long over.” Pence also said he’s grateful too, “that the Supreme Court took us one step back to that America that will judge every man and woman on the content of their character and on their own achievement and leave race out of the consideration of admissions to higher education.” Affirmative Action supporters chastised the court’s radical right majority and rebuked Republicans’ hypocrisy and dishonesty. “America doesn’t look like it looks by mistake. Old Miss doesn’t look like the way it does by mistake, Princeton doesn’t look like the way it does my mistake,” said Dr. Eddie Glaude, Chair of the Center for African American Studies and the Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. “It’s the result of deliberate policy. And if we’re going into a world where we’re not defined by racial inequality then we have to be as deliberate in dismantling it as we were in creating it. Declaring color-blindness is not being deliberate.” Glaude said America is in the midst of relitigating the 1960s and extremist Republicans in high places are rolling back all the considerable gains of marginalized sections of American society over the past 60 years. “We’re relitigating the world that was created as a result of the Black freedom struggle, as a result of the women’s movement, as a result of the gay liberation movement and the court is clear where it stands on these issues,” said Glaude, during an MSNBC interview Thursday. Anika Trahan said she is left infuriated by the ruling. “I’m not surprised, but still very angry,” said Trahan, an IT Program Manager with a private company based in Silicon Valley. “The leaning of the court is what it is. But, given the information that has been disclosed in recent months about Clarence’s and his wife’s goings-on, makes his concurrence in this that much more bitter a pill to swallow. Additionally, and beyond the nefarious actions of this one justice, the level of willful ignorance of his own ascension via Affirmative Action is so … I can’t even find the words for it.” Observers fear that eliminating race as a factor in college admissions will inevitably lead to a considerably smaller pool of applicants if the past is any indicator. In the nine states that have barred race in consideration of admissions to their public colleges and universities, there has been a precipitous drop, said Georgetown University Law Professor Paul Butler. “We’ve already known the dramatic and negative impact this will have from the nine states who outlawed diversity in college admissions,” said Butler during an MSNBC interview. “A brief presented to the court shows that Black student representation will go down to 2 percent. They overturned one of the most successful racial justice policies of all time.” Butler said America is at risk “of returning to those old days when Blacks, Latinx and Native folks, who built this country, (will be) shut out of the opportunity to learn at some of our countries elite educational institutions.” President Joe Biden expressed his disappointment while adding his voice to widespread criticism of the ruling. “The Supreme Court is not normal. They have done more to unravel basic rights and basic courts than any time in recent history,” he said. “They are so out of sorts with the basic value system of the majority of the American people. Across the board, the majority of the American people do not agree with the decisions they’re making. Their value system and respect for institutions is different.” Derrick Johnson, of the NAACP, was more forceful. “Today the Supreme Court has bowed to the personally held beliefs of an extremist minority. We will not allow hate-inspired people in power to turn back the clock and undermine our hard-won victories,” said Johnson, the legacy organization’s President & CEO in a statement. “The tricks of America’s dark past will not be tolerated. Let me be clear – affirmative action exists because we cannot rely on colleges, universities, and employers to enact admissions and hiring practices that embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion …” Justice Sonia Sotomayor was defiant, warning her colleagues that this issue would not simply disappear, arguing forcefully too that the court is “entrenching racial inequality in education.” “The majority’s vision of race neutrality will entrench racial segregation in higher education because racial inequality will persist so long as it is ignored,” the court’s only Hispanic member said. “Despite the Court’s unjustified exercise of power, the opinion today will serve only to highlight the Court’s own impotence in the face of an America whose cries for equality resound.”
