civil rights

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

10 Misleading Words to Be Wiped From MLK Memorial

At a cost of as much as $900K

(Newser) - The truncated quote on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial that made the civil rights leader sound like, in Maya Angelou's words, " an arrogant twit ," will be removed. Officials initially said that the quote—"I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness"—would...

19 More Graves Found at Notorious Florida School

All of them were in area segregated for blacks

(Newser) - Researchers have discovered 19 more grave shafts at an infamous Florida reform school where boys—most of them black—suffered and sometimes died under brutal conditions, NBC News reports. That brings the total to at least 50 at The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, and all of...

Supreme Court to Review Landmark Voting Law

Court will hear challenge to 1965's Voting Rights Act

(Newser) - One of the signature laws from the civil rights era may be significantly weaker at the end of this Supreme Court term. The justices decided yesterday to hear a challenge to a key component of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the law designed to ensure that minorities don't face...

Supremes Start Monday With Focus on Civil Rights

Challenge to college affirmative action rules is on the docket

(Newser) - The new Supreme Court term starts Monday, and one of the most important cases the court hears could be the one brought by a white woman against the University of Texas . Abigail Fisher says she was rejected while minority students with lesser academic qualifications were admitted, the Washington Post reports....

Feds: We're Taking Sheriff Joe to Court

Negotiations fall apart in civil rights case, as Arpaio refuses monitor

(Newser) - The Justice Department is through negotiating with the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America. Authorities announced yesterday that they will sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for alleged civil rights violations, the AP reports. The department had been trying to work out an agreement with Arpaio in which he'd train his...

Trayvon Lawyers Draw On 'Bootcamp Playbook'

Benjamin Crump: 'The jury is the American people'

(Newser) - The lawyers fighting Trayvon Martin's case are seeking more than justice in a court of law. Attorneys at the black-owned law firm of Parks & Crump took their case to the public right away, contacting media and Al Sharpton , pushing for the release of 911 tapes, and helping to...

Trayvon Martin Shooting to Get 2nd Look by DOJ, FBI

Family, critics say shooter George Zimmerman is being protected

(Newser) - Almost a month after the killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and Florida's Department of Law Enforcement have agreed to get involved, the Miami Herald reports. The agencies will probe the case amid accusations from the teen's family and...

Internet Is a Tool, Not a Right
 Internet Is a Tool, Not a Right 
OPINION

Internet Is a Tool, Not a Right

Access enables rights, but is not a right itself: Vinton G. Cerf

(Newser) - With Facebook and Twitter fueling protests across the Arab world, many wonder: Is the Internet a human or civil right? No, declares Google VP Vinton G. Cerf firmly. Courts in various countries have declared it so, but the UN stopped short, calling the Internet "an indispensable tool for realizing...

Sheriff Joe Fires Back at Feds' Allegations

Discrimination case a 'witch hunt': lawyer

(Newser) - Arizona's embattled Sheriff Joe Arpaio is hitting back at Justice Department allegations that his office shows "a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias" against Hispanics. "Don't come to use me as a whipping boy for a national, international problem," he told reporters, saying he has "...

'White Only' Pool Sign Just 'Historical,' Landlord Says

Outraged tenant files civil rights complaint

(Newser) - An Ohio landlord says the "White Only" sign in front of a pool at a duplex she owns was just an antique, but a former tenant says her views on race also appear to be from 1930s Alabama. "We invited my daughter, who is African-American, to visit and...

Feds: Sheriff Joe Violated Civil Rights

Arpaio conducted 'egregious' racial profiling: Justice Department

(Newser) - Tough times ahead for America's Toughest Sheriff : The Justice Department has accused Joe Arpaio of major civil rights violations. Arpaio's office committed what a top Justice official called the most egregious racial profiling he'd ever come across, the AP reports. Arpaio also conducted immigration "sweeps" prompted...

Cain Sat Out Civil Rights Movement

He became political only when government raised minimum wage, his taxes

(Newser) - Herman Cain came of age in the heat of the civil rights movement, but unlike many of his politically conscious peers at the predominantly black Morehouse College, he largely ignored it. “I wasn’t determined to make social change,” Cain tells the Wall Street Journal . “I wanted...

Cop Arrested for Bragging: 'I Fried Another N*****'

Officer Michael Daragjati also charged with extortion, insurance fraud

(Newser) - One New York City police officer will be spending a lot of time in court—and it won't be time spent testifying against criminals. Eight-year veteran Michael Daragjati has been charged with using a racial slur while boasting that he'd lied about a black man resisting arrest earlier...

Obama: Martin Luther King Jr. 'Stirred Our Conscience'
 Obama: King 
 'Stirred Our 
 Conscience' 
MLK DEDICATION

Obama: King 'Stirred Our Conscience'

Thousands attend dedication of Martin Luther King Jr Monument

(Newser) - Forty-three years after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by an assassin's bullets, the nation's first black president today led an all-star tribute to the civil rights activist who "stirred our conscience" and made our Union "more perfect." "I know we will overcome,"...

Civil Rights Hero Fred Shuttlesworth Dead at 89

Shuttlesworth survived bombings and beatings to end segregation

(Newser) - Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the most dynamic leaders of the civil rights movement, died yesterday at the age of 89, reports the Washington Post . Shuttlesworth survived bombing attempts, beatings, and dozens of arrests in his attempts to end segregation in the South, and was key in making nonviolence a...

Jesse Jackson Slaps Tea Party at MLK Tribute

Movement a 'new name for an old game'

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson lashed out at the Tea Party at a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial event, comparing its ideology to old states’ rights arguments against integration. The movement “is not new,” he said at the crowded luncheon in Washington. “It's just a new name for an...

Obama Installs Racially Charged Painting

Norman Rockwell work includes racial epithet

(Newser) - The nation's first black president has hung a painting with the N-word outside the Oval Office, in a nod to the civil rights movement, reports Politico. President Obama last month had Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With" installed in the White House; the painting shows...

New Orleans Cops Convicted in Bridge Shootings

Post-Katrina incident left two civilians dead

(Newser) - All five New Orleans police officers accused of involvement in post-Katrina shootings on a city bridge have been found guilty. Although the jury did not find that their actions constituted murder, it ruled that the cops violated the victims' civil rights, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune . They all face long...

LGBT Hate Crimes Rise 13%
 LGBT Hate Crimes Rise 13% 

LGBT Hate Crimes Rise 13%

And 2010 saw second-highest number of murders

(Newser) - Despite recent breakthroughs in the fight for gay rights , violent hate crimes against the LGBT community are on the rise. Such crimes (committed against people because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV positive status) were up 13% last year over 2009, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence...

Shirley Sherrod Back at USDA
 Shirley Sherrod Back at USDA 

Shirley Sherrod Back at USDA

But rather than return to old position, she will work on civil rights

(Newser) - Ten months after being forced out of the USDA, Shirley Sherrod is back. But Sherrod, who rejected an offer to return shortly after the Andrew Breitbart brouhaha, will have a new position as a contract employee, Politico reports. She will lead one of three field programs meant to improve the...

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser