minority reporter week of june 24th - july 4th, 2013

7/28/2019 Minority Reporter Week of June 24th - July 4th, 2013

1/16

1 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013

MINORITYREPORTERfrom information to understanding

www.minorityreporter.netjune 24 - july 4 2013

rulings by supreme court


2/16

2 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013MinorityReporterOfe Ae:

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busInEss MAnAgErPauline McCleary

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cOPy EdItOrGary McLendon

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Art dIrEctOrCatie Fiscus

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EdItOrIAL stAFFLisa DumasDelani Weaver

EdItOrIAL AssIstAntClaribel Oliveras

AdvErtIsIngDave McCleary

Yahya Abdullah

Lucy Smith-Fulmore

[email protected]

PHOtOgrAPHyTemple Boggs, Jr.

Todd Elliott

cOLuMnIstsGloria Winston Al-Sarag

C. Michael Tillman

Rev. Michael Vaughn

Vincent FelderDiane Watkins

Mike Dulaney

Davy Vara

Ayesha Kreutz

Minority Reporter, Inc. is a family of publicationsand other media formats committed to fostering selfawareness, building community and empoweringpeople of color to reach their greatest potential. Fur-ther, Minority Reporter, Inc. seeks to present a bal-anced view of relevant issues, utilizing its resourcesto build bridges among diverse populations; takingthem from information to understanding.

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Call 585-301-4199or email [email protected].

In This Issue:

{COVER Pg 8 - 9

Landmark Rulings by SupremeCourt

{LOCAL Pg 4 - 7

Lovely Warren Speaks Out onRCSD Graduation Rights Howard Eagle & RonaldHallLaunch Campaign for School Board Bullied NY Bus Monitor KarenKlein, One Year Later RCSD Fails to Shine with LowestHigh School Graduation Rates

{TATE Pg 10 - 12

Upstate NY Man Charged AfterConng in Closet 4 Boys CaughtVandalizing His Home NY Legislature to Require HeartScreens of Babies

Senate Approves Upstate Casinos,Blocks Abortion Bill

{ATIOAL Pg 13

Putin Says No to US Request toExtradite Snowden

{COLUM: Pg 14-15

African-American Actors TakeCenter Stage at 2013 TONY Awards

By marc morial

Bill Maher Defends Paula Deen

and Says Shes No Worse Than aRapper

By dr. Boyce watkins

1 www.minorityreporter.net|june24-30|2013

MINORITYREPORTERfrom information to understa nding

www.minorityreporter.netvol. 6 no. 26 june 24 -30 2013


to include your event on this calendar email us at

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CALEDAR

june

ED U YOUR

FEEDBACK

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24

Xerox Rochester International JazzFestivalTime: 5:00pm-11:00pmLocation: Downtown RochesterCelebrate the 12th edition of the XeroxRochester International Jazz Festival,featuring musicians gathered fromaround the world to perform in morethan 250 concerts!

26Food Truck RodeoTime 5:00pm-9:00pmLocation: Rochester Public MarketFood Truck Rodeo brings ourcommunitys eclectic array of mobilefood stands together at the RochesterPublic Market. The 2013 rodeo will

run on the nal Wednesday of eachmonth. Its fun on four wheels with over23 vendors serving up their uniquecuisine on paper plate.Just abouteverything and anything that is servedfrom the back of a truck will be featuredfrom food vendors including La PetitPoutine, The Sammich Guy, Cheese& Confused, Potatoes to Go ... andmany more! Beer will be provided byRohrbach Brewing Company, as well!In addition, enjoy some local tunesfrom local talent each Rodeo night.

July

4July 4th Celebration and Fireworks

7:30pm-10:00pmCelebrate Independence Day with yourfamily and friends at the Citys July 4thCelebration,on the Main St. Bridge.Fabulous reworks over the downtownskies at 10 p.m.!7:30 p.m. - Jimmie HighsmithExperience with vocalist Fatima9:00 p.m. - Rochester PhilharmonicOrchestra10:00 p.m. - FireworksRecommended reworks viewingareas: Main St. Bridge, BroadSt. Bridge, Chestnut St. near the

Washington Square Garage and

streets surrounding those areas.Attendees are encouraged to bringchairs or blankets for more comfortableviewing of the reworks show andconcert and to refrain from bringingpets for everyones safety.

7GOING FOR BAROQUETime: 1:00pm & 3:00pmLocation: MAG, Fountain Court

Aaron James, a graduate student atthe Eastman School of Music, givesa 25-minute presentation and mini-recital onthe Italian Baroque organ. Included inGallery admission.

