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DEFENDER | WEEK OF MAY 12 | 2011
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Obama seeks support for
immigration reform Defender News Services
During his first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, President Barack Obama renewed his call for immigration reform, and said his administration has made progress securing the border. Speaking at Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso, Obama outlined a reform plan that includes strengthening enforcement of existing laws and making it easier for immigrants to obtain legal status. “We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants, a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America’s ideals and America’s precepts. That’s why millions of people, ancestors to most of us, braved hardship and great risk to come here,” Obama said.
“We’ve often wrestled with the politics of who is and who isn’t allowed to come into this country...at times, there has been fear and resentment directed toward newcomers, especially in hard economic times,” he said. Obama’s appearance came at a time when immigration measures have made little progress in Congress. Setbacks include the failure of the Dream Act, which would have allowed children who enter the U.S. illegally before age 16 legal status to stay in the country, provided they attend two years of college or enter the U.S. military. The President criticized Republicans in D.C. for their lack of cooperation in pushing reform. “The question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work we’ve started,” he said. Some political observers see Obama’s push for immigration reform as a strategy to court Hispanic voters in the 2012 election. In 2008, Obama received 67 percent of the Latino vote, which could make a difference in many battleground states in his re-election effort.
Analysis:
Why Blacks didn’t celebrate bin Laden’s killing By Stacey Patton Special to the NNPA
Understandably, the killing of Osama bin Laden unleashed strong emotions among Americans – relief, satisfaction, fears of retribution, denial, and even exuberance. But, there was something distasteful about the raucous celebrations that took place outside the White House, in Times Square and at Ground Zero. One obvious point that has been missed in the commentary is that those celebrations were mostly devoid of Black people. The fact is that in Harlem and the Black sections of Brooklyn there were no spontaneous gatherings full of chanting, cussing, flag waving, chest
bumping, carousing, and singing with strangers. There was no loud collective orgy of national pride and triumphalism in any other Black public squares across America. Now, why is that? It’s not that Black Americans, whose patriotism is often undervalued, do not feel some of the same emotions as those who took to the streets. Our quiet response speaks to our long-held understanding of what struggle is – our domestic struggle as a marginalized community is ongoing. We know that the war is not over and that neutralizing Osama bin Laden was a goal but only as part of a war that is not over. Perhaps Black America took its
cue from President Obama’s coolness about the ordeal. Some pundits have said that the raucous celebrations aren’t a bad thing and that their triumphant nationalism is somehow healthy for our national psyche. Thankfully, our President, Black America and most of white America see it differently. The “triumphant nationalism” and arrogance is coming mostly from armchair pundits who haven’t set foot on the battlefield or near a uniform. For the rest of us, we are resolute in our understanding that the struggle continues. We will have to battle the terrorists and those who wrongfully want to set us up as masters of the universe and thereby hated targets.
Security heightened for Obama’s Kenyan grandmother A beefed-up battalion of security was ordered around the Kenyan home of President Obama’s grandmother following the killing of Osama bin Laden. “We received reports of plans to attack the home of Mama Sarah Obama and we immediately put in place adequate security measures,” local police chief Stephen Cheteka told the African Review. Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga feared retaliation. “The loss of [Al Qaeda’s] leader may first upset the movement but then it will regroup and continue,” Odinga said.
Californians work to remove ‘N’ word from gravestones An effort is underway to remove offensive gravestones from an El Dorado, CA, cemetery. According to the Associated Press, 36 grave markers are emblazoned with the “N” word. The graves marked final resting places for African Americans who were part of the settlement known as Negro Hill and died there during the 1850s Gold Rush. The graves gained the “N” word when they were moved by an unknown contractor to accommodate a 1954 Army Corps of Engineers project. The markers read, “Unknown, Moved from N----r Hill Cemetery by U.S. Government-1954. Michael Harris, leader of the Negro Burial Ground Project, has worked to remove the stones for a decade.
Atlantans get preview of Martin Luther King Memorial Visitors from Atlanta, including Martin Luther King III and his wife, Arndrea, recently joined Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Young for a special private tour of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. Harry E. Johnson Sr., president and CEO of the King Memorial Project, led the tour through the memorial, which is still under construction. It is scheduled to open to the public on Aug. 28. It was noted that the other memorials on the National Mall are dedicated to U.S. presidents and wars. The King Memorial is the only one dedicated to peace. Compiled by NNPA and the AFRO Staff
VOLUME 80 • NUMBER • 27 MAY 11- MAY 17, 2011
Publisher Sonceria Messiah-Jiles Editor Von Jiles Associate Editors Reshonda Billingsley Marilyn Marshall Art Director Tony Fernandez-Davila
Columnist Yvette Chargois Sport Editors Max Edison Darrell K. Ardison Contributing Writer Aswad Walker Webmaster Corneleon Block
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