Why The 'Race Card' Is Played

Kofi Annan death: World leaders honour former UN chief World figures have been paying tribute to former UN secretary-general and Nobel laureate Kofi Annan, who has died at the age of 80. Current UN chief Antonio Guterres hailed him as "a guiding force for good" and Russian President Vladimir Putin described a "remarkable person". Ex-US President Barack Obama said Annan had always pursued "a better world". The Ghanaian national served as UN chief from 1997 to 2006 and is the only black African ever to hold the post. Since then he has served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a solution to the conflict.

Stephon Clark shooting leads Sacramento police to major policy shift The new policy adopted in July requires police officers to weigh their own safety, potential danger to the public and the importance of making an arrest in each of these incidents, KCRA reports. Officers also must start their body cameras, explain why they are launching a chase and must offer a description of the person they are chasing. Officers may stop pursuit at any time “if the risk of pursuing outweighs the need for apprehension,” according to the policy. Law enforcement officers must also give thought to their surroundings and rethink the chase if the suspect enters a building or some other enclosed  space . They also must consider whether there are other officers available to back them up, KCRA reported.

John Elway says Colin Kaepernick 'had his chance to be' a Bronco but turned it down Aug 17 at 9:14am John Elway, the general manager for the Denver Broncos, revealed Thursday that the team once gave embattled former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick a “chance” to be on the team, but he turned them down. Elway’s comments came while speaking to the press following the end of team camp. The former quarterback was asked whether Kaepernick could be seen as “a viable candidate” to fill a back-up quarterback roll. “Colin had his chance to be here. We offered him a contract. He didn’t take it,” Elway responded. Elway was referring to a trade offer made to Kaepernick prior to the 2016 season while he was still a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, USA Today reported. The deal was reportedly not accepted due a proposed pay reduction. Kaepernick ultimately chose to stay with the 49ers. During the season, Kaepernick started his national anthem protests. He began kne

Why NYPD paid Spike Lee $200k for ad campaign to improve relationship between police and community The NYPD is paying director  Spike Lee  more than $200,000 for a leading role in helping facilitate the relationship between cops and the Black community through a new policing programs. Given the onslaught of police  shooting  of unarmed  black men  in recent years, New York City’s own history of racial profiling by officers and Lee’s own criticism of the department this seems like an odd pairing. Lee’s 1989  movie   Do the Right Thing  was ahead of its time, tackling the tenuous race relations in Black communities. Lee ended his movie with a character Radio Raheem, getting choked to death by police. In recent years, Lee drew a comparison to his movie character and the choking death of  Eric Garner . “The Foundation approached and consulted several creative teams including the Spike DDB agency to help develop a public awareness campaign that would aim to strengthen the part

How Aretha Franklin Supported Angela Davis and the Black Panthers Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul and 20th century pop titan who died Thursday at home in Detroit, had a special connection to the Bay Area's radical history. Franklin, whose "Respect" became a civil-rights anthem, connected with the Black Power movement in the Bay Area. In a 1971  Jet  magazine interview, she offered to pay the bail of Angela Davis, then imprisoned after eluding arrest for alleged ties to a courtroom escape-turned-shootout in Marin. “Angela Davis must go free,” Franklin said. “Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up... and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in. I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a black woman and she wants freedom for black people. I have the money; I got it from black people." Franklin noted that her father, the pre

Trump at 36 percent approval among African-Americans, new poll finds Even as cable news networks debate reports of the existence of a recording of President Donald Trump using a racial slur, a  new poll from Rasmussen Reports  says that the president's approval rating among African-Americans is at 36 percent, nearly double his support at this time last year.  "Today's @realDonaldTrump approval ratings among black voters: 36%," Rasmussen said in a tweet. "This day last year: 19%."  That is a staggeringly high number for a man who only won 8 percent of the African-American vote in 2016. It is even more unexpected given the president's rocky history on matters related to race , including his current nasty feud with former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman, who has  alleged Trump said " n word "  on the set of the reality-TV show "The Apprentice."  Conservatives celebrated the poll as a sign of trouble for Democrats