11MAX AT THE GALLERY TAPAS NIGHTTime: 5:008:00 pmLocation: At The MAG, Vanden BrulPavilionEvery Thursday night, youre invited tovisit the Gallery (half price admissionfrom 5 to 9 pm), listen to live music,and enjoy wine, beer and tapasplates for purchase. No reservationnecessary!

11MAG HIGHLIGHTS TOURTime: 6:30pm,Location: At The MAG, meet at

Admission DeskThis docent-led tour of the collections

is included in Gallery admission.

12Rochester SummerFestTime: 7:30pm-10:00pmLocation: Auditorium TheatreRochester SummerFest features aweekend of City-sponsored musicalentertainment paired with a basketballtournament and social events!12 -Aug. 9Bands on the BricksTime: 6:00pm-10:00pmLocation: Rochester Public MarketOne of Rochesters most popularconcert series, Bands on the Bricksbrings the Rochester Public Market to

the evening set with live music throughthe summer months! 2013 Bands onthe Bricks will be run on Fridays, July12, July 19, July 26, August 2 and

August 9.Gates open at 5:30p.m. andthe music runs 6 - 10p.m.

14WHATS UPTime: 2:00pmLocation: At The MAG, auditorium

Artists and RIT professor of art AlanSinger speaks on the Print Clubof Rochester and the Memorial ArtGallery.Included in Gallery admission.Offered in conjunction with the MAGCentennial.

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by Bonnie DeVinney, Vice President and Chief Program Ocer, Greater RochesterHealth Foundaon

June is a me when most Americans can look forward to nding plenful produce?fresh, in-season and less expensive. But families who live in cies can have amuch harder me nding fresh fruits and vegetables close to home.

Organizaons throughout the city are helping bring fruits and veggies to familiesthroughout Rochester. For instance, Foodlink is bringing its Curbside Market, atruck full of fresh fruits and veggies, to 26 dierent locaons throughout thecity each week, and is also encouraging city corner stores to sell fresh produce.North East Area Development ?through its Freedom Market on Webster Avenue? is also making important strides to oer healthier foods, including fresh fruits

and veggies, to the neighborhood.

As always, the Rochester Public Market is a great place for families to buyfresh produce, and groups like ABC Headstart are holding events and toursto encourage more families to shop there. Its so important that groups likeCommunity Place of Greater Rochester and Foodlink are hosng farm standsright in our neighborhoods.

Whether its Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month or any other month of the year,the Health Foundaon believes that eang ve servings of fruits and vegetableseach day is vital to a healthy lifestyle. We are thrilled that our community hasfound even more ways to make fresh produce available to everyone throughoutthe summer, and we hope all families in the city of Rochester get out to one ofthe many stores, stands or trucks now oered in your neighborhood.

Find a list of great places to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at www.BeAHealthyHero.org

Rochester Delivers for ationalFresh Fruit & Veggie Month

send us your feeback

ADOPTBirth Date: February, 1996

gail is an eager-to-please young lady.Talkave and sweet, she likes to spend her meplaying basketball and praccing hair andmakeup. Gail is in 11th grade and has educaonalsupports. She does well in school and hopes to bea cosmetologist in the future. Gails favorite classis wring. She also likes dogs and would welcomea home with pets. Gail has siblings with whomshe would like to maintain contact. Gail is open toadopon and hopes to meet her forever family soon.

If youre interested in learning more about Gail orother waiting children, visit:

www.chileAwaiiPae.o o all 585-232-5110.

Photograph by Teri Barlow


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4 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013LOCAL

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Lovely Warren peaks Out on RCD Graduation RatesBy Delani Weaver

The Rochester City School District isnot only dead last on the states list of

graduaon rates; it has also droppedto a 45.5 percent in the overallgraduaon rate for the 2007 freshmanclass.

In response to the June 11 the StateDepartment of Educaon report,City Council President Lovely Warrenexpressed her opinion:

Once again Rochester is the worstperforming urban district in thestate and our graduaon rates aredeclining, Warren said. Once againparents and taxpayers are being toldto stay the course, that a one or twopercentage change in the graduaonrate is not important, we need to sck

with what we are doing, to maintainthe status quo.

Graduaon rates were gatheredfrom ve school districts in the state:Rochester, Bualo, Syracuse, New York

City and Yonkers.Rochesters graduaon rates droppedfrom a 46.1 to 45.5 percent rate forthe 2007 freshman class.

