Civil Rights Act of 1957

A brief history of the Ku Klux Klan Acts: 1870s laws to protect Black voters, ignored for decades, now being used against Trump

Retrieved on: 
Friday, August 4, 2023

Three of the charges in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump are fairly easy to understand.

Key Points: 
  • Three of the charges in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump are fairly easy to understand.
  • They require a jury to determine whether Trump tried to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election and if he knowingly conspired to obstruct the certification of results on Jan. 6, 2021, all in an attempt to remain in the White House.
  • But the fourth charge against Trump – of conspiring against the rights of the voters to cast ballots and have them fairly and honestly counted – is more complicated, and it comes from a dark time in U.S. history.
  • As a historian who studies and writes about democracy and the American South, I believe the 1870s have something to teach us about the fourth count in the Jan. 6 case against Trump.

Ku Klux Klan Acts

    • The indictment asserts that Trump knowingly conspired “to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States – that is, the right to vote, and to have one’s vote counted.” That quote comes from a series of laws enacted in the 1870s called the Ku Klux Klan Acts.
    • As the Brennan Center for Justice points out, in the 20th century the Supreme Court has ruled that all sorts of election infringements violate the Enforcement Acts, including stuffing ballot boxes and bribing voters.

Retreat from democracy

    • The Department of Justice secured convictions in 140 cases by using the law that is being used to prosecute Trump.
    • Congress had to expand the attorney general’s staff into an entire department of government to handle the excessive case load.
    • After Grant was reelected, many champions of Black rights lapsed into what historians often characterize as a moral fatigue.
    • Nine stood trial, including one William Cruikshank, the burly, self-confident plantation owner who had supervised the executions.
    • The Supreme Court set William Cruikshank free, and white supremacists established racist regimes in every Southern state for nearly 100 years thereafter.

Civil War amendments today

    • The 5-4 majority held that states could be trusted to guarantee citizens’ voting rights.
    • Writing in dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg compared enforcing the Civil War amendments to “battling the Hydra,” the multiheaded monster that sprouted new heads after one was defeated.
    • Given this long history of advance and retreat, it’s not surprising, then, that special counsel Jack Smith, in his use of a law to prosecute Trump that dates back to the Reconstruction Era’s laws protecting the Black vote, has reasserted the Department of Justice’s power to enforce the Civil War amendments.

How Ronald Reagan led the 1960 actors' strike – and then became an anti-union president

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 20, 2023

The last time there was a “double strike” was 1960, when future United States President Ronald Reagan was head of the powerful Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Key Points: 
  • The last time there was a “double strike” was 1960, when future United States President Ronald Reagan was head of the powerful Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
  • He was a quintessential B-movie star of the Hollywood Golden Age, acting in low-budget “second feature” movies.
  • In the 1930s and 1940s, Reagan was a self-proclaimed “New Deal Liberal” and a proud supporter of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
  • In 1947, he appeared as a “friendly” witness for Congress, blaming industrial unrest and strikes in Hollywood on “subversive” elements.

Leading the strike

    • Actors walked off sets in March, joining the Writers Guild of America, which had been on strike since early January 1960.
    • The actors’ strike lasted six weeks, paling in comparison to the 21-week writers’ strike.
    • Reagan resigned from the SAG presidency two months after the strike concluded.
    • Read more:
      Actors are demanding that Hollywood catch up with technological changes in a sequel to a 1960 strike

A shift to the right

    • In the 1964 presidential election, he campaigned vigorously for Republican Barry Goldwater, a staunch conservative rejected by party moderates.
    • Goldwater opposed taxation and the social welfare state, voted against the Civil Rights Act on libertarian grounds, and viewed nuclear weapons as part of tactical warfare.
    • Yet 1964 proved to be the beginning, rather than the end, of the modern American right.

An anti-union president

    • He articulated a politics that incorporated economic conservatism, hawkish anticommunism and moral traditionalism, including opposition to legal abortion.
    • Reagan’s polish, charisma and sunny optimism made once politically extreme views palatable and attractive to ordinary Americans.
    • Reagan is the only union leader to serve as US President.

Can Biden and McCarthy avert a calamitous debt default? 3 evidence-backed leadership strategies that might help

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, May 4, 2023

In order for the U.S. to borrow more money, Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling – currently US$31.4 trillion.

