news
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One of the Original Tuskegee Airmen Flight Instructors Is Dead at 96
A legend in his own right, one of the last remaining flight instructors who trained the renowned Tuskegee Airmen to fly combat planes in World War II has passed away in Georgia at the age of 96, the Associated Press reports. Milton Pitts Crenchaw died Tuesday at Piedmont Henry Hospital after succumbing to cardiovascular disease…
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Photo of Ga. High School Student Dressed in KKK Hood and Carrying Confederate Flag Prompts Investigation
East Coweta High School in Sharpsburg, Ga., is currently investigating a photo that surfaced on social media this week, showing a student wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and carrying a Confederate battle flag, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The school sent out a letter to parents Wednesday detailing the incident and ensuring them that the…
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Man With Suspected Neo-Nazi Ties Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges for Assaulting a Black Man
A federal court in Iowa accused an alleged white supremacist on Wednesday of a hate crime for viciously beating a semiconscious black man in a racially motivated attack, the Associated Press reports. Randy Joe Metcalf, 40, was out on bond, awaiting trial on state assault charges for the attack, when federal authorities arrested him Tuesday.…
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Girls Kicked Off La. High School’s Basketball Team After Boycotting Game Because Coach Made Them ‘Uncomfortable’
Girls on the basketball team at Salmen High School in Slidell, La., were kicked off the team a day after they boycotted a game. They say they refused to play because complaints about their new coach were not properly addressed, the New Orleans Advocate reports. Seven girls in total were kicked off the team Wednesday…
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Study: Half of Young Black People Doubt They’ll Live Past Their Mid-30s
According to a new study, only half of young black people expect to live past age 35, the Huffington Post reports. On Monday the American Sociological Association and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior released the study (pdf), which asked more than 17,000 young people to predict their longevity. According to the Huffington Post, two out of three…
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Hispanic Lawmakers Angered by NBC Exec’s Use of the ‘I-Word’
A top NBC executive apologized to members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus after using the “i-word” in reference to undocumented immigrants during a meeting with the lawmakers, Politico reports. While discussing NBC’s integration with Telemundo, its Spanish-language network, NBC News President Deborah Turness gave an example about how it had covered Pope Francis’ U.S. visit.…
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Chicago Substitute Teacher Slammed for Music Assignment on Chief Keef
Parents of Chicago’s Fiske Elementary School students weren’t impressed after a substitute teacher gave sixth-graders a lesson and assignment based on controversial local rapper Chief Keef, calling the material inappropriate, WLS reports. According to the news station, a Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman said that Tuesday was the teacher’s last day. “If you were a sub,…
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Hillary Clinton Taps Black Firm to Help Campaign Win African-American Votes
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has hired Burrell Communications, a black-owned advertising and marketing firm, to help it focus on black voters, NBC News reports. African Americans demonstrated their strength when they turned out in historic numbers to support President Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns. But will they show up for Clinton? The former secretary of…
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#StudentBlackOut Movement Demands Institutional Change in Schools
Students across the nation joined together Wednesday in a mass protest to hold their universities accountable and demand an end to institutionalized racism on campuses. In what organizers are calling #StudentBlackOut, student leaders on campuses around the country are encouraged to organize events that uplift blackness, one organizer, Yamiesha Bell, told NBC News. “We hope…
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19 Cops Showed Up at a Black Calif. Businesswoman’s Apartment After a White Neighbor Reported a Possible Burglary
A California businesswoman gave a harrowing first-person account of her encounter with the Santa Monica, Calif., Police Department in the Washington Post, detailing how 19 officers arrived at her apartment after a white neighbor reported a possible burglary. Fay Wells, the vice president of strategy at a California company, told of how she accidentally locked…