Warren, a candidate for the mayor,points out that graduaon rates havedropped while current Mayor ThomasRichards has been in oce. I stronglydisagree with the mayor that a singledigit drop in the graduaon rate isinsignicant, she said. As a schooldistrict and as a community, we mustbe accountable for the success ofevery single child. Mayor Richardsconnues to deny the accountabilitydata that clearly shows that studentachievement has declined across

the board during his me in oce.Rochesters children deserve an honest

discussion about student outcomes,not false assurances.

The report also shows that out of the

45.5 percent of graduated high schoolstudents, only 5.8 percent receiveda Regents Diploma with AdvancedDesignaon; again, the lowestpercentage out of the ve districts.

Warren says that RCSD has to change.

The connued decline in theRochester School districts graduaonrate, the dismal college and careerreadiness rate all point to the needfor change, she said. We cannot askparents to sacrice their childs futurefor the sake of maintaining jobs at thecity school district. We need bold newleadership. We need a mayor with avision for our childrens future.

Warren explains what she wouldchange in the school districts if elected.

Under a Warren administraon, myeducaon plan will call for giving eachand every parent in the city a choiceas to where and how to educatetheir child. As a community we mustlook at the cold hard facts and bewilling to make tough choices. Thisincludes working with parents so

that they understand that they playan important role in their childrensacademic success and providing everychild with access to a great city school,a high performance charter schoolor an aordable private school. Wemust work collecvely to make surethat every child gets an opportunity tosucceed in li fe.

Lovely Warren

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6/16

6 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013LOCAL

When you text a driver, youtake their eyes o the road

or as long as it takes to drive

the length o a ootball feld

at 55 mph; F.Y.I. thats

SECONDS*

Visit URthatDistracting.orgto see how you can help end distracted driving.

*SOURCE: DSRCON.OV

Howard Eagle & Ronald Hall Launch Campaign for chool BoardRochester City School BoardCandidates Ronald Hall (le) andHoward EagleStanding in front of All City High

School with a backdrop of school-age children, Howard Eagle andrunning mate Ronald Hall held a pressconference Saturday announcing thelaunch of their campaign for eleconto the Rochester City School Board.

We sincerely hope that Rochester CitySchool District parents, grandparents,guardians, and the general, tax-paying,public is ready to join us in declaring,

and proving that enough is enough,Hall said.

We have out-worked (in the streets)and out-organized the Democrac-Party-Machine, and defeated it in thepast. Indeed, we did so in 2011. It is

our plan and intenons to do the jobtwice as well in 2013, Eagle said.

Hall is a local resident and RCSD parent.

Eagle a rered RCSD teacherand founder of the CommunityEducaon Task Force, is no strangerto the campaign trail. Eagle has rununsuccessfully in several school boardraces.

To see a video of the press conferencego to: www.minorityreporter.net/fullstory/fullstory.php?id=870

Ronald Hall and Howard Eagle

Bullied .Y. Bus Monitor Karen Klein, One Year LaterLocal resident and rered busmonitor Karen Klein, who was givena life-changing sum aer a schoolbus bullying episode seen around theworld a year ago, says she really hasntchanged all that much.

Im just a regular old lady, she addedwith a laugh.

25-year-old Canadian Max Sidorov sawthe video and was so moved that hetook up an online collecon to sendher on vacaon, more than 32,000people from 84 countries responded,pledging $703,873 in donaons.

Its just the way it hits them, I guess.I dont know. I dont know, Klein said,sll unsure of why it all happened.

Klein, 69, who drove a school bus for20 years before spending three yearsas a monitor was seen in a 10-minutecellphone video of her being ridiculed,sworn at and threatened by a group ofseventh-graders last June. They pokeat her hearing aid and call her names

as she tries to ignore them.

Unless you have something nice tosay, dont say anything at all, Kleinsays calmly a few minutes in.

One boy taunts: You dont havea family because they all killedthemselves because they dont wantto be near you. Kleins oldest soncommied suicide more than a decadeago.

The video was recorded by a fellowstudent and then posted online. It wasviewed more than 1.4 million mes onYouTube.

Klein has been cricized by those whosay she didnt do her job that June 2012

aernoon and by others who think shesought out fame and fortune.

They make it sound like I did this onpurpose, Klein said. She didnt evenknow the incident had been recordedunl being called in to school byadministrators and the police.

She didnt ask for this, Klein-Romigsaid.

Klein has met with one of the boys whobullied her. He and his parents cameto her home to apologize. The otherthree sent typed apologies, which shesaid struck her as less sincere.

I hope they learned a lesson; theyprobably didnt, Klein says, shrugging.It might have been a big joke tothem.

Klein says she used $100,000 as seedmoney for the Karen Klein An-BullyingFoundaon, which has promotedits message of kindness at concertsand through books. Most recently,the foundaon partnered with theMoscow Ballet to raise awareness ofcyberbullying as the dance companytours the United States and Canada.