Key Points: 
  • In order for the U.S. to borrow more money, Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling – currently US$31.4 trillion.
  • President Joe Biden has refused to negotiate with House Republicans over spending, demanding instead that Congress pass a stand-alone bill to increase the debt limit.
  • Rather than leading the nation, Biden and McCarthy seem to be waging a partisan political war.
  • Having studied leadership for over 25 years, I would suggest that their leadership styles are polarized, oppositional, short-term and highly ineffective.

1. Moving from a zero-sum game to a more holistic approach

    • Negotiating any of that away could cost him the support of key parts of his base.
    • My research partner Marianne W. Lewis and I label this kind of short-term, one-sided leadership as “either/or” thinking.
    • That is, this approach assumes that leadership decisions are a zero-sum game – every inch you give is a loss to your side.
    • History offers examples of how this more holistic leadership style has achieved substantial achievements.
    • Together they could achieve greater success by developing an integrative plan that cuts costs, increases taxes and raises the debt ceiling.

2. Champion a long-term vision over short-term goals

    • Leaders face pressure to demonstrate immediate results to voters.
    • Biden and McCarthy both have strong incentives to focus on a short-term victory for their side with the presidential and congressional elections coming soon.
    • Likewise, if Biden and McCarthy want to avert a financial crisis and leave a lasting legacy, they would benefit from focusing on the long term.

3. Be adaptive, not assured

    • I found that the team leaders who were most innovative tended to be good at adaptation.
    • Such efforts helped South Africa become a successful multiracial democracy and Colombia end decades of war with a guerrilla insurgency.
    • Rather than tackle the big divisive issues, they started with identifying the small points where they agreed with each other.
    • Bill Lee agreed on the need for gun reform, his fellow Republicans in the state Legislature balked.

A long shot, but …

    • And that’s why I know this is a long shot.
    • The U.S. faces a long list of problems big and small, from high inflation and a banking crisis to the war in Ukraine and climate change.
    • Americans need and deserve leaders who will tackle these issues by working together toward a more creative outcomes.

U.S. House to Vote on Financial Freedom as Learned by Florida FAIRtax Educational Association

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 3, 2023

The FAIRtax Act of 2023, HR 25, is the fight for "financial freedom" from the income/payroll tax system, defunding the I.R.S.

Key Points: 
  • The FAIRtax Act of 2023, HR 25, is the fight for "financial freedom" from the income/payroll tax system, defunding the I.R.S.
  • The FAIRtax sales tax with monthly Prebate put the individual in control when, how much tax is paid and the individual tax rate.
  • The FAIRtax Act, HR 25 is to be scheduled for a House vote in the 118th Congress.
  • Steve Hayes, President of the Americans for FAIR Taxation says, "The FAIRtax ACT is about financial freedom with real/true tax reform.

Poptential™ Free American History Curriculum Highlights Legacy of African Americans for Black History Month

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Observed in the United States since 1976, Black History Month is celebrated yearly in February to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society.

Key Points: 
  • Observed in the United States since 1976, Black History Month is celebrated yearly in February to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society.
  • Poptential’s American History Volume II curriculum, Bell Ringers, and digital media clips feature the accomplishments of African American leaders and civil rights activists as they fought for racial equality.
  • Additional content on all three marches from Selma to Montgomery is highlighted in a March 7 Bell Ringer (free registration required).
  • Poptential course packages in American History, World History, U.S. Government/Civics, and Economics are available free at www.poptential.org.

