Chinese, African, slavery
by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

May 5, 2024

‘Slavery Still Exists’ Says Commenters On Video Of Asian Man Beating His African Employees

The viral video has yet to be verified.

A video going viral of an Asian man physically assaulting two African employees has sparked backlash online. Many commenters, who seem to be conservatives, are comparing the incident to “tame” racism in America.

The video, posted on May 2 by X user Dom Lucre, shows the Asian man beating the two men with a stick as they try to protect themselves. Business Insider Africa has yet to confirm the video’s authenticity, but the footage did alarm many social media users.

“This disturbing footage of a Chinese employer in Africa treating his employees like Trans Atlantic slaves is going viral across the internet,” Lucre captioned the video. “Viewers have begun discussing how it appears the Chinese are ‘far more racist than the White man’ in Africa.”

Commenters then prompted a discussion on human rights abuses, stating how slavery “still exists” throughout the world. However, many users took the video to minimize African American’s history of enslavement.

“Slavery still exists. The West makes a massive fuss about slavery that happened 200 years ago in America. They don’t talk about the Slavery taking place all over the world right now,” claimed a user.

Another shared, “Everyone rails against America while completely ignoring the human rights abuses going on all over the world.”

A user then claimed that racism in Eastern Europe and Asia makes the U.S. seem “so tame.”

“I keep telling people they haven’t seen what racism is until they go to Eastern Europe or Asia. The USA is so tame in comparison.”

While the video incited a conservative response, it still showcases alleged abuse toward the African workers. The issue of anti-Blackness across the diaspora is a growing concern. In April, The Harvard Kennedy School released a report on Global Anti-Blackness and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, further acknowledging how enslavement impacts today’s world.

As anti-Blackness remains prevalent on a global scale, missions to address discrimination and mistreatment continue.

RELATED CONTENT: Africans In China Say Government Is Forcing Them To Recant Stories

protests, Ole Miss
by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

May 5, 2024

Congressman Applauds Heckling Of War Protestors At Ole Miss, Including Racial Taunting Black Woman With Monkey Gestures

One of the hecklers appeared to make monkey noises toward a Black woman protestor.

A U.S. congressman has endorsed the actions of hecklers harassing student protestors at the University of Mississippi. Georgia Rep. Mike Collins made a supportive post, including a video of a counter-protestor making monkey noises at a Black student.

The congressman posted his support to his X account on April 3, as reported by the Associated Press. In his message, he applauded the Ole Miss students who were racially taunting the demonstrators.

“Ole Miss taking care of business,” shared Collins.

The video showed the counter-protestors outnumbering those protesting. The clip showed a horde of primarily white male students attempting to intimidate the demonstrators.

The dean of students and campus police tried to keep the protestors and hecklers apart despite the two groups verbally sparring. As tensions increased, one of those student hecklers appeared to make monkey noises toward a Black woman protestor.

The school is part of a growing number of college campuses demonstrating against the Israel-Hamas war. Like many protests, the students chanted “Free Palestine” and advocated for the U.S. to stop supporting Israel.

Upon the footage of the alleged racial harassment going viral, the school’s chancellor announced the launch of a “student conduct investigation.” He further stated that such offensive action would not be tolerated on campus.

“To be clear, people who say horrible things to people because of who they are will not find shelter or comfort on this campus,” he said.

The school has a majority white population, with Black students accounting for 11% during the 2022-2023 school year. Moreover, the school has a troubled history of integration, with the enrollment of its first Black student, James Meredith, sparking the Ole Miss Riot in 1962.

However, the conservative lawmakers of Mississippi and fellow Republicans have relayed their support toward the Pro-America hecklers. Alongside a video showing the hecklers singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves shared his love for his state.

“Warms my heart,” Reeves wrote. “I love Mississippi!”

RELATED CONTENT: President Biden Reaffirms Support For Israel Amidst Pro-Palestine Protests

WNBA, Chicago Sky, Ticket Sales, Reese, Angle, Kamila, Cardoso, Caitlin Clark
by Daniel Johnson

May 5, 2024

WNBA Preseason Livestream Fiasco Spotlights Need For Improved Visibility Of Black Players

Hello, WNBA: A fan's livestream drew 2 million.