Theres a lot I wish I could be doing,but I dont know how to do it, Kleinsaid.

She has spent some helping familymembers and friends, and the rest isunder lock and key for rerement, and

maybe a motor home to do sometraveling, she said. She wants to getback to her cras, x some thingsaround the house, maybe get newcarpet and furniture, and take it easy,especially since having a pacemakerimplanted in March.

There are other people who it wouldprobably change dramacally, saidKleins daughter, Amanda Klein-Romig.But for her, no, everythings the sameprey much. Its not l ike shes jaunngevery weekend to a dierent place.

Klein has been to Boston, Toronto andother cies to promote her foundaon.She parcipated in a WNBA an-bullying event with the New YorkLiberty in Newark, N.J., and has beeninvited to appear on Raising McCain,a cable television series launching thissummer starring Arizona Sen. JohnMcCains daughter, Meghan.

Theres a lot of nice people out there,

I have learned that, Klein said. And toignore the negave people.

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7/16

7 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013PUZZLESLOCAL

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RCD Fails to hine With LowestHigh chool Graduation RatesBy Delani Weaver

The Rochester City School District

disappoints in graduaon rates whencompared to the four other largestschool districts in the state.

On June 11, the State EducaonDepartment released high schoolgraduaon rates for students whoentered 9th grade in 2007.

The data shows that New Yorks overallgraduaon rate connues to riseslowly over me, however Rochestersrates have not.

The data also shows that in both thegraduaon rate and the performancemeasures, theres a gap betweenwhite students and minority students.

New Yorks overall graduaon ratehas improved, but nearly a quarter ofour students sll dont graduate aerfour years, said Board of RegentsChancellor Merryl H. Tisch. Andtoo many of those students who dograduate arent ready for college andcareers.

These numbers make clear that weneed to connue to pursue aggressivereforms in our schools including a new,richer curriculum and implementaonof the new teacher evaluaon law indistricts across the state, she said.

Graduaon rates for Rochester,

Bualo, New York City, Syracuse andYonkers were all gathered showingthat in all school districts menoned,Rochester is the only school districtwhose graduaon rates have droppedsince the 2006 class, from 46.1 to 45.5percent.

RCSD Superintendent Bolgen Vargassaid: Graduaon rates for ourstudents who entered high school in2008 are painfully unacceptable. Thefact that the district has predicted adecline this year, because of morestringent Regents requirements andmore accurate data, is no comfort tothe majority of Rochester familieswhose children are failing to graduate.

Chancellor Tisch does not exaggeratein calling this an ongoing tragedy.

The report also shows that graduaonrates are signicantly dierentethnically as well.

Statewide, the report shows that fromthe previous year, graduaon rates forblack students rose from 57.7 percentto 58.4 percent. Hispanic studentsrate rose from 57.3 percent to 58percent.

The 28 percent dierence betweenthe graduang black and graduangwhites last year has changed to 27percent for 2007 freshman class.

For Hispanic students, the 30 percentdierence for 2004 has decreased toa 27 point dierence for 2007. Thepercentages show more black and

Hispanic students earn diplomas thanwhite students.

We are moving with relentless focusto improve student achievement,Vargas said. We are focused not just

on high school, but also on the earlygrades where the seeds of successor failure are planted. Every eort inwhich we are engaging sta, families,and the community is aimed directly atboosng achievement and graduaonrates. Three of the most crical areimproving aendance, increasinginstruconal me, and implemennga more rigorous curriculum at all gradelevels based on the common core.

In 2005, the Board of Regentsimplemented graduaon requirementsthat were more demanding thanprevious requirements. Previously,general students or students withoutany disabilies would earn a local

diploma.

Since 2005, students are required topass ve Regents exams in their corecourses with a score of 65 or beerand earn all required credits.

Doing this would earn the students aRegents Diploma.

Once again, Rochester was at theboom of the totem pole with 5.8percent of the 2007 freshman classgraduang with a Regents diplomawith Advanced Designaon, whencompared with an overall graduaonrate of 45.5 percent.

Statewide, 43.3 percent of the 2007freshman class who graduated witha Regents Diploma with AdvancedDesignaon were white students, 11.9percent were Hispanic students and9.5 percent were black students.

These results should serve only asa reminder that we must move withtremendous urgency to reverse pastpracces and transform the RochesterCity School District, Vargas said. Wemust end the sad reality that Rochesterstudents receive the least instruconalme of any students in MonroeCounty, when arguably they needand deserve the most. Parents mustensure that every child aends school

every day, beginning in kindergarten.Our district must work aggressivelywith families and the community toimprove literacy and help all studentsachieve at grade level.

