Setting it Straight: Race and Racism, Minority Groups

Reaching back in time to discover and shine a light on events and peoples whose roles in shaping history may be unknown, misunderstood, or misrepresented.
November 13th, 2014
Written by Eric Tucker in Race Relations, Setting It Straight with 1 Comment
In this May 29, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to John Doar, who handled civil rights cases in the 1960's, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Doar, who as a top Justice Department civil rights lawyer in the 1960s fought to protect the rights of black voters and integrate universities in the South, died Tuesday at age 92.
Civil Rights lawyer, John Doar, a Lincoln Republican who as a top Justice Department civil rights lawyer in the 1960s fought to protect the rights of black voters and worked against segregation in the South, died Tuesday at age 92. The cause was congestive heart failure, said his son, Burke Doar. Doar was a Justice Department civil rights lawyer from 1960 to 1967, serving in the final months of...
November 9th, 2014
Written by Nedra Pickler - Associated Press in Race Relations, Setting It Straight with 1 Comment
President Barack Obama listens as U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch speaks after Obama nominated Lynch to be the Attorney General, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Lynch would succeed Attorney General Eric Holder.
President Barack Obama names the first black woman as his nominee for U.S. Attorney General to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder. The president introduced his choice for attorney general Saturday as an accomplished prosecutor from New York City who will carry on a "fierce commitment to equal justice." Loretta Lynch, 55, would be the first African-American woman to serve as attorney...
October 16th, 2014
Written by Jesse J Holland in Race Relations, Setting It Straight with 0 Comments
In this May 22, 2014 photo, New Jersey Assemblywoman and congressional candidate, Bonnie Watson Coleman, center, D-Trenton, N.J., stands on the floor of the assembly before a session at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. More than 100 black candidates will be on the ballot in statewide and congressional races next month, a post-Reconstruction record that some observers say is a byproduct of President Barack Obama’s historic presidency.
More than 100 black candidates will be on the ballot in statewide and congressional races next month, a post-Reconstruction record that some observers say is a byproduct of President Barack Obama's historic presidency. At least 83 black Republicans and Democrats are running for the U.S. House, an all-time high for the modern era, according to political scientist David Bositis, who has tracked...
October 11th, 2014
Written by Larry O’Dell in Race Relations, Setting It Straight with 0 Comments
Virginia legislators packed too many black voters into one congressional district in order to make adjacent districts safer for Republican incumbents, a federal has court ruled.
Congressional districts based on race and partisan politics in Virginia have been rejected by a federal court. Virginia legislators packed too many black voters into one congressional district in order to make adjacent districts safer for Republican incumbents, a federal court ruled Tuesday. The 2-1 ruling by a panel of judges left the state's congressional districts intact for November's...
October 6th, 2014
Written by Jennifer Peltz - Associated Press in National Collegiate Dialogue, Race Relations, Setting It Straight with 18 Comments
Donald Kagan said he forgives now-retired Judge Frank Barbaro (left), who convicted him of murder in a case the judge now admits was tainted by racism.
Was there reverse racism in a murder case conviction, where a white man was found guilty of killing a black man? Donald Kagan had been in prison for murder for more than a decade when doubts about his guilt arose from an uncommon source: the former judge who had convicted him. The reason was more extraordinary still: The now-retired, white jurist felt he had been swayed by bias against Kagan,...

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