PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION
Volume 122 No. 39
Backlash
MAY 3, 2014 - MAY 9, 2014
By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
Displaying an unprecedented unified front against racism, NBA players, past and present, are leading the charge against Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling in light of his alleged anti-Black statements that were caught on tape and released by TMZ on April 25. “This is a very serious issue which we will address aggressively,” said Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association and, incidentally, the Clippers’ point guard. The Association is calling on the NBA to bar Sterling from all playoff games this season. They also want a full reckoning of the past accusations of discrimination against Sterling, an explanation of whatever disciplinary measures are decided upon, close involvement in the process and a swift AP Photo resolution. Paul and his Clippers teammates held a silent but emphatic Members of the Los Angeles Clippers listen to the national anthem before Game 4 of protest at an opening-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Golden State Warriors on their April April 27, in Oakland, Calif. The Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald 27 game Sterling. Instead, they made a silent protest, wearing their Clippers’ warmup shirts against the inside out to hide the team’s logo. Golden State Warriors, Black people. Do you have to?” Sterling allegedly complains. “You can sleep piling their warm-up with them. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I uniforms at center-court and ask you is not to promote it on that and not to bring them to my games.” The voice continues, “...Don’t put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the — Charles Barkley wearing their shirts insideout to hide the team’s logo. world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my Other protests were games.” much more vocal, as was In an extended version of the recording acquired by the website Deadspin, Sterling—if it is indeed his voice heard on the 9-minute tape railing at his Sterling allegedly continues the racist rant. girlfriend V. Stiviano for associating with African Americans after she posted a This time, when Stiviano, who is part-Black and Mexican, questions his photo on Instagram posing with Magic Johnson. prejudice and asks him if he is aware that his entire team is Black, Sterling “It bothers me a lot that you want to…broadcast that you’re associating with Continued on A4
“…When you’re in a position of power, and you can take jobs and economic opportunities from people, that’s what crosses the line.”
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May 17th.
When Integration Hit Baltimore
By MarshaRose Joyner Special to the AFRO A memory from a Baltimore woman whose life was changed radically by the landmark Brown v. Board decision of 1954. May 17, 1954 marked a defining moment in the history of the United States. The Supreme Court declared the doctrine of “separate but equal” unconstitutional and handed The NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund the most celebrated victory in its storied history. Reversing the 1896 the Supreme Court’s decision that separate but equal educational facilities for Negroes were legal.
I’m sure you’ve seen the film and pictures of all of the White women upset about their children going to school with Black children. On that evening in May, like everyone in America who had a TV, I was watching the 10 inch black and white television; witnessing the drama being played out. MarshaRose Joyner shares her In New York I memories of Brown v. BOE. had gone to Catholic School with a little redhead boy named Greenberg. At Holy Providence for Negros and Indians in Cornwells Heights, Pa., the convent where I was a boarding student; we were taught the Great Books and nothing about
Continued on A6
Gubernatorial Candidates Run the Gamut on Views on Marijuana By Megan Brockett Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS – The debate over Maryland’s marijuana laws took the state capital by storm this legislative session, and the issue seems poised to linger there into the future and during the governor’s race. Gov. Martin O’Malley recently signed into law a measure that will make
Del. Heather Mizeur has touted her plan to regulate and tax marijuana and use the revenue to fund universal prekindergarten. possession of small amounts of marijuana a civil rather than criminal offense starting Oct. 1. The signing marked a shift in opinion by the governor, who had expressed opposition to decriminalization at the January start of the session. A separate measure to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana died in committee. While O’Malley has spoken out against legalizing marijuana for recreational use, the seven major candidates vying to replace him in 2015 expressed a broad range of views in response to a Capital News Service candidates’ questionnaire. The only major candidate currently in support of legalization, Del. Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery, has touted her plan to regulate Continued on A3
N.C. Suppression
State Efforts Trump Citizens’ Rights By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Part III in an ongoing series on efforts to reverse voting rights in this country. In the Republican-led movement to reverse the democratic gains of minorities and other targeted communities across the United States, North Carolina is ground zero. After 150 years of taking a back seat in the Tar Heel state, the GOP gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the state house as well as the governorship, and quickly moved to secure their position by passing the most severe voter suppression laws in the nation—citizens’ rights be damned. Those lawmakers were empowered by the Supreme Court’s Shelby v. Holder decision that gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act—the provision that required states with a history of discrimination, like North Carolina, to obtain federal approval before making changes to election law. “We’re seeing an avalanche of suppressive laws from states all over the country but mostly from states that were covered Continued on A4
Courtesy photo
An Organ Gift Spells New Life By Iyana Parker Special to the AFRO
Did you know that African Americans are 3 times more likely to suffer from kidney failure than Caucasians? Did you know kidney failure is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States? Or that approximately 4.9 million African Americans over 20 years of age are living with either diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic kidney disease? Diabetes and hypertension are the leading causes of kidney disease. Statistics show African Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as Caucasians. Continued on A4
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