RCSD Superintendent Bolgen Vargas


8/16

8 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013COVER STORY

UREMECOURTTRIKEFEDERAL MARRIAGE ROVIIOWASHINGTON (AP) In a major victoryfor gay rights, the Supreme Court onWednesday struck down a provision ofa federal law denying federal benets tomarried gay couples and cleared the wayfor the resumption of same-sex marriage inCalifornia.

The justices issued two 5-4 rulings in theirnal session of the term. One decisionwiped away part of a federal anti-gaymarriage law that has kept legally married

same-sex couples from receiving tax,health and pension benets.

The other was a technical ruling that saidnothing at all about same-sex marriage, butleft in place a trial courts declaration thatCalifornias Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.That outcome probably will allow stateofcials to order the resumption of same-sex weddings in the nations most populousstate in about a month.

In neither case did the court make asweeping statement, either in favor of oragainst same-sex marriage. And in a signthat neither victory was complete for gayrights, the high court said nothing about thevalidity of gay marriage bans in California

and roughly three dozen other states. Aseparate provision of the federal marriagelaw that allows a state to not recognize asame-sex union from elsewhere remains inplace.

President Barack Obama praised thecourts ruling on the federal marriage act,which he labeled discrimination enshrinedin law.

It treated loving, committed gay and lesbiancouples as a separate and lesser class ofpeople, Obama said in a statement. TheSupreme Court has righted that wrong, andour country is better off for it.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,

said he was disappointed in the outcome ofthe federal marriage case and hoped statescontinue to dene marriage as the union ofa man and a woman.

The ruling in the California case was notalong ideological lines. Chief Justice JohnRoberts wrote the majority opinion, joinedby Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, StephenBreyer, Elena Kagan and Antonin Scalia.

We have no authority to decide thiscase on the merits, and neither did the9th Circuit, Roberts said, referring to thefederal appeals court that also struck downProposition 8.

In the case involving the federal Defenseof Marriage Act, Justice Anthony Kennedywrote the majority opinion, joined by thecourts liberal justices.

Under DOMA, same-sex married coupleshave their lives burdened, by reason ofgovernment decree, in visible and publicways, Kennedy said.

DOMAs principal effect is to identify asubset of state-sanctioned marriages andmake them unequal, he said.

Some in the crowd outside the courthugged and others jumped up and downjust after 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday whenthe DOMA decision was announced. Many

people were on their cell phones monitoringTwitter, news sites and blogs for word of thedecision. And there were cheers as runnerscame down the steps with the decision inhand and turned them over to reporterswho quickly ipped through the decisions.

Chants of Thank you and USA camefrom the crowd as plaintiffs in the casesdescended the courts marbled steps.Most of those in the crowd appeared tosupport gay marriage, although there wasat least one man who held a sign promotingmarriage as between a man and a woman.

Kennedy was joined in the DOMA decisionby the courts four liberal justices.

Chief Justice John Roberts, JusticesSamuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, andScalia dissented.

Same-sex marriage has been adopted

by 12 states and the District of Columbia.Another 18,000 couples were married inCalifornia during a brief period when same-sex unions were legal there.

The outcome is clear for people who weremarried and live in states that allow same-sex marriage. They now are eligible forfederal benets.

The picture is more complicated for same-sex couples who traveled to another state

to get married, or who have moved from agay marriage state since being wed.

Their eligibility depends on the benetsthey are seeking. For instance, immigrationlaw focuses on where people were married,not where they live. But eligibility forSocial Security survivor benets basicallydepends on where a couple is living whena spouse dies.

The rulings came 10 years to the day afterthe courts Lawrence v. Texas decision thatstruck down state bans on gay sex. In hisdissent at the time, Scalia predicted theruling would lead to same-sex marriage.

Massachusetts was the rst state to allow

gay couples to marry, in 2004. When same-sex unions resume in California, there willbe 13 states representing 30 percent ofthe U.S. population where gay marriage islegal.

The other 11 are Connecticut, Delaware,Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, NewHampshire, New York, Rhode Island,Vermont and Washington.

Outside the court, gay marriage proponentscelebrated both wins.

May the marriages begin, said the HumanRights Campaigns Chad Grifn, whohelped spearhead the lawsuit challengingProposition 8. The two same-sex couples

who sued for the right to marry also were atthe court Wednesday.

In New York Citys Greenwich Village, theStonewall Inn, where a riot in 1969 sparked

the gay rights movement, erupted in cheersand whooping.

