Attorney General Holder’s Remarks on Black History Month
Attorney General Eric Holder’s remarks yesterday on Black History Month provoked divided reactions. Below is the full text of his remarks as prepared for delivery. Eric Ethridge of The New York Times provides a roundup.
ERIC HOLDER: Every year, in February, we attempt to recognize and to appreciate black history. It is a worthwhile endeavor for the contributions of African Americans to this great nation are numerous and significant. Even as we fight a war against terrorism, deal with the reality of electing an African American as our President for the first time and deal with the other significant issues of the day, the need to confront our racial past, and our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country, endures. One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. Simply put, to get to the heart of this country one must examine its racial soul.
Tonight: Thelton Henderson Film by Abby Ginzberg on KQED
Our friend Abby Ginzberg made this documentary about our friend and hero, the amazing Judge Thelton Henderson. It airs tonight, Feb. 17, at 11 p.m. PT on KQED. We hope you’ll watch it. Visit soulofjustice.org for more information on the film.
Robert Borosage: Progressives Need to Push the Senate on Stimulus Bill
EJS works with many other groups to push a progressive vision for America and the world. On Tuesday, we were part of a call to discuss unconscious racial bias and the current political scene.
Before the call started we were kibitzing about the economic stimulus plan and how progressive folks might get involved. Robert Borosage gave us his perspective on what should be done. His analysis follows. As you will read, he feels that three Republican Senators are key to this effort.
Visit OurFuture.org to take action and also call these Senators and ask them to restore the cuts to the stimulus bill:
- Sen. Arlen Specter – 202-224-4254
- Sen. Olympia J. Snowe – (202) 224-5344
- Sen. Susan M. Collins – (202) 224-2523
Here’s Robert Borosage’s analysis:
Civil Rights Organizations File Brief in Lawsuit Over Lands Held in Trust for Native Hawaiians
EJS and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) today filed a legal brief (download PDF here) with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that will determine whether the State of Hawai‘i can fulfill its constitutional responsibility as trustee of lands meant to serve Hawai‘i’s indigenous people.
The case, State of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, revolves around attempts by the Hawai‘i state government to sell land that by the state constitution and federal law must be managed and used partly for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.
At the heart of the case is the State’s longstanding commitment to reconciliation with its Native peoples for historic injustice and continuing modern-day harms. Integral to that commitment is a process for the partial return of certain Hawaiian lands to a representative of the Native Hawaiian people.
The case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court because the Hawai‘i state Supreme Court ruled against the state government’s intended sale of the lands in question and the state government is appealing that decision.
The brief says that the U.S. Supreme Court should affirm the state supreme court’s decision because the dispute over the lands is a state matter and is rooted in the State’s reconciliation commitment to Native Hawaiians.
“The governor’s attempted sale of ceded lands undermines the will of the Hawai‘i citizenry and its policymakers,” said brief co-author Eric Yamamoto, a professor of law at the University of Hawai‘i and a board member of the Equal Justice Society. “And by reneging on a key aspect of the State’s reconciliation commitment, the attempted sale would breach the State’s trust obligation to hold those unique lands until the Hawaiian peoples’ unrelinquished claims are mutually resolved.”
Eva Paterson on NPR This Morning
EJS President Eva Paterson is scheduled to be on NPR’s “News & Notes” program today at approximately 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT. You can listen online at npr.org.
Eva will be sharing her thoughts on the Obama Administration and civil rights – and how the movement of the ’50s and ’60s might have some lessons for us today.
We’ll post a link to the audio archive as soon as that’s available.
UPDATE: The NPR page is here. Audio expected around 1 p.m. Pacific.
Visit the New WhiteHouse.gov
All of us here at the Equal Justice Society congratulate our new President, Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden, and their families on this historic day. Our president, Eva Paterson, is somewhere near the Capitol watching the ceremonies! (And here’s the text of President Obama’s inauguration speech.)
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Leah Garchik mentions Eva in her inauguration day diary:
Civil rights activist Eva Paterson passed “a guy in the street” hawking his wares: “O.K., get your Obama air freshener. This is what change smells like.”
As soon as President Obama finished taking the oath of office, whitehouse.gov turned into a brand new site.