America has, once again, made it clear that it has no interest in doing even the bare minimum to make amends for the historic atrocities committed against Black people—even the Black people who experienced those atrocities firsthand.

According to CNN, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Wednesday, siding with a lower court’s ruling that the plaintiffs, who are both more than 100 years old now, shouldn’t get damages because “simply being connected to a historical event does not provide a person with unlimited rights to seek compensation.”

Imagine looking the only survivors of one of the worst and most notorious race massacres in America’s history right in the eye and telling them they aren’t owed anything for what they suffered. Imagine saying that to Black people who are seeking reparations, not as the descendants of the people who suffered, but as the sufferers themselves. The state Supreme Court even acknowledged that the “grievance with the social and economic inequities created by the Tulsa Race Massacre is legitimate and worthy of merit.” Did the justices even wince a little when they admitted this to 109-year-olds Viola Ford Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle knowing they were about to add a huge “but” to the statement?

“However, the law does not permit us to extend the scope of our public nuisance doctrine beyond what the Legislature has authorized to afford Plaintiffs the justice they are seeking,” the court wrote in its decision. In other words: The lower court wouldn’t give them justice, and the Supreme Court “justices” won’t either.

Source: SMH: Reparations Lawsuit Filed By Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors Dismissed By Oklahoma Supreme Court

Among the 536 members of the last sitting Congress, Reuters found that at least 100 have ancestors who were slaveholders.

By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire   Recent research conducted by Reuters has shed light on the genealogies of America’s political elite, revealing that a significant portion of members of Congress, living presidents, Supreme Court justices, and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people.
  Among the 536 members of the last sitting Congress, Reuters found that at least 100 have ancestors who were slaveholders.
  Furthermore, over a quarter of the Senate, or 28 members, can trace their families back to slaveholding ancestors.
  This spans Democratic and Republican lawmakers, including influential figures such as Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Tom Cotton, as well as Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, and Jeanne Shaheen.
The examination also revealed that President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president, except Donald Trump, have direct connections to slaveholders.
  That list includes Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and even Barack Obama through his white mother’s lineage.
  Additionally, two of the nine sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, have ancestors who were involved in enslavement.
  The research conducted by Reuters also delved into the gubernatorial level, revealing that in 2022, 11 out of 50 U.S. states had governors who were descendants of slaveholders.
  Eight governors hail from states that formed the Confederate States of America, which fought to preserve slavery.
Among them, Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota are seeking the Republican nomination for president.
  According to Reuters’ findings, at least 8% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans in the last Congress had ancestral ties to slaveholders.
This disparity reflects the historical strength of the Republican Party in the South, where slavery was concentrated.
South Carolina, where the Civil War began, exemplifies the familial connections between lawmakers and the nation’s history of slavery.

Every member of the state’s delegation to the last Congress has ancestral ties to slavery.
  Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican presidential candidate, and Rep. James Clyburn, a prominent Democrat, both have ancestors who were enslaved.
All seven white lawmakers from South Carolina in the 117th Congress are direct descendants of slaveholders, as is the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster.
  The unveiling of these ancestral ties to slavery comes at a time when the legacy of slavery is under renewed and intense debate.
  The investigation by Reuters emphasizes the ongoing relationship between America and the institution of slavery, particularly among those who influence the country’s laws.
  Henry Louis Gates Jr., a professor at Harvard University specializing in African and African American Research, emphasized in an NBC News interview that identifying these ancestral connections is not about assigning blame but recognizing the close link between lawmakers and slavery.
  Gates stated that it served as an opportunity for individuals to learn and for the American people to gain a deeper understanding of their shared history.
  The Reuters analysis goes beyond previous documentation of ancestral ties to slavery by focusing on the most powerful officeholders of today, many of whom have taken stances on race-related policies.
  The comprehensive research provides a broader and more detailed perspective on the extent of these leaders’ connections to America’s “original sin.”
It also explores the personal and significant implications for lawmakers and prominent officials as they confront the realities of their own family’s involvement in slavery.
  The research focused on direct lineal descendants rather than distant cousins.
The sources analyzed included Census records, tax documents, estate records, family Bibles, newspaper accounts, and birth and death certificates.
To ensure accuracy, board-certified genealogists reviewed each case linking a contemporary leader to a slaveholding ancestor.
  While the Reuters examination provided a valuable understanding of the ancestral ties between the political elite and slavery, it’s further acknowledged that the records available may not capture the full extent of those connections.
  Many records have been lost or destroyed over time, leading to the possibility of an undercount.

MoveOn praises House passage of John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and calls on the Senate to pass it as well

Tonight, MoveOn is celebrating a crucial victory for democracy with the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by the U.S. House of Representatives. Once signed into law, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will restore the essential portion of the Voting Rights Act, struck down by a Republican-packed Supreme Court, that blocks discriminatory voting policies before they go into effect, putting a transparent process in place for protecting everyone’s freedom to vote.