Mary Jo Kennedy, 58 was there with herwife Jo-Ann Shain, 60, and their daughterAliya Shain, 25.

She came with a sign that could be ippedeither way and was holding up the side thatsays SCOTUS made our family legal.

They have been together 31 years and got

married day it became legal in New York.

The broadest possible ruling would havegiven gay Americans the same constitutionalright to marry as heterosexuals. Thejustices said nothing on that topic in eithercase.

The decisions Wednesday have no effecton the roughly three dozen states that donot allow same-sex marriage, including29 that have enshrined the bans in theirconstitutions.

The federal marriage law, known by itsacronym DOMA, had been struck down byseveral federal courts.

The justices chose for their review the caseof 83-year-old Edith Windsor of New York,who sued to challenge a $363,000 federalestate tax bill after her partner of 44 yearsdied in 2009.

Windsor, who goes by Edie, married TheaSpyer in 2007 after doctors told them Spyerwould not live much longer. She sufferedfrom multiple sclerosis for many years.Spyer left everything she had to Windsor.

Windsor would have paid nothing ininheritance taxes if she had been marriedto a man. And now she is eligible for arefund.

___

Associated Press writers Connie Cass,Jessica Gresko and Bethan McKernancontributed to this report. McKernanreported from New York.



9/16

9 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013COVER STORY

A deeply divided Supreme Court on

Tuesday halted enforcement of thefederal governments most potent toolto stop vong discriminaon over thepast half century, saying it does notreect racial progress.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court declaredunconstuonal a provision of thelandmark Vong Rights Act thatdetermines which states and localiesmust get Washingtons approval forproposed elecon changes.

President Barack Obama, the naonsrst black chief execuve, issued astatement saying he was deeplydisappointed with the ruling.

The decision eecvely puts an endto the advance approval requirementthat has been used, mainly in theSouth, to open up polling places tominority voters in the nearly halfcentury since it was rst enacted in1965, unless Congress can come upwith a new formula that Chief JusceJohn Roberts said meets currentcondions in the United States.

Roberts, wring for a conservavemajority, said the law Congress mostrecently renewed in 2006 relies on40-year-old data that does not reectracial progress and changes in U.S.society.

The coverage formula that Congressreauthorized in 2006 ignores thesedevelopments, keeping the focus ondecades-old data relevant to decades-old problems, rather than current datareecng current needs, Roberts said.

Obama was sharply crical of the rulingand called on Congress to reinvigoratethe law.

While todays decision is a setback,it doesnt represent the end of oureorts to end vong discriminaon,the president said. I am calling onCongress to pass legislaon to ensureevery American has equal access tothe polls.

That task eluded Congress in 2006when lawmakers overwhelminglyrenewed the advance approvalrequirement with no changes in thesystem by which states and localjurisdicons were chosen for coverage.And Congress did nothing in responseto a high court ruling in a similarchallenge in 2009 in which the juscesraised many of the same concerns.

Tuesdays decision means that a host

of state and local laws that have notreceived Jusce Department approvalor have not yet been submied will beable to take eect. Prominent amongthose are voter idencaon laws inAlabama and Mississippi.

Going forward, the outcome alters thecalculus of passing elecon-relatedlegislaon in the aected states andlocal jurisdicons. The threat of anobjecon from Washington has hungover elecon-related proposals fornearly a half century. At least unlCongress acts, that deterrent now isgone.

That prospect has upset civil rights

groups which especially worry thatchanges on the local level might notget the same scruny as the acons ofstate legislatures.

Jusce Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined byher three liberal colleagues, dissentedfrom Tuesdays ruling.

Hubris is a t word for todaysdemolion of the law, Ginsburg said.

She said no one doubts that vongdiscriminaon sll exists. But thecourt today terminates the remedythat proved to be best suited to blockthat discriminaon, she said in adissent that she read aloud in the

packed courtroom.

Ginsburg said the law connues to benecessary to protect against what shecalled subtler, second-generaonbarriers to vong. She idenedone such eort as the switch to at-large vong from a district-by-districtapproach in a city with a sizableblack minority. The at-large systemallows the majority to control theelecon of each city council member,eecvely eliminang the potency ofthe minoritys votes, she said.

Jusce Clarence Thomas was part ofthe majority, but wrote separatelyto say again that he would have

struck down the advance approvalrequirement itself.

Civil rights lawyers condemned theruling.

The Supreme Court has eecvelygued one of the naons mostimportant and eecve civil rightslaws. Minority voters in places witha record of discriminaon are now atgreater risk of being disenfranchised

than they have been in decades, said

Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for theLawyers Commiee for Civil RightsUnder Law. Todays decision is a blowto democracy. Jurisdicons will beable to enact policies which preventminories from vong, and the onlyrecourse these cizens will have willbe expensive and me-consumingligaon.

