news
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Donald Trump Thanks 'Smart' African Americans Who 'Didn't Come Out to Vote'
During a Thursday victory rally in Hershey, Pa., President-elect Donald Trump called on a mostly white crowd to cheer for African Americans who were “smart” to listen to him and then “didn’t come out to vote” for Hillary Clinton to become president, the Associated Press reports. During his speech, Trump regaled the crowd with a play-by-play…
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Family of Terrence Sterling, Black Man Fatally Shot by DC Police, Files Lawsuit
The family of an unarmed black motorcyclist who was gunned down by a Washington, D.C., police officer in September has filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police Department, claiming that the victim was no threat to the officer, Reuters reports. Immediately after the Sept. 11 shooting death, D.C. officials said that Terrence Sterling, 31, was…
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Trump Supporter Who Punched Protester in the Face at Rally Apologizes in Court
The Donald Trump supporter who threatened a protester and punched him in the face at a rally for the then-presidential candidate in March apologized to his victim in court Wednesday, according to the Washington Post. A video showing 79-year-old John Franklin McGraw, who is white, punching 27-year-old Rakeem Jones, who is black, at a Donald…
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Report: HBCU Students Are Burdened With Higher Loan Debt Than Non-HBCU Peers
Students who graduate from historically black colleges and universities graduate with substantially higher debt than their peers at non-HBCUs, according to a new report published by the United Negro College Fund on Tuesday. “Fewer Resources, More Debt: Loan Debt Burdens Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities” (pdf), released by UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research…
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Entire Police Force in Small Ind. Town Quits in Protest of Town Council
The entire police force in a small Indiana town resigned this week amid allegations that the town’s leadership has acted inappropriately. Bunker Hill, Ind., 75 miles north of Indianapolis, has a population of 900 residents and is the hometown of radio and TV talk show host Tavis Smiley. NBC News reports that the town’s marshal…
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Craig Sager, Veteran Sports Reporter and King of the Fancy Suits, Dead at 65
Craig Sager, the veteran sports broadcaster known for his colorful, flashy suits and quick-witted sideline banter at NBA basketball games, died Thursday at the age of 65. Sager, who spent four decades as a reporter for Turner Broadcasting, died after a long and public battle with cancer that, as Shaun Powell notes for NBA.com, transformed…
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Dylann Roof Found Guilty in Charleston, SC, Church Shooting
A federal jury has found white supremacist Dylann Roof guilty of the racially charged massacre of nine black parishioners at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the Associated Press reports. According to the newswire, the jury reached its verdict after less than two hours of deliberations, convicting the 22-year-old of federal…
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Former Milwaukee Cop Charged With 1st-Degree Reckless Homicide in Fatal Shooting of Sylville Smith
Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm has charged former Police Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown with first-degree reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of Sylville Smith, a 23-year-old black man, the Associated Press reports. According to the newswire, Chisholm didn’t officially announce the charge, but it showed up in online court records that also showed that Heaggan-Brown made…
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White High School Students Held Up Trump Sign, Turned Backs as Black Basketball Team Introduced
A Missouri school district is apologizing for the “unsportsmanlike” and “insensitive” behavior of its white students after one of them held up a Trump sign while the rest of them turned their backs as a black basketball team was introduced at a Monday night game, Fox News reports. As the site notes, the controversial incident…
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Md. Teacher Asked Students to Write 'Fun' Slave Song During Lesson on Frederick Douglass
A Howard County, Md., high school English teacher was briefly placed on administrative leave last week after instructing students to write a “fun” slave song during a lesson on the famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the Baltimore Sun reports. According to the report, Howard County Superintendent Renee Foose put the Mount Hebron High School teacher on…