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“Passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is of utmost importance. We’re in a five alarm fire, with Republican attacks continuing to escalate, and the promise of democracy is on the line,” said MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting. “Voters pick our leaders, and not the other way around. To deny this bill would be to deny the very foundation of democracy. The Senate must act now and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore the Voting Rights Act, as well as the For the People Act and protect the freedom to vote for all Americans.”

As we commend the House for passing a voting rights bill which places value on the freedom to vote, we must be sure to note that the job is not finished. Democrats in the Senate must not let Republicans abuse the Jim Crow filibuster to block this urgently needed legislation.

“Ensuring that democracy works for and includes all Americans regardless of color, party, or zip code should not be a partisan issue,” MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting explained, “As the freedom to vote is being attacked by Republicans at the state level across the country, we need strong legislation to create national standards and accountability for those who try to rig the rules in their own favor.”

The Voting Rights Act has a long history of bipartisan support. In fact, every time the law has been reauthorized, it has been signed into law by a Republican president after first being signed into law by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 at the peak of the Civil Rights movement. When it was reauthorized most recently in 2006, it passed the Senate with unanimous support, 98 to 0.

Source: Breaking: House Passes John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

A larger-than-life bronze statue of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on display in her hometown of Brooklyn.The 7-foot-tall, 650-pound statue was unveiled last week at City Point Brooklyn, a mixed-use development about a half mile away from the Brooklyn Bridge.It was created by Australian artists Gillie and Marc, who got Ginsburg’s approval for the statue before she died in September 2020 from complications of metastatic pancreas cancer.‘Ruth – Justice Ginsburg In Her Own Words’ gives RBG the last word on her legacy“We had the honor and privilege to create Justice Ginsburg’s distinguished likeness in everlasting bronze as a part of Statues for Equality. The final statue, reflects her wish to be depicted in a dignified manner,” the artists said in a statement.The statue is open to the public, but reservations are required.‘Slavery For Life’: School District Forced To Apologize After Another Civil War Assignment Goes WrongIn the statue, Ginsburg stands on two steps, which the artists said represent her climb to reach the US Supreme Court.Ginsburg became only the second female associate justice on the Supreme Court when then-President Bill Clinton appointed her in 1993. She served on the court for 27 years.Monday would have been Ginsburg’s 88th birthday and city officials renamed the Brooklyn Municipal Building, which houses many city offices, the Justice Ginsburg Municipal Building in her honor.“Today we honor a true daughter of Brooklyn: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Justice Ginsburg fought for justice and equality her entire life. May her memory, and this building, inspire generations of New Yorkers to stand up, speak out and make our country a better place for all who call it home.”

Source: Ruth Bader Ginsburg honored with bronze statue

By Victor Trammell

Photo credits: The Northern Valley Press

Just eight years after a landmark case based the race-based segregation of public schools was finalized in the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS), a U.S. District Court lawsuit was filed against a local East Coast public education authority, which had gotten away with continually segregating its schools.

The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS case (based in the U.S. state of Kansas) ultimately ended with the High Court siding with the plaintiff. This led to the American federal government’s inevitable ban that outlawed public school segregation along racial lines. This applied to U.S.-based education authorities in every state, county, and city.

However, in defiance of federal law, the city of Englewood, New Jersey’s public education board continued to practice school segregation based on race in a specified fraction of the district’s schools. This led to the filing of another groundbreaking education-centered segregation case, which was filed on February 5, 1962, in a U.S. district court.

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The plaintiffs in the Shepard v. Board of Education of Englewood, New Jersey case claimed the school district systemically practiced segregation base on race in its primary schools. The plaintiffs in the case were Joseph and Louise Shepard, as well as their daughter Ellen Shepard. George D. Jeter and Paul B. Zuber were the attorneys who represented the Shepard family, in this case.

“Plaintiffs allege that in making assignments of children to the public schools of Englewood, defendant Board of Education and defendant Superintendent of Schools, with the consent and condonation, and under the direction of defendant State Commissioner of Education, pursue what is commonly known as the ‘neighborhood school policy’; that the utilization of this policy has resulted in racially segregated schools in Englewood,” reads a summation of this case, which was published by Justia.

Unfortunately, the Shepard family lost its federal case against Englewood’s school board.

“The State Commissioner of Education has no power or authority to give plaintiffs the relief they seek; and that the doctrine of exhaustion of state administrative remedies, even in cases where it has been held to apply, has no application where, as is claimed here, the administrative remedy is inadequate,” the summation also reads.

Source: Your Black History: Shepard v. Education Board of Englewood, NJ Lawsuit Filed Today in 1962

By Viviane Faver