Civil Rights Roundup: 07/09/08
Jul 9th, 2008 | 3 responses
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news (abbreviated and late due to work, alas)
CNN has now picked up the story of the racist Mexican cartoon character I posted on in yesterday’s roundup.
An atheist solider is suing the military, alleging discrimination.
A Louisiana judge has overturned the conviction of Albert Woodfox, an ex-Black Panther and one of the “Angola three”, who was held in solitary confinement for thirty years.
Can a diversity advocate serve two masters? A Loudoun County advocate tasked with outreach to the minority community has been ousted, despite rave reviews and strident support from the minority community. The county itself, however, apparently did not like her performance (hints in the article point to her being too aggressive).
ICE is reporting that tougher enforcement against employers who hire undocumented/illegal immigrants is coming up.
Illegal/undocumented college students face anxiety about their future. Following up on a theme, I’m not all that keen on deporting B+-average UCLA grads.
Buried in this piece on that same issue comes a shocking policy out of Virginia: apparently, state universities are allowed to decide “on a case-by-case basis” whether U.S.-born child of illegal immigrants (also known as U.S. citizens) should be allowed in-state tuition.
Girl Detective at Feministe has a post up that I’m thrilled to see: This is What Anti-Semitism Looks Like.
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3 Responses to “Civil Rights Roundup: 07/09/08”
[...] State University Civil Rights Roundup: 07/09/08 » This Summary is from an article posted at The Moderate Voice – Domestic and international news [...]
Re: the atheist soldier, maybe the lawsuit will serve to remind some confused and poorly informed folks that the USA is not – nor was ever intended to be, a theocracy. It's a shame this guy has been putting his life on the line serving his country and has to put up with this kind of crap.
Re: Loudoun county diversity advocate
“I Byde My Time” Race and diversity in Northern Virginia: doing a GOOD job gets you fired
The year 2008 is the 40th anniversary of the end of enforced school segregation in Loudoun County, Virginia, a county whose crest is entitled “I Byde My Time.”
Sadly, this same year the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) refused to offer a contract renewal to nationally known diversity trainer and consultant, Beverly Bennett-Roberts, as the Supervisor of Outreach. Despite dozens of testimonies of diverse members of the Loudoun community and employees of LCPS, the Loudoun County School Board chose to ignore the issue, dismissing it as a “personnel matter.”
Even when the Loudoun County NAACP attempted to open dialog on the issue of the dismissal of the African American administrator, the Board responded with silence or denial that race might play a part in the decision not to rehire Ms. Bennett-Roberts. The local press has consistently ignored this issue. Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III, who made the decision not to rehire on the advice of the senior staff, was also responsible for the banning of the book, “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, in February 2008.
When the school system cites Ms. Bennett-Roberts for having “failed to develop the trust necessary to build a cooperative relationship between outside sources and the school system,” perhaps the truth is that the school administrators did not trust the minority community of Loudoun and were fearful of their input on needed change in the schools. Perhaps it was this fear that caused the dismissal.
In a rapidly growing suburban school division in Northern Virginia, the question must be asked, “Is Loudoun County ready to deal with diversity issues in a forthright manner?” Will the good people of Loudoun allow Loudoun County Public Schools to “Byde its Time” in the delivery of fair and equitable education to all their children? The future of our children depends on the answers to these questions.