African migrants in disbelief as Israeli law cuts their salaries TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — African migrants in Israel have been detained, threatened with deportation and faced hostility from lawmakers and residents. Since last year, they face another burden: a de facto 20 percent salary cut that has driven them further into poverty. Israel’s roughly 35,000 African migrants and the groups that support them say the recent law — in which Israel withholds the money from their paychecks every month and returns it only if they leave the country — is yet another attempt by an anti-migrant government to force them out. “I feel that they started the ‘deposit law’ to make our life miserable,” said Salamwit Willedo, a migrant from Eritrea who came to Israel in 2010. “We suffer for eight years here. If I had a country, why am I living here?”

New blackface video roils Sacramento high school where racist science project was featured A Sacramento high school that was recently embroiled in a controversy over a racist Science Fair project is reeling again after several students filmed themselves using the N-word while in blackface. According to CBS13 Sacramento, students believed to be attending McClatchy High School posted a video of themselves on social media wearing cosmetic mud masks and using t he highly-charged racial slur . In the first clip a teenage boy in blackface approachesa a bird cage, saying, “I don’t think this bird likes n***ers.” A second clip shows a teenage girl and the same boy flirting with the teen girl, giggling, “Hi, n***er.” While school officials are reasonably sure the videos were not shot on campus, they are concerned about the video coming on the heels of a student’s controversial science project in February that  questioned the IQ’s of African-American students .

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has died Aretha Franklin, whose gospel-rooted singing and bluesy yet expansive delivery earned her the title "the Queen of Soul," has died, a family statement said Thursday. She was 76. Franklin died at 9:50 a.m. at her home in Detroit, surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement on behalf of Franklin's family from her longtime publicist Gwendolyn Quinn. The "official cause of death was due to advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin's oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit," the family statement said.

New study confirms Black boys feel less safe in white neighborhoods Researchers from the Department of Sociology at Ohio State University  conducted the study  by giving 506 Black boys between the ages of 11 to 17 smartphones to track their locations every 30 seconds for a week, according to  The New York Times . Participants were asked where they were, who they were with and how safe they felt around Columbus, Ohio, on a scale of 1 to 5. The mini survey took place from 2014 to 2016 with researchers receiving almost 7,400 surveys, the report says.

'Wake up!' Ana Navarro nukes Trump defender for saying attacks on black people's intelligence aren't racist : Republican strategist Ana Navarro on Wednesday unloaded on a Trump-defending Republican for trying to claim that the president’s attacks on black people’s intelligence aren’t racist. After Scott Jennings, the former special assistant to former President George W. Bush, argued that Trump was an “equal opportunity” offender of people, regardless of their skin color, Navarro jumped on him and said you can’t take the president’s regular attacks on black people’s intelligence as isolated events. “I frankly …

Sarah Sanders Apologizes For Her False Claim About African American Job Growth Under President Trump White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders  apologized  Tuesday for overstating African American employment numbers during a press conference. In response to a question about President Donald Trump’s alleged use of a racial slur, Sanders  told reporters  that employment among African Americans had grown three times as much in the first 18 months of the president’s term as it it had during President Barack Obama’s eight years in office, citing the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). African American job growth during the Obama and Trump presidential terms differed little, former Treasury economist Ernie Tedeschi  told  The Washington Post :  “The real bottom line is that the pace of jobs growth hasn’t changed dramatically between the two presidents.” Employment did fall early in Obama’s first term, during the tail end of the Great Recession, but was growi

Prosecutor overrules sheriff, charges Florida man in 'stand your ground' case Michael Drejka, who fatally shot Markeis McGlockton after  McGlockton shoved him  in a Clearwater, Florida, convenience store parking lot, has been charged with manslaughter, officials said Monday. "Consistent with the decision-making process established under Florida law in this case, the State Attorney conducted his review and decided to charge Drejka with manslaughter," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in a news release. Previously, Gualtieri said the state's "stand your ground" laws prevented him from arresting Drejka last month. Pinellas and Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe said he came to his decision to charge Drejka after a nine-day review that began August 1.

