Page 4 • INDEPENDENT • MAY 29, 2013
Opinion The state of equality and justice in America: “We are dangerously close to regressing� By Rev. AL SHARPTON This year marks the 50th anniversary of the great “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.� It was there, at one of the largest rallies for human rights, that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. On August 28, 1963, Dr. King and all those gathered in Washington, D.C., addressed the notion of greater equality and justice in America in a way which could no longer be ignored. Thanks to Dr. King’s unyielding work, and the work of countless others before and after him, laws like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were eventually passed, and victories were achieved in the struggle for civil rights. In the time since, we’ve watched people of color break down barriers across the board - including into the highest office of the land. Progress over the last five decades is undeniable. But now 50 years after the “March on Washington�, we are dangerously close to regressing on some of the most fundamental advancements in our society. The Supreme Court of the United States is set to rule on several key items this year that are at the core of justice and equality in America. Shelby v. Holder challenges Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act itself. A key aspect of the Act, Section 5 requires juris-
dictions that have a history of discriminatory voting practices to obtain advanced approval from the federal government before they can alter election laws. Without Section 5, the basic foundation of the Voting Rights Act would be destroyed. The floodgates of biased and disenfranchising practices like harsh new voter ID laws would open and the protection of our participation in the voting process would be eliminated. Voting rights for all American citizens was a basic principle of Dr. King and all those who sacrificed during the civil rights struggle and in subsequent years. Ironically, half a century after Dr. King’s speech, voter equality is under attack all over again. In addition to the Voting Rights Act, one of the greatest advancements toward equality we achieved in this nation was the ability of those who were traditionally excluded from higher learning to attend our great colleges and universities. Well, in 2013, affirmative action hangs in the balance. Two cases, Fisher v. University of Texas and a Michigan law banning affirmative action in public college admissions, have reached the Supreme Court. The outcome of these two cases will have serious ramifications for the admission practices of schools throughout the country.
At a time when our educational system is severely leaving minority and poor students behind, some are attempting to eliminate laws designed to create a more even playing field. Our society is growing ever diverse, and our institutions of higher learning need to reflect that diversity. Affirmative action doesn’t mean preferential treatment; it means equalizing an imbalanced scale. The future of so many students remains in limbo as the high court weighs in this year on these crucial cases. This year marks another milestone in this nation’s history: the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In the last 150 years, we’ve witnessed momentous progress that was achieved only because of the selfless acts of many. Folks have marched, rallied, organized, boycotted, withstood beatings, bombings, water hoses, dogs and some even died for the cause of justice. In a post-civil rights era, laws such as the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action appeared etched in stone permanently. But now the state of justice and equality in America remains to be determined because of these renewed attempts to repeal such laws. We can either continue on a path toward greater freedom for all, or regress back to the wrong side of history.
The generation of Dr. King, and the generation immediately behind him continued fighting until they got voting rights and affirmative action on the books. We must not become the generation that couldn’t sustain and maintain it.
Rev. Al Sharpton is president/CEO of the National Action Network and host of PoliticsNation on MSNBC. This article - the sixteenth of a 20-part series - is written in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, of which Congressman Lewis is grand marshal. The Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity work that continues to be vital today. For more information, please visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.
White House under siege Dan Pfeiffer’s spin through the Sunday talk shows won’t help the president’s credibility. By KARL ROVE Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to the president for strategy and communications, appeared on five news programs Sunday to discuss the controversies buffeting the administration. The spectacle revealed the mind-set of a White House under siege. Mr. Pfeiffer invoked the word “irrelevant� like a wizard’s incantation to dismiss questions about who edited the misleading Benghazi talking points, where the president was on the night of the assaults, and even if the law prevented the IRS from targeting groups for political reasons. On Mr. Pfeiffer’s last point, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos responded, “You don’t really mean the law is irrelevant, do you?� The White House adviser proclaimed that an administration should “never interfere in independent investigations,� whether of the IRS or Benghazi. He liked that phrase so much he used it or a variation more than 12 times. To foster the image of a decisive chief executive, Mr. Pfeiffer said Mr. Obama would “fix the problem� so it “would never happen again.� He liked that phrase too, using it or a variant about 20 times in his 52 minutes on camera. Mr. Pfeiffer denied any bad behavior by the Obama administration. The IRS profiling of conservative groups was an issue of “management� and “not political mo-
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tivation.� Wrongdoing? “There’s nothing to suggest� Sarah Hall Ingram, who ran the IRS tax-exempt division as it harassed conservatives for over two years, “did anything wrong.� She was apparently ignorant of what her staff was doing. Ms. Ingram now oversees the IRS implementation of ObamaCare. Mr. Pfeiffer even insisted that Republicans should apologize to Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. This apology was owed “for accusing her of misleading the country� when she described the Benghazi attacks on television on Sept. 16 (five days after the attacks) as a spontaneous reaction to an antiMuslim video. Mr. Pfeiffer was quick to blame others. The CIA, he claimed, was responsible for the deceptive talking points that credited a “protest� for the Benghazi attacks. The agency removed all references to terror and al Qaeda, not the White House or State Department. Mr. Pfeiffer reserved his real venom for Republicans, whom he accused of “playing politics,� with 21 references to “partisan fishing expeditions, trumped up hearings,� “political hit jobs� and the like. Mr. Pfeiffer spun his way through the Sunday talk shows, but his performance won’t get the White House past these controversies. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows 74% of Americans believe it was inappropriate for the IRS to single out conservatives. By 45% to 42%, Americans say Mr. Obama is trying to cover up the facts about it. A new Fox News poll out Tuesday found that more than 60% believe the Obama administration “is trying to cover-up what happened� in Benghazi, and 66% think the White House “knew� about or “directed� the IRS targeting of conservative groups. The situation could get worse for the White House as more questions get answered. Who concocted the fairy tale that the Benghazi attacks were caused by an antiMuslim YouTube video? Who ordered U.S. military personnel in Tripoli not to attempt a rescue? These questions are not going away, especially after the White House released a slew of emails. The emails reveal that, contrary to White House assertions, State Department and West Wing officials worked together to remove all references to terrorism from the talking points about Benghazi; that the talking points were altered at a White House meeting; and that unnamed staff at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. were in touch with White House staff about preparing Ms. Rice for her TV appearances. There is more to come on the IRS scandal as well. Who authorized the agency to target conservative groups? Congressional Democrats who demanded the IRS investigate conservative organizations and the president who labeled these groups as “a threat to democracy� will have to explain the climate of intimidation they fostered. These controversies are still in their early stages—and the GOP must never mutter the word “impeachment.� The president’s credibility is weakening. If Republicans concentrate on getting the facts out, then no amount of the toocute-by-half White House spin that was on display Sunday will help him restore it. A version of this article appeared May 23, 2013, in The Wall Street Journal.