BYRON ALLEN'S ALLEN MEDIA GROUP WINS SIGNIFICANT LEGAL VICTORY IN RACIAL DISCRIMINATION-BASED LAWSUIT AGAINST MCDONALD'S CORPORATION IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Byron Allen's Allen Media Group (AMG) divisions Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc. ("Entertainment Studios") and Weather Group, LLC ("Weather Group") won a significant legal victory in federal court on Friday, September 16, 2022. The AMG lawsuit initially filed on May 20, 2021 against McDonald's Corporation ("McDonald's") seeks $10 billion in damages for racial discrimination. According to the lawsuit, McDonald's intentionally discriminated against AMG divisions Entertainment Studios and Weather Group through a pattern of racial stereotyping and refusals to contract in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and the California Aruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civil Code § 51.5. On Friday, September 16, 2022, defendant McDonald's was denied a Motion to Dismiss by Judge Fernando M. Olguin of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The case will now proceed to trial before a jury in May 2023. McDonald's is the world's leading global food service retailer with over 39,000 locations that generate over $100 billion in annual revenue. African Americans represent approximately 40 percent of McDonald's U.S. sales, with McDonald's taking billions of dollars each year from African American consumers. Per the lawsuit, of its approximately $1.6 billion annual advertising budget, McDonald's spends less than approximately $5 million each year on African American-owned media, and it has refused to advertise on Entertainment Studios networks or The Weather Channel since Allen acquired the network in 2018. Per the lawsuit, the McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempczinski makes approximately $11 million per year, which is more than double what McDonald's spends per year on ALL of Black-owned media combined.

Key Points: 
  • McDonald's Motion to Dismiss $10 Billion Lawsuit Denied by U.S. District Court Judge
    LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Byron Allen'sAllen Media Group (AMG) divisions Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc. ("Entertainment Studios") and Weather Group, LLC ("Weather Group") won a significant legal victory in federal court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
  • The AMG lawsuit initially filed on May 20, 2021 against McDonald's Corporation ("McDonald's") seeks $10 billion in damages for racial discrimination.
  • McDonald'sis the world's leading global food service retailer with over 39,000 locations that generate over $100 billion in annual revenue.
  • The economic exclusion must stop immediately," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group.

United States Commission on Civil Rights Celebrates 65th Anniversary

Retrieved on: 
Friday, September 9, 2022

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the United States Commission on Civil Rights celebrates 65 years since its creation by the 1957 Voting Rights Act on September 9, 1957.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the United States Commission on Civil Rights celebrates 65 years since its creation by the 1957 Voting Rights Act on September 9, 1957.
  • The 1957 Voting Rights Act signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first federal civil rights legislation since Reconstruction and was then followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  • While other federal agencies have civil rights departments and offices, the Commission is the only independent federal entity charged with studying and reporting on civil rights issues and enforcement.
  • The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, is the only independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising the President and Congress on civil rights and reporting annually on federal civil rights enforcement.

AJC Delegation Visits Japan to Bolster Strong Ties with American Jewish Community

Retrieved on: 
Friday, May 13, 2022

TOKYO, May 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- An American Jewish Committee (AJC) delegationhas returned fromJapan,where they met with top government leaders and diplomats to reinforce strong ties among Japan and the U.S., Israel, and the American Jewish community.

Key Points: 
  • TOKYO, May 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- An American Jewish Committee (AJC) delegationhas returned fromJapan,where they met with top government leaders and diplomats to reinforce strong ties among Japan and the U.S., Israel, and the American Jewish community.
  • AJC's Asia Pacific Institute (API) has been traveling to Japan since 1989 to advocate for Israel and the global Jewish community, as well as strengthen the transpacific alliance.
  • At last year's AJC Global Forum, then-Prime Minister Suga Yoshihidesaid, "AJC has been strengthening its relationship with Japan for more than a quarter of a century.
  • He added, "Ties between Japan and the U.S. Jewish community havebeen an integral part of the strong alliancebetween the U.S. and Japan."

CONFRONT ART ANNOUNCES 'JUSTICE DAY' CHARITY NFT CAMPAIGN IN PARTNERSHIP WITH JOHN LEWIS, BREONNA TAYLOR, AND GEORGE FLOYD FAMILIES

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 31, 2022

NEW YORK , March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Confront Art, an organization that produces social justice art installations, has rallied a diverse group of artists, designers, and activists to create a charity NFT campaign launching on April 15 to honor Justice Day.

Key Points: 
  • Confront Art will release 9,000 NFTs on mintNFT.com with proceeds supporting the prospective charities: We Are Floyd Org ., The Breonna Taylor Foundation , and The John and Lilian Miles Lewis Foundation .
  • "My brother's death was a catalyst for change," says Terrence Floyd, Founder of We Are Floyd Org.
  • Warwick has agreed to include selections of her latest single 'Power in the Name' featuring Krayzie Bone in the NFT.
  • "We are constantly looking for innovative ways to support artists and charities," said Andrew Cohen & Lindsay Eshelman, Co-Founders of Confront Art.