Target 11 Exclusive: Pittsburgh police officers told not to follow controversial traffic stop policy

Acting Pittsburgh police chief Tom Stangrecki issued an order this week advising officers to return to the practice of enforcing minor traffic violations, such as broken headlights or expired inspection stickers.

The police bureau banned officers from enforcing those secondary traffic offenses after Pittsburgh City Council passed legislation last year barring officers from engaging in that practice.

Councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess sponsored the legislation that he said disproportionally targeted African American drivers.

Target 11 Investigator Rick Earle spoke with Councilman Burgess, who said he was unaware of the reversal and he had no idea why Police changed the policy.

EARLE: Do you think they are almost slapping this back in your face?

Rev. Ricky Burgess: I don’t take this personally, but again I just think they should reconsider it because I think it will actually have the reverse effect and make us less safe.

Burgess said he stands by the ordinance and the data supports it.

“We have shown through data that when you do these secondary stops it targets disproportionately African Americans and African American communities,” said Councilman Burgess.

Target 11 reached out to the city on Monday.

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The city sent an emailed response Tuesday afternoon, stating that the move was made because of recent changes to state law.

Source: Target 11 Exclusive: Pittsburgh police officers told not to follow controversial traffic stop policy

Whoopi Goldberg suspended from ‘The View’ following Holocaust remarks

ABC News president Kim Godwin released a statement announcing the “View” star would be placed on a two-week suspension.

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended following her controversial remarks about the Holocaust.

“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a statement Tuesday evening. “While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.”

“The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends and communities,” Godwin added.

ADL, JEWISH GROUPS CONDEMN WHOOPI GOLDBERG’S HOLOCAUST COMMENTS, ACCUSE HER OF MINIMIZING JEWISH SUFFERING

Goldberg went viral on Monday when she argued that the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” stunning her colleagues at the table.

“What is it about?” co-host Joy Behar asked.

“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about,” Goldberg said.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG ISSUES APOLOGY FOR HOLOCAUST COMMENTS: ‘I STAND CORRECTED’

“But it’s about a White supremacist going after Jews and Gypsies,” guest co-host Ana Navarro said as Goldberg attempted to speak over her.

“But these are two White groups of people,” Goldberg said as her colleagues disagreed.

Jewish groups condemned the comments, accusing her of minimizing Jewish suffering.

Goldberg attempted to explain her remarks during her appearance on “The Late Show.”

‘THE VIEW’ HOST WHOOPI GOLDBERG CLAIMS HOLOCAUST WASN’T ABOUT RACE: ‘THESE ARE TWO WHITE GROUPS’

“It upset a lot of people which was never, ever, ever, ever my intention… I thought we were having a discussion,” Goldberg told Stephen Colbert. “I think of race as being something that I can see… “You couldn’t tell who was Jewish. They had to delve deeply to figure it out… My point is, they had to do the work.”

She also told Colbert, “I don’t want to fake apologize…I’m very upset that people misunderstood what I was saying.”

Source: Whoopi Goldberg suspended from ‘The View’ following Holocaust remarks

The families of missing people of color say media coverage favors the stories of missing White women – CNN

(CNN)David Robinson has been in Arizona for the last three months searching for his 24-year-old son, Daniel Robinson, who went missing after leaving a work site in the desert in his Jeep Renegade on June 23.

Robinson, who lives in South Carolina, hired an independent investigator and assembled a volunteer search team when he says he felt the police weren’t making progress in the investigation. He also says he failed to get the amount of media coverage he believed the case needed. The case was reported by the local media as early as July 9.
Robinson said he sympathizes with the family of Gabby Petito, whose remains were recovered Sunday after she disappeared while exploring parks in Wyoming prompting a highly publicized search.

Still, Robinson said it’s “hurtful” to see a young White woman’s case met with more urgency and national attention than his son, who is Black.

“You wish you lived in a world where everything was equal but it’s really not equal,” Robinson told CNN.

