civil rights

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Obama Renews Promises to Dismayed Gay Leaders

President vows to repeal DOMA, open military to all

(Newser) - President Obama turned on the charm at a reception yesterday for gay, lesbian, and transgender activists at the White House, where he tried to dispel worries he was dragging his feet on campaign promises. "I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration" by the...

Senate Apologizes for Slavery
 Senate Apologizes for Slavery 
Jun 18, 2009 1:45 PM CDT

Senate Apologizes for Slavery

(Newser) - The Senate today apologized for slavery and civil rights abuses against African-Americans, CNN reports. The unanimous gesture—it comes on the eve of Juneteenth, which marks the end of the Civil War—carries a disclaimer that it's not meant to authorize reparations, notes the Chicago Tribune. The House will vote...

Town Known for Civil Rights Murders Elects Black Mayor

Mayor brings change to Mississippi Burning town

(Newser) - In a town best known for the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers, the election of its first black mayor is more than just noteworthy: It’s “an atomic bomb of change,” says James Young. Young, who remembers being harassed by the Ku Klux Klan, defeated the...

Obama Looks to Limit Right to Counsel

(Newser) - The Obama administration is pushing for a Supreme Court decision that would curtail the right of criminal suspects to counsel, the AP reports. At issue is a 1986 ruling that prevents police from questioning suspects unless a lawyer is present. The Justice Department says the restriction “serves no real...

FBI to Vastly Enlarge DNA Database by Swabbing Suspects

(Newser) - Following the lead of Britain and 15 US states, the FBI plans to swab suspects for DNA upon arrest—a move expected to massively expand the feds' genetic database and spark criticism from civil rights advocates, the New York Times reports. But law enforcement officials praise the practice and compare...

Gays Deserve Reparation Checks
 Gays Deserve 
 Reparation Checks 
OPINION
Apr 7, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Gays Deserve Reparation Checks

(Newser) - “The time has arrived to place economic reparations for gay and lesbian Americans on the political agenda,” Jacob Appel writes in the Detroit Free Press. Equality under the law is inevitable, if still a few years out; meantime, homosexuals must be compensated for their trouble. “While the...

Iowans Herald, Decry Gay Marriage Ruling

(Newser) - Gay marriages will begin taking place in Iowa on April 24, the Des Moines Register reports. The state supreme court’s ruling today that prohibiting the unions is unconstitutional applies to Iowans as well as visitors, because the state has no residency laws for marriage. “I’m off the...

New Photos Bare Aftermath of King's Death

Life finally releases grim images taken after assassination

(Newser) - Newly published photographs by a Life magazine lensman capture the aftermath of the shocking assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., including a motel worker sweeping away the blood of the civil rights crusader. Few journalists traveled to Memphis after the assassination, and Life declined to run the photos after his...

Black Leaders Pin High Hopes on New AG

Civil rights advocates see opportunity for change under Holder

(Newser) - For decades, black men have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to execution at disproportionate rates. Now, with the appointment of the country's first African-American attorney general, black leaders are hoping Eric Holder will help the Justice Department reform what they see as a broken system. "The most important thing...

Witness to a Century, 105-Year-Old Goes to Capitol

'My hope for him is my hope for the country,' she says

(Newser) - Today’s inauguration of Barack Obama marks an important milestone in an African-American struggle that lasted more than 200 years—and Ella Mae Johnson isn’t going to miss it, NPR reports. After all, she’s been around for nearly half of that struggle. The 105-year-old Cleveland resident will brave...

Little Rock Desegregation Heroes Mark New Era

Former students who helped pave way for Obama presidency to attend inauguration

(Newser) - Five decades ago, nine teenagers walked into their new high school through screaming mobs who spat at them and shouted racist abuse. They were the first black students to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., and became known as the Little Rock Nine. Seven of them will attend...

MLK Predicted Black US Prez in 'Less Than 40 Years'

BBC unearths 1964 talk with civil rights leader

(Newser) - The BBC has dug up an archival interview of Martin Luther King, Jr predicting a black US president "in less than 40 years." Talking to the BBC's Bob McKenzie in 1964, King said he was encouraged by recent changes, like compliance with the Civil Rights Act, "that...

Purge of 'Crazy Libs' by Bush Civil Rights Boss Broke Law

'Commies' pushed out for 'real Americans'

(Newser) - A Bush appointee who headed the Justice Department's civil rights division blatantly violated federal anti-bias laws in his hiring policies and then lied about it to Congress, according to government authorities. An internal report quotes emails from Bradley Schlozman, who ran the department from 2003 to 2006, in which he...

Killer Made Infamous by Dylan Is Dead

(Newser) - William Zantzinger, the white Maryland tobacco farmer immortalized in a Bob Dylan song for the 1963 killing of a black Baltimore barmaid, has died. Zantzinger, inebriated from a night on the town, struck Hattie Carroll with a cane when she was slow bringing him a bourbon. Carroll, a 51-year-old mother...

Belafonte, Sotheby's Cancel MLK Auction

King estate disputes ownership of papers

(Newser) - Sotheby's has canceled the auction of three Martin Luther King documents amid an ongoing feud between their owner—Harry Belafonte—and the King estate, the New York Times reports. MLK's heirs contend that Belafonte is not the rightful owner of the papers, which include an important King speech on Vietnam...

Folk Giant Odetta Dead at 77
 Folk Giant Odetta Dead at 77 
Dec 3, 2008 2:37 AM CST

Folk Giant Odetta Dead at 77

Odetta's powerful songs were soundtrack of '60s struggle

(Newser) - The woman Martin Luther King Jr. called "the queen of American folk music" has died of heart failure at the age of 77, the New York Times reports. Odetta was a huge influence on dozens of musicians from Bob Dylan to Janis Joplin as her powerful voice and songs...

King Family Wants Cut of Obama-King Souvenir Cash

The dream may be passed down, but not the brand

(Newser) - The family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is demanding a share of the proceeds from the sudden wave of T-shirts, posters, and other merch pairing the civil rights leader with Barack Obama, the AP reports. Obama may have inherited the dream, but they own the brand, says the...

Prop 8 Splits California's Gays, Blacks

African-Americans argue gay marriage isn't a civil rights issue

(Newser) - California's narrowly passed ban on gay marriage has divided many of the state's gays and blacks on the issue, the Los Angeles Times reports. Exit polls show that black voters—who turned out in record numbers—backed the ban by around 70%, the biggest margin of any ethnic group. Some...

Despite Prop. 8, Gay Rights Will Prevail: Sullivan

All civil-rights struggles have setbacks, gay Atlantic scribe reminds

(Newser) - Though news of California banning gay marriage is “heart-breaking,” Andrew Sullivan takes solace in the progress that has been achieved for gay rights, he writes for the Atlantic. Marriages, like Sullivan’s own, performed in Massachusetts or Connecticut are still valid. The California initiative can be rolled back,...

Senate OKs Civil Rights-Era Cold-Case Unit

Bill would give Justice Department $10M a year to examine killings

(Newser) - The US Senate unanimously passed a bill that would open a Justice Department unit to re-examine civil-rights era killings that have gone unpunished, the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger reports. The Emmett Till Act, named after the Chicago teen whose murderers confessed publicly, has also passed the House and will be...

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