Partially-clothed white people go on a racist rampage in black family’s front yard : Police in Delaware, North Carolina are looking for a trio of suspects that hurled racist abuse at a black family then hit another car and drove off, reports WECT. The incident occurred in the 400 block of South Kerr Avenue around 9:30 p.m. on July 28. According to a witness, he heard a commotion outside and went to investigate. The two white men and white woman yelled racist abuse at him for at least 5 …

YouTube Star Laura Lee Deletes Twitter After Being Exposed for Past Racism Ruby Rose  isn’t the only celebrity who  deleted her Twitter  over the weekend. YouTube beauty guru  Laura Lee  also exited the social media platform after she faced backlash for a racist tweet that just recently surfaced. Back in 2012, the 29-year-old YouTuber wrote, “Tip for all black people if you pull ur pants up you can run from the police faster.. #yourwelcome” Laura was heavily (and understandably) criticized for the horrifically racist words, but instead of responding to fans’ concerns or apologizing for her past actions, she decided to deactivate her account. And while the racism is obviously the main issue, the fact that she basically ran from the situation is another thing that is seriously ticking people off. Former BFF  Jeffree Star , who recently  apologized  for  past racism , previously said Laura’s “ soul is pure evil ” and actually apologized “for ever introducing her to [his] audi

Police chiefs criticize Elizabeth Warren for calling criminal justice system ‘racist’ US Senator Elizabeth Warren is facing tough criticism from local police chiefs over her recent remarks about racism and the criminal justice system, exposing her to new attacks from rivals as she runs for re-election amid  buzz that she could be a Democratic presidential contender in 2020 . While speaking Aug. 3 at Dillard University, a historically black college in New Orleans, Warren said the  criminal justice system is “racist. . . front to back.” The remarks drew a rebuke from Yarmouth Police Chief Frank G. Frederickson, who wrote Friday on the department’s Facebook page that her comments were an “insult.”

Green Bay Packers open first African American players exhibit GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) --  A Wisconsin museum is highlighting the contribution of the Green Bay Packers' first African-American players in a new exhibit, as the team the gears up to celebrate their centenary in professional football. Neville Public Museum executive director Beth Lemke says adding the exhibit called "Delay of Game" will help visitors "discover how the experiences, challenges, and contributions of African-American players have changed this community." Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the display highlights players, including defensive halfback and safety Emlen Tunnell, defensive end Lionel Aldridge and defensive end Reggie White. The exhibit also includes the Packers' first African-American player, wide receiver Bob Mann. He played for the team from 1950-1954.Mann was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1988. The exhibit opened Aug. 11 and will remain open unti

Whatever happened to the Tea Party?  Whatever was left of the Tea Party movement died overnight. Dr. Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator, tried to give it CPR, personally shutting down the federal government for a few hours by taking the floor and delaying a vote on the budget deal. The proposed bipartisan resolution to keep the government open gave Republicans more money for defense and Democrats more money for a host of other programs. What’s worse for Paul was that all of it was done at the last minute, behind closed doors, and most members of Congress had no way to read and understand all 600-plus pages. Paul’s filibuster Thursday night ended up just being the eulogy for the Tea Party. The Republican-controlled House and Senate passed the huge spending package, despite the fact that it will bloat the national debt. President Trump, who ran a campaign promising to radically reduce the debt, signed the bill around the time federal workers showed up to clock in for another Fr

‘Unite the Right’ Rally: White Nationalists March in D.C. WASHINGTON — A year after the race-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Va., a small group of white nationalists marched through downtown Washington on Sunday on their way to a rally in front of the White House. They were met along their route and at the rally site by thousands of counterdemonstrators denouncing racism and white supremacy. The groups were separated by metal fences and dozens of law enforcement officers guarding against any outbreaks of violence. After marching from a neighborhood just west of the White House, the handful of supremacists took over a pocket of Lafayette Square, a park just north of the White House, tucked underneath trees. Many of them carried American flags, and several wore President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign hats. The group’s organizer, Jason Kessler, stood on a platform with a microphone, addressing attendees who arrived before the event was scheduled to begin.