Although the WNBA’s League Pass service appeared to promise fans a chance to see its newly drafted stars Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and Alissa Pili square off, fans had to settle for a May 3 livestream of the game on Twitter/X. The WNBA was also supposed to make the game available on YouTube, but that also did not happen, frustrating some fans like Alli Schneider. Schneider, who was in attendance at the game, decided to livestream it, and her stream of the game pulled in more than 2 million views as of May 4.

As The Athletic reports, coaches from both sides, Cheryl Reeve of the Lynx and Theresa Weatherspoon of the Sky, voiced their excitement for the growth of the game and the missed opportunity from the WNBA to capitalize on the early momentum. 

Reeve briefly discussed the WNBA’s broadcast limitations, telling reporters postgame, ”The growth is happening so fast; it’s so accelerated. Business as usual isn’t going to work anymore; you’re going to get left behind. “This is an example. … We have to capitalize on those things.”

Weatherspoon was a little more charitable, offering a bright side analysis, saying that the high demand for the game is good, even if the WNBA seemed unprepared to capitalize. “We would love for us to be on and for everyone to take a look, especially for this team; you have a great group of young women who are exciting to watch play. Tonight, we had an opportunity to kind of get a feel for where we are and what we need to do. It’s awesome to know that a lot of people really tuned in.”

The Sky’s newly acquired draft picks, South Carolina’s Kamila Cardoso and LSU’s Angel Reese had solid debuts, Reese nearly logged a double double in 24 minutes, compiling 13 points and securing nine rebounds. On the other hand, Cardoso played sparingly, only logging 13 minutes while chipping in six points and four rebounds in a bench role. Pili, drafted by the Lynx, struggled from the field and went 1/7 from the floor. The WNBA apologized for its error on social media, which it attributed to an error on its site that misled fans. They continued the post, encouraging fans to watch Caitlin Clark make her WNBA debut, which was not taken well by fans of the league. 

Reeve, for her part, included a hashtag, #theWismorethanoneplayer, in a post about the matchup ahead of the game, which was interpreted by many as a shot at the WNBA’s saturation of Clark to the detriment of the league’s many other stars and the respective fan bases of the 11 other franchises in the WNBA. The Athletic spoke to Schneider, who was surprised at the massive increase in engagement from last year’s livestream she conducted. “I actually did it last year too because the Lynx had a preseason game that was again not selected for any sort of coverage,” she told The Athletic. “So I did it last year for a couple of friends and I had maybe 80 people total watch, so I figured I’d try again this year and see if maybe that’s something people want. And apparently, it was.”

“I was just flabbergasted,” Schneider continued. “We were watching the numbers climb while the game went on, but I couldn’t look at Twitter while the livestream was happening, so I just saw all of it afterward. I had no idea that it had been retweeted that many times or that Sue Bird had quote-tweeted me. I had to slowly catch up to so many people reaching out to me in my DMs; there were so many notifications.”

Some, like USA Today columnist Mike Freeman, have called attention to the league’s spotty record of promoting its Black players, who make up a majority of the league’s players, and even its current best player, Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson, has not been immune. As Freeman writes in his column discussing the racial politics of shoe deals in the WNBA, “Stardom propels shoe deals, but also, shoe contracts, like a signature shoe, drive stardom. If you believe the only reason three (and likely soon four) white women are getting the shoes because they just happen to be more marketable, well, you’re a fool.”

RELATED CONTENT: Why NIL Deals Have More Brands Investing In College Athletes Over Pros, And Women Athletes’ Dominance In The Arena

Tim Scott
by Mary Spiller

May 5, 2024

Republican Sen. Tim Scott Says ‘The View’ Hosts Are ‘Attacking’ Him Again

Tim Scott is a potential vice presidential running mate for Donald Trump in this upcoming election.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott has lodged criticism at the hosts of the talk show “The View” for attacking him for being the only Black Republican senator.

