presidents

30Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

During The Civil Rights Era Black College Presidents Had A Tough Balancing Act

Historians have documented again and again how college students contributed to the civil rights movement. Less attention has been paid to the role college presidents played in the fight for equality. Here, Eddie R. Cole, author of the book “The Campus Color Line,” discusses various ways these leaders contributed. 1. What pressures did college leaders face in the civil rights era? College presidents between 1948 to 1968 had to deal with different segments of society that were at complete odds with one another. On the one hand, they oversaw schools where students were increasingly protesting segregation. But they also had to deal with segregationist politicians who controlled state funding for their institutions. Some of those politicians were not shy about their opposition to the civil rig...

Other Countries Have Had Mixed Success In Holding Ex-Presidents Accountable – Prosecuting Trump Would Inevitably Be Political

12Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

Other Countries Have Had Mixed Success In Holding Ex-Presidents Accountable – Prosecuting Trump Would Inevitably Be Political

When Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Jan. 5, 2022, that he would prosecute anyone involved in the Capitol riots, he was not only laying out his approach to the sprawling investigation of that attack. He also appeared to be responding to a growing number of people who have pressured him to announce he would criminally charge former President Donald Trump for the role he played in the day’s events. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” said Garland. “We will follow the facts wherever they lead.” No U.S. ex-president has ever been criminally charged. Prosecuting current or past top official...

19Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

Vice Presidents – What Do They Do

On Jan. 20, Kamala Harris will become vice president of the United States – the first woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first African American to do so. Harris will also become the first vice president to have graduated from a historically black college or university. Each of these achievements is significant in its own right. However, the vice presidency itself has traditionally been a relatively insignificant position, though the office has become more influential in recent years. John Adams, the nation’s first vice president, called the job ‘the most insignificant Office.’ Gilbert Stuart, National Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons The ‘most insignificant’ office? The role of vice president is only mentioned in the U.S. Constitution a handful of times. Article I...

Presidents have a long history of condescension, indifference and outright racism towards Black Americans

26Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Presidents have a long history of condescension, indifference and outright racism towards Black Americans

The fury over racial injustice that erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s killing has forced Americans to confront their history. That’s unfamiliar territory for most Americans, whose historical knowledge amounts to a vague blend of fact and myth that was only half-learned in high school and is only half-remembered now. If their historical knowledge is lacking, Americans are not any better informed about the role of presidential leadership – and lack of leadership – on racial issues. They may have heard that five of the first seven presidents owned slaves, and they know – or think they do – that Abraham Lincoln “freed the slaves.” But even those tidbits of fact are incomplete. Several other presidents, including Ulysses Grant, owned slaves. And Lincoln, whose Emancipation Proclamation wa...