Jim Crow Laws

Feb 4 2013

Her courage was not limited to one day or one act

In the wake of Barack Obama’s second inauguration, it is easy to forget about the daily indignities and terror African Americans have endured; easy to forget that simply surviving segregation required ordinary people to engage in extraordinary acts of courage every single day.

Harry C. Alford  |   OW Guest Contributor
Oct 4 2012

Beyond the Rhetoric

We have come a long way in diversity management. This is really a fancy name for Affirmative Action, which was introduced by my mentor, Arthur A. Fletcher, under the Nixon Administration.

Jim Crow (legislated discrimination) seems so long ago. Actually, it has been only two generations since the very bad days. Let’s take a look at this successful venture.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
May 17 2012

‘The moral equivalent of Jim Crow’

Because of the mass incarceration of African Americans, a Black child born today in America is less likely to live and grow up in a home with two parents than a Black child born during slavery.
And according to civil rights attorney Michelle Alexander, that is the shocking reality that has developed particularly since the so-called “war on drugs” began.

Sheyanne Jackson  |   OW College Intern
Jun 2 2011

Reunion in Mississippi

The Freedom Riders recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their harrowing bus trips through the South, which began on May 4, 1961, in attempt to protest against the Jim Crow laws. They had been outlawed by a Supreme Court decision to prohibit segregation in all interstate travel and public transportation facilities months prior to the demonstrations.

Feb 24 2011

Activist

Before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Ala., 15-year-old Claudette Colvin had refused to yield her seat to a White passenger on March 2, 1955, and was arrested.

Parks’ similar act followed on December 1 of the same year.

Born Sept. 5, 1939, Colvin understood early what injustice was.

According to one report, she had been inspired by her ancestors who endured and fought the institution of slavery.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.