Cops Accused of Striking Black Suspects With Patrol Cars in S.C.
Cops Accused of Striking Black Suspects With Patrol Cars in S.C.
South Carolina's Congressional Black Caucus is calling for some of the state's highway-patrol officers to be fired and prosecuted after five video tapes surfaced showing state patrolmen treating Blacks in a way that the state's governor says is "absolutely intolerable," reports National Public Radio. To see one of the videos on YouTube, click here.
"Racial profiling in this state is very much alive, particularly with the highway patrol," said Rep. Leon Howard, chair of the S.C. Congressional Black Caucus. "These are just a few incidents of what has been going on for years." The videos, which show police officers hitting Black people with their patrol cars and officers tying a Black woman to the bumper of a police car, have been condemned by the state's Black leaders. Under pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus, the U.S. Justice Department opened a civil-rights investigation. The state's prosecutors are considering criminal charges, reports NPR.
Subprime Woes Cause Education and HIV/AIDS Funding Cuts
The subprime-mortgage crisis that disproportionately affected Blacks and Latinos now has many states cutting state programs and some analysts worried the impact will further hurt low-income families, reports The Washington Post. "It's disappointing, the extent they tend to focus their cuts on the most vulnerable," Iris J. Lav, deputy director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think-tank that monitors state-budget issues, told the Post. "It does appear to disproportionately affect low-income people." Some states, such as California--which faces a $16-billion shortfall--have proposed cuts to education services. The state is also facing an $11-million cut to AIDS services with the majority of that coming from services that help low-income Californians get life-saving medicines, reports the Post.
Number of Muslims Top Number of Catholics
For the first time ever, there are more Muslims in the world than Catholics, reports ABCNews.com. Catholics account for 17.4 percent of the world population while Muslims account for 19.2 percent, Monsignor Vittorio Formenti told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, referring to data from 2006. "For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us." Christians still make up 33 percent of the world's population, reports ABCNews. Recently, Catholic and Muslim leaders met to discuss ways the two religions could defuse stress.
Transgender Families Struggle to Explain Sex
For many transgender families, explaining sex can be a challenge, but psychologists say talking openly and at an "age-appropriate level" is important, reports ABCNews.com. "There is not much research on transgender parents. But two studies found children of transgender parents do fine," Walter Bockting, a psychologist and coordinator of transgender services at the University of Minnesota's Program in Human Sexuality, told ABC. "There is always an adjustment period, especially for older children who know their dad as a man that then becomes a woman." There are 3 million transgender people living in the United States, according to The National Center for Transgender Equality. There is no estimation for the number of transgender parents. Find out how a major soap is exploring transgender issues--check out 'All My Children' to Have 6 Transgender People Share Stories
Dress for Success Celebrates Six Years
This week, Dress for Success, an international nonprofit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women, will celebrate its annual S.O.S -- Send One Suit -- Week campaign, during which women nationwide are encouraged to donate one new or nearly new interview suit to help other women enter the work force and take charge of their lives, according to Dress for Success. The week is March 30 through April 5.
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