Sherrilyn Ill, president of the NAACPLegal Defense and Educaonal Fund,said, This is like leng you keep yourcar, but taking away the keys.

The decision comes ve months aerObama started his second term in theWhite House, re-elected by a diverse

coalion of voters.

The high court is in the midst of abroad re-examinaon of the ongoingnecessity of laws and programs aimedat giving racial minories access tomajor areas of American life fromwhich they once were systemacallyexcluded. The jusces issued amodest ruling Monday that preservedarmave acon in higher educaonand will take on cases dealing with an-discriminaon secons of a federalhousing law and another armaveacon case from Michigan next term.

The court warned of problems with thevong rights law in a similar case heard

in 2009. The jusces averted a majorconstuonal ruling at that me, butCongress did nothing to address theissues the court raised. The lawsopponents, sensing its vulnerability,led several new lawsuits.

The latest decision came in achallenge to the advance approval,or preclearance, requirement, whichwas brought by Shelby County, Ala., aBirmingham suburb.

The lawsuit acknowledged thatthe measures strong medicinewas appropriate and necessary tocounteract decades of state-sponsoreddiscriminaon in vong, despite the

Fieenth Amendments guarantee ofthe vote for black Americans.

But it asked whether there was any endin sight for a provision that intrudeson states rights to conduct elecons,an issue the courts conservavejusces also explored at the argumentin February. It was considered anemergency response when rstenacted in 1965.

The county noted that the 25-year

extension approved in 2006 wouldkeep some places under Washingtonsoversight unl 2031 and seemed notto account for changes that includethe eliminaon of racial disparity invoter registraon and turnout or theexistence of allegaons of race-baseddiscriminaon in vong in areas of thecountry that are not subject to theprovision.

The Obama administraon and civilrights groups said there is a connuingneed for it and pointed to the JusceDepartments eorts to block voter IDlaws in South Carolina and Texas lastyear, as well as a redistricng planin Texas that a federal court found

discriminated against the states largeand growing Hispanic populaon.

Advance approval was put into the lawto give federal ocials a potent tool todefeat persistent eorts to keep blacksfrom vong.

The provision was a huge successbecause it shied the legal burdenand required governments thatwere covered to demonstrate thattheir proposed changes would notdiscriminate. Congress periodically hasrenewed it over the years. The mostrecent extension was overwhelminglyapproved by a Republican-led Congressand signed by President George W.

Bush.

The requirement currently applies tothe states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, SouthCarolina, Texas and Virginia. It alsocovers certain counes in California,Florida, New York, North Carolinaand South Dakota, and some localjurisdicons in Michigan. Coverage hasbeen triggered by past discriminaonnot only against blacks, but also againstAmerican Indians, Asian-Americans,Alaska Naves and Hispanics.

Towns in New Hampshire that hadbeen covered by the law werefreed from the advance approval

requirement in March. Supporters ofthe provision pointed to the ability tobail out of the prior approval provisionto argue that the law was exibleenough to accommodate change andthat the court should leave the VongRights Act intact.

On Monday, the Jusce Departmentannounced an agreement that wouldallow Hanover County, Va., to bail out.


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Jesse Daniels was arraigned on fourcounts of endangering the welfareof a child aer authories say heinterrupted the vandalism at theempty home in the Wayne Countyvillage of Clyde, midway betweenRochester and Syracuse.

Daniels, 53, said that he heardpounding coming from the home nextdoor the night of June 8. The house isempty while Daniels renovates it forhis father-in-law. When he went toinvesgate, his wife was dialing 911.He said he found four boys, ages 8and 10, inside with hammers. He tooka hammer from one, then stuck theboys in a closet unl ocers arrived,he said.

Their parents said Daniels handled theboys roughly and threatened them

with the hammer. I was fortunatethat they were in that room that hada closet, so I put them in the closet,he said. I said, Listen, you guys arestaying here unl the police come,period.

The damage to the home includedholes in the walls, broken windows andgra derogatory to women spray-painted on walls. Daniels esmatedthat the damage to his father-in-lawsproperty exceeds $40,000. He saidhe believed the boys commied thevandalism in retaliaon for Danielswife telling them earlier in the day tostay o the couples property.

The boys have been charged withburglary and criminal mischief. Theircases are being handled in WayneCounty Family Court.

Paul Bowler, the father of two of theboys, told the staon that there areno excuses for his sons acons. Iunderstand they were in the wrong,but there are other ways to handleit, he said. He (Daniels) knew whothe kids were. Its not like they werestrangers. And send the kids homeand call the cops then. You dont sitthere and torment them and tell themyoure going to bash their skulls in witha hammer.