Robinson is among the Black and brown families whose loved ones remain missing and say they have struggled to get fair attention on their cases. Some say they have grown frustrated with watching the search for missing White women like Petito being in the spotlight, while police appear to allow their cases to go cold or classify their loved one as a “runaway.”

Source: The families of missing people of color say media coverage favors the stories of missing White women – CNN

Minnesota fourth-graders told to hide ‘equity survey’ questions from parents | Fox News

A Minnesota fourth-grade student and her mother expressed concern to their local school board after her class was given an “equity survey” and students were told not to tell her parents about the activity.

CRT curriculum has sparked a national conversation about the role of race and racism in school districts across the country. Oten compared by critics to actual racism, CRT is a school of thought that generally focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities.

Kelsey Yasgar said that although parents were “informed that the equity audit was taking place, they were not informed on the date of the activity and not given other details.” She explained further that due to the lack of transparency from the school district and from Equity Alliance Minnesota, the third party that administered the survey, parents were not informed of the questions being asked to the students.

Source: Minnesota fourth-graders told to hide ‘equity survey’ questions from parents | Fox News

Hasbro whistleblower claims CRT being pushed through toy packaging; training says 6 month olds can be racist | Fox News

An employee working on a project for Hasbro blew the whistle on reported critical race theory training inside the toy and boardgame giant on “Hannity.”

Source: Hasbro whistleblower claims CRT being pushed through toy packaging; training says 6 month olds can be racist | Fox News

Opinion | A message to GOP congressmen: In D.C., critical race theory is simple truth-telling – The Washington Post

Washington, D.C.’s children should learn about Black history in the District.

As though they didn’t have enough pressing national issues on their plates, five Republican congressmen — Glenn Grothman (Wis.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Bob Gibbs (Ohio), Pat Fallon and Ronny Jackson (both of Texas) — have introduced legislation to ban the teaching of critical race theory in D.C. public and charter schools.

Grothman, the bill’s chief sponsor, said in a news release that, through critical race theory curriculum, “students are being taught that they are defined by the color of their skin, not the content of their character.” “This neo-racist ideology,” warned Grothman, “should have no place in our public education system, especially in our nation’s capital.”

Set aside for a minute the confusion over just what is critical race theory. Understand, also, that D.C. schools don’t teach critical race theory but do provide anti-racist training for educators and classroom discussions of systemic racism.

Source: Opinion | A message to GOP congressmen: In D.C., critical race theory is simple truth-telling – The Washington Post

White farmer wins temporary halt to program for Black counterparts

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Florida halted the Biden administration’s new debt-relief program for minority farmers on Wednesday.

Judge Marcia Morales Howard, an appointee of President George W. Bush, temporarily blocked the Agriculture Department from implementing a $4 billion program aimed at helping distressed minority farmers on the basis that it likely violates white farmers’ rights to equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. That argument was backed by several former aides in the Trump White House.

Howard ordered the Agriculture Department not to issue payments under the program for “socially disadvantaged” farmers until she can rule on the merits of the case. She wrote that the program, which is embedded in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan law, is “significantly likely” to violate the constitutional rights of the plaintiff, a white farmer named Scott Wynn.

Her order creates a nationwide injunction against the debt-relief program.

Earlier this month, in a similar case, a Wisconsin judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the program, which covers up to 120 percent of the debts of farmers who are members of groups that have historically been discriminated against based on their race or ethnicity. Across the country, several white farmers have filed lawsuits, at least one of which is backed by America First Legal, a group founded by former Trump White House aides.

“The government must not be allowed to use its awesome authorities to punish, harm, exclude, prefer, reward or damage its citizens based upon their race or ethnicity,” Stephen Miller, a former White House aide and the head of America First Legal, said in a statement in conjunction with one of the other cases.

Civil rights advocates have expressed concern that other Agriculture Department programs aimed at redressing past discrimination — as well as federal programs outside the scope of farming — could be at risk if federal courts find that the American Rescue Plan’s program for socially disadvantaged farmers is unconstitutional.

