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Protest/Race Relations News
- “I have not heard a true, official apology to Colin Kaepernick on what he was going through and what he was trying to tell the NFL and tell the world about why he was kneeling when he was doing that as a San Francisco 49er,” LeBron James said. “I just see that to still be wrong. Now they are listening some, but I still think we have not heard that official apology to a man who basically sacrificed everything for the better of this world.”
- Rep. Matt Gaetz plans to introduce legislation that would force U.S. Soccer players to stand for the national anthem. The proposal is, on its face, unconstitutional.
- Sioux Rapids Police Chief Tim Porter may face disciplinary action over a social media post he made earlier this week.
In response to an image of a pickup attempting to drive through a crowd of protesters, Porter commented, “HIT THE GAS AND HANG ON OVER THE SPEED BUMPS.”
According to KCCI TV in Des Moines, issued the following statement Tuesday: “I have a huge apology to all that saw my Facebook page yesterday of myself making a comment about running over a person in the street holding a USA sign.”
Porter’s apology says he was working on another post when he “accidentally posted on the wrong post.”
- The owner of a North Carolina racetrack advertised so-called “Bubba Rope” for sale this week, alluding to a noose that was found earlier this month in the garage used by NASCAR driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. at a different track in Alabama.
According to a report by ESPN, 311 Speedway owner Mike Fulp posted on Facebook Marketplace on Wednesday that he was selling “Bubba Rope” for just under $10 each.
“Buy your Bubba Rope today for only $9.99 each, they come with a lifetime warranty and work great,”
- Newark, New Jersey removed a statue of Christopher Columbus from Washington Park.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced the removal in a press release and said it was taken down with city work crews to avoid the potential danger of people toppling it over. The statue will be kept in storage until the city decides what to do with it.
- Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law the state’s first hate-crime law, which will give sentencing guidelines for anyone convicted of targeting a victim based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability or physical disability.
Georgia was previously one of four states in the country without a law explicitly against hate crimes.
- Thomas Blanton, the last surviving Ku Klux Klan member convicted in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four little girls, has died in prison.
- Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said Friday the Church of England and other religious institutions worldwide should “of course” reconsider portrayals of Jesus that depict him as a white man.
“You see Jesus portrayed in as many ways as there are cultures, languages and understandings,” Welby said. “You don’t see a white Jesus—you see a Black Jesus or a Chinese Jesus or a Middle Eastern Jesus, which is the most accurate.”
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to protect federal monuments after a rash of recent incidents involving the vandalism of statues memorializing the Confederacy and some of the nation’s Founding Fathers.
“I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues – and combatting recent Criminal Violence. Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!” Trump said in a tweet.
- Showrunners of “The Simpsons” announced that the series would no longer use white actors to voice nonwhite characters, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Aurora, Colorado officials announced Friday that the three police officers involved in the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain last year have been reassigned and are off the streets for their own protection as McClain’s case gains national attention.
McClain was stopped by police while walking home from a convenience store. Police had been called over “suspicious” activity as McClain was walking with a face covering on, something family said he did to aid in his social anxiety and keep him warm as he suffered from anemia.
McClain’s last words include him saying: “I’m an introvert. I’m just different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies! I don’t eat meat! But I don’t judge people, I don’t judge people who do eat meat. Forgive me … I’m so sorry.”
He was held in a chokehold before vomiting. Police then injected him with ketamine to sedate him, leading to a heart attack. He was pronounced dead three days later
- The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a proposal that would amend the city’s charter to allow the city police department to be dismantled.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) has previously said he doesn’t support dismantling the police. He’s been criticized for that stance by people with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Sources: ABC News, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, NBC News, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post
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