O'Reilly Vs. Rivera Immigration Debate Flares Up
The immigration debate between Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera on "illegal aliens" and drunk driving continues. Last week, O'Reilly and Rivera found themselves engaged in a quarrel concerning undocumented workers and whether they should be deported for driving under the influence (See also: Geraldo Accuses Bill O'Reilly of Xenophobia). O'Reilly said Meyera Oberndorf, the Virginia Beach mayor, should have had Alfredo Ramos, 22, deported after a previous drinking charge. Police said Ramos, an undocumented worker, was believed to be intoxicated when he ran into 17-year-old Allison Kuhnhardt and 16-year-old Tessa Tranchant's vehicle, killing them. But Oberndorf says it is not the city's job to enforce American borders. Instead he says it's a drunk-driving issue. Rivera told O'Reilly, "It has nothing to do with illegal aliens, it has to do with drunk driving, and I think you owe that mayor an apology", according to MSNBC.com.
Banks Reach Out to Blacks, Latinos
Urban Trust Bank and NuAmerica Banks are among the latest banking centers to reach out to black and Latino consumers. Urban Trust Bank, which opened its headquarters in September, has nationwide plans to focus on its black customers. NuAmerica Bank recently opened a branch in Columbia Heights, D.C., where it will target small businesses in the region's Latino sector. Although the banks are focusing on different racial/ethnic groups, the banks' founders share a common belief that their target markets are ripe for expansion that would benefit not only communities of color but also the banks' investors. Julio Lopez-Brito, chairman of NuAmerica Bank, says, "It's marrying the idea of community banking, which has been such a proven concept in the U.S., and introducing the immigrant community and small businesses to take advantage of the community bank." Read more.
Gays Fight for Voice at HBCUs
April Maxwell, a Hampton University alumni who is open about her sexual orientation, said she was eager to attend the university back in 2001 but was surprised to learn that her alma mater, a school that prides itself on embracing black students, still lacked the presence of a campus-wide support group for gays. Maxwell, who is now 24, said she felt like she was the only gay person on campus. So after Maxwell tried organizing a new gay-support group, a panel of students and faculty recently denied it a charter. Hampton University insists it does not discriminate against gays, but many of its black students, past and present, feel otherwise. Read more.
Dred Scott Case Revisited
More than a century ago, the court ruled that no black--slave or free--could ever become a U.S. citizen. Now the case of Dred Scott, the slave who sued for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott vs. Sandford case of 1856, has been reopened. The fallout from the 1857 decision, which helped to spark the Civil War, was the subject of a mock re-hearing of the case before a 10-member court led by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at Harvard Law School on Saturday. While the decision, issued by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, is almost universally seen as the moral low point of the court's history, former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr said the case has a lesson for judges. Starr said besides being racist and morally bankrupt, the Dred Scott decision also reflects the arrogance of judges like Taney, who tried to elevate himself over the U.S. Constitution. Read more.
School Focuses on Black Boys
New York's Westchester County is making an effort to help students, but is it segregation? The Ossining Union Free School District is dividing six school buildings by grade level--second and third grades. Black males at Brookside School will be separated into special mentoring programs that pair them with black teachers for one-on-one guidance outside class, extra homework help, and cultural activities during the school day. Lorraine Richardson, a second-grade teacher and mentor, said, "all the black boys used to end up in the office, so we had to do something. We wanted to teach them to help each other instead of fight each other." Concerned parents feel this new effort may single out black boys, but Ossining school officials couldn't disagree more. Read more.
Marseille Natives Demand More Jobs
Optimistic citizens are hoping the French right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy will do a better job of bring more jobs into the diverse town of Marseille, France. Supporters of Sarkozy are trying to spread the message that he is the only candidate who can offer pride to France's community by creating new jobs and a sense of belonging. "Nicolas Sarkozy is a man with real values. He knows the value of hard work, the family, self-respect and respect for others," says parliamentary candidate Nora Remadnia-Preziosi. "I was born in the most disadvantaged suburb of northern Marseille, where everyone has voted Socialist for generations. Marseille natives believe jobs are the only way to integrate France and bring about a true sense of national identity and joint purpose for all French, whatever their ethnic background." Read more.
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