Greene County Democrat

Tag: Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty

  • Newswire : Biden signs Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill into law

    Emmett Till
    NAACP “A Man Was Lynched Today” Banner

    President Joe Biden on Tuesday, March 29, signed into law the Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2022, which makes lynching a federal hate crime.
    
Earlier this month, the bipartisan measure passed both chambers of Congress. Named after Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American savagely murdered by a group of white men in Mississippi in 1955, the legislation received push back from three Republicans – Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Chip Roy of Texas. Each were the lone votes against the bill.
    
Emmett Till’s murder sparked the civil rights movement which ultimately led to bills like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other social justice laws.
    
“I could not have been prouder to stand behind President Biden as he signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law,” National Urban League President Marc Morial stated.
    
“The act of lynching is a weapon of racial terror that has been used for decades, and our communities are still impacted by these hate crimes to this day,” Morial continued. “This bill is long overdue, and I applaud President Biden and Members of Congress for their leadership in honoring Emmett Till and other lynching victims by passing this significant piece of legislation.”
    
According to the bill’s text, “Whoever conspires to commit any offense … shall (A) if death results from the offense, be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.”
    
“(B) In any other case, be subjected to the same penalties as the penalties prescribed for the offense of the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.” Specifically, the legislation makes lynching a federal hate crime, punishable by up to life in prison.
    
The measure had faced defeat for more than 100 years, with lawmakers attempting to pass the legislation more than 200 times. The House finally passed the bill on a 422-3 vote.
It passed unanimously in the Senate.
    
“This is a moment of historic consequence. Despite more than 200 attempts to make lynching a federal crime over the past 120 years, it has never before been done,” added Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio).
    
“We are proud Congressman Bobby Rush remained steadfast in championing this critical legislation,” Beatty asserted. “This bill clearly conveys our nation will no longer ignore this shameful chapter of our history, and the full force of the U.S. federal government will be brought to bear against those who commit this heinous act.”
    
Lynching counts as a longstanding and uniquely American weapon of racial terror that has for decades been used to maintain the white hierarchy,” said Rush (D-Illinois).
    
“Perpetrators of lynching got away with murder time and time again — in most cases, they were never even brought to trial. Legislation to make lynching a federal crime and prevent racist killers from evading justice was introduced more than 200 times, but never once passed into law,” Rush stated.
    
The founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, Rush previously promised to do all he could to push the legislation through before his retirement.
    
The congressman recalled that he was 8 years old when he saw photos of Emmett Till’s brutalized corpse in Jet Magazine. “That shaped my consciousness as a Black man in America, changed the course of my life, and changed our nation,” Rush affirmed.
    
New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker noted that between 1936 and 1938, the national headquarters of the NAACP hung a flag with the words “A man was lynched yesterday.”
“That was a solemn reminder of the reality Black Americans experienced daily during some of the darkest chapters of America’s history,” Sen. Booker remarked.
    
“Used by white supremacists to oppress and subjugate Black communities, lynching is a form of racialized violence that has permeated much of our nation’s past and must now be reckoned with,” the Senator continued. “Although this bill will not undo the terror and fear of the past, it’s a necessary step that our nation must take to move forward.”

  • House passes CROWN act to end discrimination against natural Black hairstyles

    Black woman with a natural hairstyle

    By Stacy M Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Connecticut Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes sounded off to critics of legislation that would allow individuals freedom to express themselves by how they wear their hair.
    
“Natural hair should be worn without fear of discrimination,” Rep. Hayes asserted moments after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act, banning hair-related discrimination.
The measure passed in a vote of 235-189 along party lines.
    
Introduced by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey), the acronym CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
    
The measure outlaws discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair.
The bill will, which now heads to the Senate, states that “routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities” for wearing their hair in natural or protective hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros.
    
Republicans strongly opposed the measure, and some used race-baiting words in expressing their opposition. “No to the nappy hair act,” Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green railed.
Civil rights groups applauded the passage of the measure.
    
“Passage of the CROWN Act by the House of Representatives moves our nation one step closer to federal protection for Black women, men, and children from discrimination across the country simply because of their natural hair or hairstyle,” stated Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
    
“We urge the Senate to quickly take up this important legislation, which would ensure that Black students are not prohibited from attending or participating in school events because of their natural hair, that Black employees are not subject to pretextual firing or negative employment actions because of their hair texture or style, and that Black people are accorded dignity and respect in choosing to embrace a natural hairstyle.”
    
Hewitt said restrictions on Black hairstyles and textures in workplaces and school campuses are relics of white supremacy. “This explicit protection against racial discrimination based on hairstyles is long overdue,” he remarked.
    
In a statement, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said Black women and girls face discrimination because of their natural hair each day at their workplaces and schools.
“So today, I proudly voted yes on the CROWN Act to finally end race-based hair discrimination once and for all,” Beatty insisted.
    
“It’s simple — discrimination against Black hair is discrimination based on race. I look forward to swift passage of this critical legislation in the Senate and standing with President Biden as he signs it into law.”
    
Rep. Beatty then delivered a message to Black youth. “To every young Black girl and boy, I say to you, your hair — from your kinks to your curls, from your fros to your fades, from your locs to your braids — is a crown,” she asserted. “Be proud of your hair and know the Congressional Black Caucus is fighting for you.”

  • President Biden signs Juneteenth Holiday into law

     Nancy Pelosi with Congressional Black Caucus members at signing

    By Stacy M.Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Beginning on Friday, June 18, federal employees enjoyed the country’s 12th – and perhaps most significant – paid holiday. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held a signing ceremony, officially marking Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Because Juneteenth falls on a Saturday this year, workers are enjoying the new holiday one day early. “Black history is American history, and I am proud to stand alongside President Biden and my fellow congressional colleagues in reaffirming that sacred principle,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) stated. “While we rightfully celebrate this momentous moment today, the Congressional Black Caucus recognizes that the work to build a brighter tomorrow for Black Americans is far from over. ‘Our Power, Our Message’ remains the same: equity, equality, and justice for all people.” Before attending the White House signing ceremony, Congresswoman Beatty witnessed the bill’s engrossment while flanked by CBC members and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. President Biden and Vice President Harris had made it a mission of their administration to undo as much systemic racism and defeat White supremacy. With a diverse cabinet and staff, and policies that aim to level the playing field for African Americans and other people of color, the administration has worked diligently in living up to its mission. Juneteenth was established on June 19, 1865, more than two years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Union soldiers – led by General Gordon Granger – arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War was over and all previously enslaved people were free. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862 to free enslaved people in Confederate states. However, it wasn’t until nearly three years later that news of the proclamation reached Black people in Texas. The fight to formally recognize Juneteenth has been a decades-long effort culminating in the broad bipartisan passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Before the U.S. House of Representatives’ historic vote, Congresswoman Beatty called on her colleagues to support the measure. “You can’t change the future if you can’t acknowledge the past,” she proclaimed. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, applauded signage of the bill. However, Congresswoman Waters said recognition comes 156 years late. “While this is certainly welcomed, it comes 156 years late, and after legislation to protect voting rights and address police abuse sits idle because of Republican Senators who refuse to understand the need to protect our communities and our right to participate in this democracy,” the congresswoman asserted. “To put this moment into perspective, the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday happened in 1986, and we are still fighting for our civil rights,” she stated. Congresswoman Waters continued: “We are still waiting for Senate passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. We are still waiting for lynching to be classified as a federal hate crime. We are still waiting for the terrorists who destroyed Black Wall Street during the Tulsa Race Massacre to be held accountable, and we are still waiting for Black history to be accurately taught in our schools.” The congresswoman insisted further that “as we celebrate the passage of this legislation, let us be clear that we will not be distracted or appeased.” “We will not simply accept Juneteenth as a federal holiday in exchange for real action that honors our history and our place in this country and moves us closer to achieving justice,” Congresswoman Waters remarked. She said she fully expects her colleagues to join her urgent calls for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Senate passage of the For the People Act. “In the final analysis, it will be shown that platitudes and niceties are one thing but having the courage and taking real action on this issue is another,” Congresswoman Waters demanded. “Let us honor this day by working toward a nation in which Black lives and Black votes are protected and respected.”