Scott took to X to express his discontent. On May 3, he wrote, “I’m never surprised when the ladies at ‘The View’ go at it again.” He continued, “They’re attacking me for being the only Black Republican in the Senate.” Scott said that “time and time again” the women who sit on the talk show have put down Black Republicans who are attempting to run for Senate.

He speculated that “The View” hosts were afraid of what he called the “Black GOP base.”

“Four out of 10 Black men wanted to vote for the Republican Party, doubling the number of Black women interested in voting for the Republican Party,” he said. “What they’re afraid of is that the monopoly is over. The Republican Party, the GOP, on the move in my community,” he continued. 

“God Bless America.”

Scott, a South Carolina senator, made the statement on X in response to comments made by co-host Sunny Hostin on “The View.” As reported by The Hill, Hostin said on the show that if Scott were picked as former President Trump’s vice president, he would turn away Black voters for Trump in the upcoming election.

Hostin identified Scott as a potential running mate for Trump in this election. A former Trump administration aide and co-host, Alyssa Farah Griffin, pointed out that Democrats have only had a few more Black lawmakers in the Senate than Republicans. 

Hostin added, “If anyone thinks that Tim Scott is going to bring over a bunch of Black men, they need to just get with it because Tim Scott is the only African American senator in the Republican Party for a reason.”

RELATED CONTENT: Tim Scott Launches Video Series Featuring Five Of America’s Black Republican Lawmakers

worst states, Wisconsin, 24/7 Wall St.
by Mary Spiller

May 5, 2024

New Index Names Wisconsin The Worst U.S. State For Black Americans

The Wall St. Index defined Hawaii as the best state for Black Americans to live in.

The 24/7 Wall St. has created an index using data from the U.S. Census Bureau to measure socioeconomic disparities between Black and white Americans. They’ve identified the worst U.S. states for Black Americans to live in. 

24/7 Wall St. reports, “To determine the worst states for Black Americans, 24/7 Wall St. created an index of eight measures to assess race-based gaps in socioeconomic outcomes. Six of the measures—median household income, poverty, adult high school and bachelor’s degree attainment, homeownership, and unemployment rates—are based on five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community.”

However, the seventh measure in the index focuses on prisoners of state and federal facilities adjusted by race, and the eighth is an age-adjusted mortality rate by race. For each measure, “we constructed an index from the gaps between Black and white Americans.”

In Wisconsin, the median household income for Black individuals is only 51.1% of that for white individuals, marking the widest income gap among all states. The unemployment rate for Blacks, who make up just 6.1% of the population, is 8.3%, compared to 3.0% for white residents.

Of all the U.S. states, 24/7 Wall St. found Hawaii has the smallest disparity in the eight key socioeconomic indicators identified between residents. Hawaii is also the only state in which the Black poverty rate is below the white rate.

At No. 48 sits Texas. “Segregation in Texas in the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th century has shaped much of the racial inequality evident in the state today. Historically, Black schools in the state often had lower funding.” 

Labor unions in Texas have unequal membership among workers, and the homeownership rate is highly unequal within the state between white and Black families.

“Earnings among Black Texas residents also remains well below white earnings. Most Black households in the state earn less than $47,000 a year, while most white households earn over $64,810.”

The top three worst states for Black Americans are Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. These states are highly segregated, with deeply embedded racial disparities in access and services. In addition to racial zoning and redlining, Black residents in these states are more likely to be incarcerated in comparison to their white counterparts and have extremely high unemployment rates for Black Americans. 

RELATED CONTENT: MoneyGeek Lists the Best and Worst Cities For Black Women To Flourish Financially

Saint Augustine's Black Woman, Board
by Daniel Johnson

May 5, 2024

St. Augustine’s University Faces $32 Million Debt And IRS Battle

In various investigations dating back to July 2023, WRAL discovered several financial issues.

Saint Augustine’s University has been tightening its belt amid its attempts to stave off the loss of its accreditation, which would carry a tremendous penalty for its students. The IRS and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Board of Trustees are watching the university closely after the HBCU’s previous finance board allegedly mismanaged a $34 million budget, resulting in a $32 million debt.

