Civilrights.org

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, was recently the featured speaker at a FDIC diversity education program for FDIC employees celebrating African American History Month. 

In his speech, Henderson spoke about the progress the nation has made with respect to Black Americans and the challenges that remain:

"This year, the fact that our first Black president has issued the proclamation declaring February to be Black History Month is as vivid a reminder as we could wish for that Black history is American history, and that the tragedies and triumphs of the African-American experience are inseparable from the tragedies and triumphs of all Americans. And the economic crisis that President Obama and all Americans are grappling with is also a reminder that history always brings problems as well as progress and that every generation must confront the challenges that will define its place in our nation's narrative."

Henderson is a member of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, which provides the FDIC recommendations on how to expand access to banking services to low-income and minority populations.

America's Voice, a national immigration reform organization, has created a petition calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the actions of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.

The petition comes in the wake of public outcry over Arpaio's recent humiliation of 200 undocumented immigrant inmates.  On February 4, Arpaio marched them from the Durango Jail in Phoenix to a jail facility known as "Tent City" in full view of the public and television cameras.

The march was just the latest instance of Arpaio's anti-immigrant tactics.  With more than 2,700 lawsuits against him, his prisons stripped of their health standards accreditation, and a backlog of 40,000 outstanding felony warrants to enforce, Arpaio instead focuses on stopping "Latino-looking" drivers and conducting sidewalk "crime sweeps" in low-income neighborhoods.

Every year, students across the country celebrate Black History Month in a variety of ways, but a few states have passed laws that require public schools to include Black history in their curriculum throughout the year.

New Jersey, Illinois and New York have each created a commission to review how public schools in the state are teaching Black history and make recommendations on how to improve the curriculum. The commissions are called "Amistad Commissions" after the Amistad, a Spanish slave ship that was the site of a famous slave revolt in 1839.

One of the goals of the New Jersey commission is "to infuse the history of Africans and African-Americans into the social studies curriculum in order to provide an accurate, complete and inclusive history." It has developed a set of lesson plans which teachers will incorporate into their classrooms starting this fall.

However, four years after its law passed, New York has not yet appointed all its commissioners and the commission has never met.

California, Mississippi, Florida, Arkansas, Colorado and Michigan have also passed legislation regarding instruction in Black history. Florida's law, passed in 1994, also requires that its public schools teach women's history, Latino history, and the Holocaust.

In 2000, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) created the "Blueprint for Student Success" to reform its schools and better educate its students. SDUSD is the eighth largest urban school district in the nation and has a high concentration of minorities and low-income students.

Prior to the plan, schools in the district struggled with a high dropout rate, and a graduation rate of only 67 percent, and low numbers of high school graduates enrolling in college. The plan created immediate results for elementary schools, but results at the high school level took a little longer.

To address the unique challenges of its high schools, SDUSD converted three of its largest and lowest-performing high schools into 14 smaller independent schools. Each uniquely themed school focused its efforts on integrating rigorous academic coursework with real-world experiences in order to better prepare students for college or job entry.

As a result, SDUSD's graduation and attendance rates have improved and the district has increased English proficiency among students who do not speak English as their primary language. Leaders of the program credit its success to more personalized attention for students and the ability to tailor the curriculum to students' needs.

Tom Vilsack, secretary of Agriculture, said Saturday that he will make civil rights a primary focus at the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Vilsack said that he wants to ensure that department's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) is getting as much attention as other offices and plans to employ consultants to handle farmers' claims that USDA employees are discriminating against them. The OASCR is responsible for ensuring the department is complying with all federal civil rights and equal opportunity laws.

A number of reports have investigated the USDA's treatment of Black farmers.  In 1982, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report that found "systemic racism" in the department.  A 1997 USDA report found that the department frequently denied or delayed loans and federal support to Black farmers, causing many of them to lose their land and may have contributed to the dramatic decline in the number of minority farmers over several decades. In 1920, there were 925,000 Black farmers in the United States; by 1992, there were fewer than 18,000.

If you are a victim of employment discrimination, your case is more likely to be dismissed compared with other types of cases, and your chances of winning in court are slim, according to recent studies.

Between 1979 and 2006, plaintiffs in federal cases won 15 percent of employment discrimination cases. In comparison, the success rate was 51 percent in all other civil cases. Even when plaintiffs in these cases do win in court, the decision is reversed on appeal over 41 percent of the time.

These statistics can be attributed to a range of issues such as the lack of minority judges on federal courts and the difficulty in proving employment discrimination, which is often covert.

The recent passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will give employees a wider window of time in which they are permitted to challenge pay discrimination, but they will likely still face a tough time in court.

Civil rights issues were all over the editorial pages this weekend.  Here are just a few highlights:

• On Saturday, The New York Times said that the new Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, must use the federal money allocated in the recently enacted economic recovery package to revive education reform and not allow states that take the money to resist making the changes necessary to ensure a quality education for all students.
• The New York Times also said this Saturday that the federal government needs to reform our immigration system by shifting from an enforcement-only system to one that is more comprehensive.
• Today, the Los Angeles Times editorial page restated its opposition to the death penalty, questioning its morality and deterrent effect. 

The recently enacted economic recovery plan will provide some much needed relief to millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet during the recession, particularly unemployed people. 

The plan extends unemployment benefits up to an additional 33 weeks for workers who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits, and increases weekly unemployment checks by $25 through the end of 2009. In addition, food stamp benefits will be increased by 13.6% starting in April.

Economists say increasing funding for both unemployment benefits and food stamps will have an immediate stimulative effect on the economy since those receiving the aid will likely spend it quickly. 

In addition, 46 states are facing huge budget deficits over the next three years and have been struggling to continue providing welfare and health care assistance to low-income and unemployed people.  Under the plan, states will get nearly $5 billion so they can continue to help low-income families through the federal welfare assistance program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Currently, about 4 million people receive assistance through the program. Another $87 billion will go to states to help them continue to provide health care assistance through Medicaid.  

Movies and music can be powerful reflections of our times, past and present, and tell stories that inform and empower millions of people in ways other media cannot.  This week, we highlight four Oscar-nominated films that have found compelling ways to tell stories about civil and human rights.  The Oscars will be shown on TV this Sunday, February 22.

"Trouble the Water," a documentary that tells the story of the devastation Hurricane Katrina caused through the eyes of a couple from New Orleans' 9th ward, has been nominated for an Oscar in the Documentary Feature category.

The documentary, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, uses footage filmed by Kimberly Roberts, an aspiring rapper known as Black Kold Madina, and her husband during the hurricane and chronicles their lives in the aftermath of the storm. The Roberts were unable to leave the city and captured the storm as it hit one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city.

By combining the Roberts' footage with archival news footage, the documentary draws attention to the disproportionate impact the hurricane had on New Orleans' poorer residents and the inability of the federal and state governments to respond effectively to the crisis.

Yesterday, President Obama pledged to reform bankruptcy laws so that judges are allowed to rework home mortgages on family homes to an affordable value. Currently, bankruptcy judges are permitted to modify mortgages on second homes, but not mortgages on primary residences.

This reform will give bankruptcy judges the authority to modify mortgages, providing struggling families the opportunity to save their home from foreclosure. "That's the rule for investors who own two, three, and four homes. So it should be the rule for folks who just own one home," said Obama, during his speech yesterday announcing the plan.

In addition, The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan focuses on helping homeowners refinance their mortgages to be more affordable. The plan will provide $75 billion to help stabilize mortgages for three to four million homeowners at risk of foreclosure. This broad and comprehensive plan also aims to lower mortgage rates by rebuilding public confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.