Black History

Two Presidents, One America Still Wrestling With Racism

Published

4 years ago

June 11, 2021

America’s slow march toward equity is the topic of many conversations these days whether during a company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusive (DEI) effort or on more personal turf: homes, small gatherings and churches. Awareness of the nation’s unfinished racial business may be at an all-time high, but this is far from America’s first attempt to get it right.

On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to Americans about civil rights, promoting legislation which would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The Act also prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs, and it bolstered the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools.

“Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free,” Kennedy said from the Oval Office. “And when Americans are sent to Viet Nam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only, it ought to be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops.”

Kennedy’s speech was largely in response to the two African American students in Alabama who wanted to attend the University of Alabama but had been denied admittance by Governor George Wallace. In a symbolic nod to his motto, ‘segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,’ Wallace had stood at the door of an auditorium as if to block Vivian Malone and James Hood from entering. Kennedy federalized the National Guard and deployed them to desegregate the university.

Fast-forward 58 years. President Joe Biden traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma last week for the centennial of one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history to talk about the need to address the ongoing impact of racism on Black Americans and the country.

“Today, we are announcing two expanded efforts targeted toward Black wealth creation that will also help the entire community,” Biden said. “The first is my Administration has launched an aggressive effort to combat racial discrimination in housing, that includes everything from redlining to the cruel fact that a home owned by a Black family is too often … appraised at a lower value than a similar home owned by a white family.”

Programs to help Black businesses and entrepreneurs were also announced but Biden did not overlook the racism that destroyed a thriving African American community in Tulsa known as “Black Wall Street.”

“We are here to shine a light, to make sure America knows the story in full, May 1921,” he explained. “…they built something of their own worthy of their talent and ambition, Greenwood, a community, their way of life: Black doctors and lawyers, pastors, teachers, law practices, libraries, churches, schools.”

As he told the story of Greenwood, he touched on the tender spots in the African American psyche exposed time and again to white anger, drawing a line from the speech Kennedy gave in 1963 to America today.

“We should know the good, the bad, everything, that is what great nations do. They come to terms with their dark side. We are a great nation. The only way to build a common ground is to truly repair and rebuild.”

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Black History

America Heads Into the Last Mile of the 2024 Presidential Election

Published

1 month ago

October 29, 2024

LoveBlackHistory

With only a week until Election Day, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are holding their final campaign rallies and crisscrossing the battleground states. Both candidates know the importance of every vote, and they are rallying their base in the closing days.

Vickie Newton, founder of The Village Celebration and Love Black History, traces the history of Black voters in America on the eve of the historic 2024 presidential election.

Black History

Coco Gauff Becomes the Youngest Flag Bearer in US Olympic History

Published

5 months ago

July 25, 2024

LoveBlackHistory

During the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, the female American flag bearer will be Coco Gauff, the 20-year-old tennis star. She will be the youngest flag bearer in American Olympic history. Basketball legend LeBron James has been selected as the male flag bearer.

Gauff said, “I was not expecting that.”

Delighted to be selected, Gauff admitted she has “no idea” what her assignment includes, adding, “I don’t know if there’s flag bearer-training I have to go to.”

James has been to the Olympics four times. He was part of U.S. teams that won bronze in 2004, gold at Beijing in 2008 and gold again in London in 2012.

But this will be his first time as the flag bearer.

He said, “It’s an absolute honor. I hope I continue to make my community proud and continue to make my family proud.”

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Black History

California Is the First State to Create A Public Alert for Missing Black Youth

Published

5 months ago

July 3, 2024

LoveBlackHistory

It’s been 21 years since Cleashandria Hall disappeared from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Her mother Laurell Hall says she dropped her 18-year-old daughter off at her after-school job and never saw her again. For years, Hall and her family have kept their loved ones name in the media by hosting vigils and events that remind the public of their steadfast hope for answers.

But the attention is unusual. More often than not, experts say Black people who go missing do not receive the coverage as whites.

In October 2023, the state of California passed legislation that alerts the public to the disappearance of young people. It’s called the Ebony Alert, and it hopes to change the narrative about Black youth who are missing but don’t receive the same media coverage as white youth.

“We feel it’s well beyond time that we dedicate something specifically to help bring these young women and girls back home because they’re missed and loved just as much as their counterparts are,” State Senator Steven Bradford said in an interview with NBC News.

The recent docuseries about a California woman who faked her disappearance garnered 3.6 million viewers on Hulu, making it the most popular docuseries ever on the streaming service– a distinction that adds more credibility to the ongoing conversation about the disparities in media coverage and public attention when Black Americans are missing.

Sherri Papini grabbed the spotlight in 2016 as authorities searched for her before she reappeared and years later admitted the hoax. The popularity of the docuseries has reignited the dismay Black families experience when their loved ones are missing.

According to the Black and Missing Foundation, Black Americans make up 40% of missing Americans but only 13% of the population.

Foundation Founder Natalie Wilson said, “There’s a need for an Ebony Alert because people of color are disappearing at an alarming rate, and typically their cases are under the radar when it comes to media coverage and getting law enforcement resources.”

The Ebony Alert is activated when local authorities request it because a Black youth is missing, and there is concern the youth has been targeted for trafficking, or foul play is suspected. The Ebony Alert uses electronic highway signs and encouraged radio, TV, and social media and other systems to spread information about the missing persons’ alert.

In 2022, California began the Feather Alert which publicizes the disappearance of Indigenous people.