Source: White farmer wins temporary halt to program for Black counterparts

These companies are giving Juneteenth off for their employees

More than 460 companies are observing Juneteenth at this point, with many offering a paid day off or holiday pay. Here are some companies continuing PTO this year.

Amid the wave of discussions about racial injustice that began to gain momentum last summer, companies such as Allstate, Google and Nike have announced over the past year that they will recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for their employees.

After passing both the Senate and House earlier this week, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was signed into law Thursday by President Joe Biden, making it the 11th federal holiday established by law, along with Christmas, Thanksgiving and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The day celebrates the delayed news that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing “all persons held as slaves” in the United States. However, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865 – referred to more informally as Juneteenth – that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom when Union soldiers arrived.

Source: These companies are giving Juneteenth off for their employees

Biden signs into law bill establishing Juneteenth as federal holiday

Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when a Union Army general arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law Thursday, officially making June 19 a federal holiday and giving national recognition to a day commemorating emancipation.

“Juneteenth marks both a long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and the promise of a brighter morning to come,” Biden said during a signing ceremony at the White House. “This is a day, in my view, of profound weight and profound power. A day in which we remember the moral stain, terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman and Black vice president, said that designating a federal holiday “makes an important statement.”

“These are days when we as a nation have decided to stop and take stock. And often to acknowledge our history,” Harris said, urging people to be clear-eyed about the realities of slavery and the long fight for freedom.

Image: President Joe Biden hands a pen to Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., after signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, in the East Room of the White House on June 17, 2021.
President Joe Biden hands a pen to Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., after signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, in the East Room of the White House on June 17, 2021.Evan Vucci / AP

Since June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, most federal employees will observe the holiday on Friday, June 18, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management tweeted.

The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday, 415-14, to make Juneteenth a national federal holiday, a day after the Senate cleared the bill without debate. The only votes against the bill came from Republicans.

Juneteenth — also known as Emancipation Day, Black Independence Day and Jubilee Day — is the 11th federal holiday and the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery and commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Granger’s message came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Source: Biden signs into law bill establishing Juneteenth as federal holiday

Chris Harrison exits ‘The Bachelor’ franchise after racism controversy

Harrison stepped aside from his role in February after defending a contestant who was shown in past photos attending an antebellum plantation-themed party.

Chris Harrison is permanently exiting ABC’s reality dating series “The Bachelor” after coming under fire earlier this year for defending a contestant’s past racist behavior.

“Chris Harrison is stepping aside as host of The Bachelor franchise. We are thankful for his many contributions over the past 20 years and wish him all the best on his new journey,” Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment said in a statement sent to NBC News on Tuesday.

Source: Chris Harrison exits ‘The Bachelor’ franchise after racism controversy

The Brewing Political Battle Over Critical Race Theory : NPR

The intense political backlash over the academic approach of examining U.S. institutions through the lens of race is shaping up to be a major cultural battle ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Last month, Republican lawmakers decried critical race theory, an academic approach that examines how race and racism function in American institutions.

“Folks, we’re in a cultural warfare today,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said at a news conference alongside six other members of the all-Republican House Freedom Caucus. “Critical race theory asserts that people with white skin are inherently racist, not because of their actions, words or what they actually believe in their heart — but by virtue of the color of their skin.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., added: “Democrats want to teach our children to hate each other.”

Republicans, who are fighting the teaching of critical race theory in schools, contend it divides Americans. Democrats and their allies maintain that progress is unlikely without examining the root causes of disparity in the country. The issue is shaping up to be a major cultural battle ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Academics, particularly legal scholars, have studied critical race theory for decades. But its main entry into the partisan fray came in 2020, when former President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning federal contractors from conducting certain racial sensitivity trainings. It was challenged in court, and President Biden rescinded the order the day he took office.

Source: The Brewing Political Battle Over Critical Race Theory : NPR

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