“We’re still unpacking, but the biggest piece starts with our missing audits from 2021, 2022 and 2023,” Marcus H. Burgess, the university’s interim president, told ABC News in March. “A $34 million budget. There was only $130,000 that can be accounted for. So a new finance team was brought in, and they literally had to recreate all of those financials. And it took them about two years to do that.”

According to WRAL, St. Augustine’s faced the loss of its accreditation over the course of four years, from 2014-2018, when it was removed from accreditation probation and regained its accreditation.

In various investigations dating back to July 2023, the outlet discovered several financial issues, including the university taking out a $7 million line of credit, a $7.9 million lien against the university for unpaid taxes by the IRS, and employees and students not receiving employment and tuition reimbursement checks from the university early in 2024.

Dr. Christine McPhail, the university’s last appointed president, was fired in December 2023. As reported by WRAL, McPhail alleges that the university fired her after a contentious board meeting, which the university board denied, before hiring Burgess as the school’s interim president. In April, an alumni group, Save SAU, called for the resignation of the current university board. 

According to John Larkins, a former board member and current member of Save SAU, the organization is looking at several things at once.

“In this coalition, besides wanting to replace the leadership at the university’s Board of Trustees, we’ve been looking at other ways to improve the university, depending on what happens with our accreditation,” Larkins said. “We’re looking at, ‘How do we set up organizations and groups to help the university get out of this substantial financial hole?’ But also looking at ways to alter the curriculum and programs at the school to make the students more successful.”

Larkins continued, “It’s been a revolving door of presidents, which creates chaos, [and] instability in the staff. They don’t know what direction the university is going in. If you keep changing the leadership or bringing in somebody new, who has different ideas on the way to do things, they just destabilize the university in our opinion. Right now, most of the board members who come on are by referrals, which tends to generate a group with the same mindset, as opposed to getting a lot of diverse views and diverse capabilities.

“The institution has been victimized; the students and parents have been victimized. They bring their young people there with high potential, make a significant investment in their careers and life…It bothers me, it really bothers me to see the university in the current situation where it’s at and may not survive.”

RELATED CONTENT: Saint Augustine’s University Suspends Football Program Amid Financial Struggles

Black Americans, jos reports, unemployment
by Mary Spiller

May 5, 2024

Unemployment Rates For Black Americans Fall As It Rises For Others

Despite this, Black Americans still have a higher unemployment rate. 

The fall in unemployment rates for Black Americans highlighted in April of this year is against the overall trend nationwide. According to new data released on May 3 by the Department of Labor, white Americans’ unemployment rates are slowly rising.

Although Black Americans still remain the racial group with the highest employment percentage in the U.S., with the unemployment rate falling from 6.4% to 5.6% last month, unemployment is higher than the overall rate.

The data showed that the white Americans’ unemployment rate rose “higher to 3.5% from 3.4%” and “the jobless rate for Asian and Hispanic workers, respectively, rose to 2.8% from 2.5%, and to 4.8% from 4.5%.”

This is a notable difference in the Black trend, which has been steadily declining for the past few months of this year. 

Senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute Elise Gould said, “Luckily, for many reasons, that came down. I think that speaks to last month really just being a statistical blip that happens because of small sample sizes, and having that come down now for April is very promising.” 

“And you’re seeing that happen for Black men and Black women alike.”

Gould is hopeful about the trend but recommended continuing to monitor the unemployment rate because it has been volatile this year. It was rising four months in a row before April.

She described it as a “key indicator to watch since historically marginalized groups often feel the effects of a soft labor market first.” 

Gould continued to point out another rising trend found by the Department of Labor this year: this one for the employment rate of “prime-age workers,” or those from ages 25 to 54.

Despite all of the fluctuations, the overall labor force participation rate has kept steady at 62.7%. 

RELATED CONTENT: Unemployed TikToker Who Applied To 150 Jobs Addresses Labor Shortage Crisis

Chicago police, Proud Boys, jan 6
by Daniel Johnson

May 4, 2024

Chicago Police Tied To Hate Groups Proud Boys And Oath Keepers Won’t Face Discipline, Officials Say

The investigation is the third such investigation to conclude with no discipline for the officers investigated.

The Chicago Police Department’s probe into officers who have documented ties to far-right groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who have been connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection, has concluded with no disciplinary action taken. The investigation is the third such investigation to conclude with no discipline for the officers investigated.

As WTTW reports, although Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made holding officers of the CPD accountable one of his primary campaign promises, he also stated at a May 3 press conference that there remain “very few courses of action that can be taken” without evidence collected from investigators. Even an admission of being members of the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers doesn’t merit discipline from the CPD, which Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling defended at the press conference by saying, “I can tell you that we have reached out to everyone, our internal affairs division has reached out to everyone, to gather information to determine if these officers were actually proven to be members of hate groups.”

Snelling added, “So that information will be there for everyone to read.”

In October 2022, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended that the CPD fire an officer who lied about his ties to the Proud Boys, but instead of acting on her recommendation, CPD officials suspended the officer for 120 days. CPD officials subsequently rejected another recommendation from Witzburg in January 2024 to fire another officer who admitted to being a member of the Oath Keepers. According to Witzburg’s report, the officer “admitted to being a former member of the Oath Keepers, having joined in 2010 or 2011 and having been a member for three to four years.” Department officials ruled that the allegations against the officer were “not sustained,” despite his own admission of membership in the far-right group. 

WBEZ reported that the probe indicates that the officers were recruited to the far-right organization and paid to be members of the group, which they allege lends credence to claims that the department is lenient on officers who are investigated for ties to extremist groups. Most of the officers who were investigated told the CPD investigators of their ties to the organizations in February, who wrote in the closing report, “at some point each of them provided their information in order to gain more information or join a group called the Oath Keepers.”

The investigators also added, “Most of the accused officers had very limited to no interaction with the Oath Keepers after the initial signup.” None of the officers being investigated admitted to attending any Oath Keepers events. During an earlier investigation of another officer that had signed up for the Oath Keepers, the CPD investigation of that officer concluded that being in an extremist organization is in “itself is not a rule violation.” Witzburg, however, according to WBEZ, has previously argued that involvement in these groups violates the department’s policy against discrediting the department and undermining its goals. Witzburg has been extremely critical of how the CPD has conducted its investigations regarding extremist influence in the department in the past. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center voiced its displeasure with the CPD investigation and declared it a violation of the citizens of Chicago’s social contract with their police force. “Every time Chicagoans demand police accountability, nothing happens,” Jeff Tischauser, a Chicago-based senior researcher with the SPLC, said. “It is utterly disappointing that Supt. Snelling and the Chicago Police Department Bureau of Internal Affairs closed these cases and did not sustain any allegations.”

Tischauser continued, “These officers with these ties to hate and extremist groups tarnish the reputation of CPD. How can we trust any Chicago police officer when their leaders allow officers with ties to hate and extremist groups to go unpunished?”

RELATED CONTENT: Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Gets 22 Years in Prison For Role In Jan. 6 Capitol Riots

Donald Trump, anti-white racism, DEI
by Daniel Johnson

May 4, 2024

Trump Pledges To Combat ‘Anti-White’ Racism If Elected In 2024

In an interview with Time Magazine, Donald Trump said he believes that white people are being treated with bias on a wide scale.

In an interview with Time magazine, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, said that he wants to crank up deportations using the United States military to do so, deploy the National Guard to deal with protests, gut the U.S. civil service, and that he believes that white people face anti-white bias, which Project 2025 also argues through describing affirmative action as affirmative discrimination. 

In the sprawling interview, which was published by Time on April 30, Trump outlines his vision for America, which some have described as The Handmaid’s Tale melded with a dictator’s dreams. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley described a second Trump presidency to the magazine as a harbinger of the “the end of our democracy” and “the birth of a new kind of authoritarian presidential order.”

As Deadline reported, at an event on May 1, President Joe Biden called the long-form interview in Time a must-read. He told the crowd gathered at an Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander fundraiser at Washington D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel, “Trump did a long interview with TIME magazine. It’s coming out, you gotta read it. It’s a mandatory read. This election is about competing values and competing visions for America,” Biden added. “Trump’s values and visions are ones of anger, hate, revenge, retribution.”

In addition to his tacit support for the aims of Project 2025, a codenamed Republican Party project to reshape the whole of American government in the image of Trump, the GOP’s Republican nominee is firmly opposed to what he described as an anti-white bias.

“If you look at the Biden Administration, they’re sort of against anybody depending on certain views. They’re against Catholics. They’re against a lot of different people… I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country and that can’t be allowed either,” Trump said. “I don’t think it would be a very tough thing to address, frankly. But I think the laws are very unfair right now. And education is being very unfair, and it’s being stifled. But I don’t think it’s going to be a big problem at all. But if you look right now, there’s absolutely a bias against white [people] and that’s a problem.”

The Republican Party at large, have been engaging in a protracted push against DEI, the most emblematic of which is the controversy the party has stirred up around critical race theory. Critical race theory is basically a way of looking at American society through laws and other aspects of the American social structure that perpetuates systemic racism. Although the theory does not appear in any K-12 textbooks, it is mentioned in several proposals governing grade school education from Republican governors, like Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The Republican Party has also been targeting DEI policies and departments at institutions of higher education, claiming that they should not receive state funding because they are discriminatory in nature. 

However, Civil rights leaders like Alvin B. Tillery, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and Diversity at Northwestern University and Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League see the activism of the Republican Party as part of a framework from the days of segregation. Morial told USA Today that the conservatives are “advocating for the return of white privilege” and that “They’re advocating for the policies that were used during a segregated America.”

RELATED CONTENT: Iowa Universities Set To Close DEI Offices In Summer 2024

accidental shooting, killing, arrested
by Mary Spiller

May 4, 2024

Music Producer Clinton ‘D-Billz’ Dorsey Shot And Killed In Familial Argument

Clinton, a known Atlanta music producer, was allegedly killed by his son in a dispute over their family business.

Edward Dorsey, the son of a prominent Atlanta music producer, has been arrested for fatally shooting his father during a family dispute. The shooting took place on the morning of May 2 inside an Arium Lenox Apartment in Brookhaven, police confirmed.

The 2100 block of Gables Drive was swarmed with police after reports of a shooting were called in. The authorities identified the victim as Clinton Dorsey, a 48-year-old better-known in the Atlanta music industry under the name “D-Billz.”

Clinton’s business partner, Kal Austin, reported that D-Billz was with his son Edward — who was visiting him at his apartment. Austin recalled stepping out of the apartment for just a moment when father and son got into a heated argument. 

Brookhaven police said Edward Dorsey had a gun at this time.

Brookhaven Police Sgt. John Clifford said, “That argument turned to being physical, and that turned to Mr. Dorsey, retrieving a firearm, and shooting Clinton Dorsey.” 

As reported by Fox 5 Atlanta, Clinton and Edward were arguing over the family business of dog breeding, and the argument escalated into a physical altercation. 

When the argument turned physical, “the son went and retrieved a semi-automatic pistol and shot and killed Mr. Dorsey,” Sgt. John Clifford told the outlet. Police placed Edward under arrest and charged him with voluntary manslaughter.

Austin expressed, “It was a situation that went too far, but that was probably something that was deeply rooted in their relationship as father and son.” 

Clinton Dorsey has worked with many artists, both established and emerging, in his producer career. Notably, he’s collaborated with artists like “BRS Kash, Lil Baby, Da Baby, City Girls, YFN Lucci, Fatt Sosa, VL Deck, Peewee Longway, Jose Guapo, Rich Da Khid, Khaotic, and more,” according to WSB-TV Atlanta.

RELATED CONTENT: Rico Wade, Famed Producer In Atlanta Hip-Hop Scene, Dies At 52

×