Bowler said Daniels grabbed the neckof one of his sons and le a mark. Hesaid that his boys are traumazed andthat Daniels should have faced morecharges.

Daniels counters that he was justtrying to protect his family.

Daniels is due back in court later thismonth. It wasnt immediately clear ifhe has a lawyer. Wayne County DistrictAorney Richard Healy told thestaon that the incident is sll underinvesgaon.

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13 www.minorityreporter.net|june 24 - july 4|2013NATIONAL

MATTI HUUHTANEN and VLADIMIRISACHENKOV

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian PresidentVladimir Pun bluntly rejected U.S.pleas to extradite Naonal SecurityAgency leaker Edward Snowden onTuesday, saying Snowden is free totravel wherever he wants and insisngthat Russian security agencies haventcontacted him.

Snowden is in the transit zone of aMoscow airport and has not passedthrough Russian immigraon, Punsaid, meaning he is not technically inRussia.

Aer arriving Sunday on a ight fromHong Kong, Snowden booked a seat on

a Havana-bound ight from Moscowon Monday en route to Venezuela andthen possible asylum in Ecuador, buthe didnt board the plane.

Snowdens whereabouts since thenhave been a mystery, and Punscomments were the rst me Russiahas made clear it knows where he is.

Speculaon has been rife that Russiansecurity agencies might want to keepSnowden in Russia for a more thoroughdebrieng, but Pun denied that.

Our special services never workedwith Mr. Snowden and arent workingwith him today, Pun said at a news

conference during a visit to Finland.

Pun said that because there is noextradion agreement with the U.S., itcouldnt meet the U.S. request.

Mr. Snowden is a free man, and thesooner he chooses his nal desnaonthe beer it is for us and for him,Pun said. I hope it will not aect thebusiness-like character of our relaonswith the U.S. and I hope that ourpartners will understand that.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerrysaid Tuesday that though the UnitedStates does not have an extradiontreaty with Russia, it wants Moscow

to comply with common law praccesbetween countries where fugives areconcerned.

Puns staunch refusal to considerSnowdens extradion reects theRussian presidents readiness tofurther challenge Washington at a mewhen U.S.-Russian relaons are alreadystrained over Syria and a Russian banon adopons by Americans.

A Kremlin decision to provide eventemporary shelter and safe transitto Snowden would embarrassWashington. And despite Punsdenial, analysts believe Russian specialservices wouldnt miss the chance

to queson the man who is believedto hold reams of classied U.S.documents.

Russia also relished using Snowdens

revelaons to try to turn the tables onU.S. cricism of Russias rights record.

Pun compared Snowden to WikiLeaksfounder, Julian Assange, who has beenprovided asylum in the EcuadoreanEmbassy in London, saying that bothmen were labeled criminals butconsider themselves rights acvistsand champions of freedom ofinformaon.

Ask yourself a queson: shouldpeople like that be extradited so thatthey put them in prison or not? hesaid. In any case, I would prefer not todeal with such issues. It s like shearinga piglet: a lot of squealing and lilewool.

In an apparent reference to claimsthat Moscow could have played a rolein Snowdens exit from Hong Kong, hesaid that his arrival was a completesurprise and dismissed accusaonsagainst Russia as ravings and sheernonsense.

He doesnt need a visa or any otherdocuments, and as a transit passengerhe has the right to buy a cket and ywherever he wants, Pun said.

Russian news media had reportedSnowden remained in a transit zone ofMoscows Sheremetyevo airport, butjournalists there havent seen him.

Legally, an arriving air passengercrosses the border aer clearingimmigraon checks.

Russias Foreign Minister SergeyLavrov rejected the U.S. push forSnowdens extradion earlier Tuesday,but wouldnt specify his whereabouts,saying only that he hasnt crossed theRussian border.

We consider the aempts to accuseRussia of violang U.S. laws and evensome sort of conspiracy, which ontop of all that are accompanied bythreats, as absolutely ungrounded andunacceptable, Lavrov said. There areno legal grounds for such conduct by

U.S. ocials.

U.S. and Ecuadorean ocials had saidthey believed Snowden was sll inRussia.

Kerry called for calm andreasonableness.

We would hope that Russia would notside with someone who is a fugivefrom jusce, Kerry said at a newsconference in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. has revoked Snowdenspassport.

A representave of WikiLeaks has

been traveling with Snowden, and theorganizaon is believed to be assisnghim in arranging asylum. Assange, thegroups founder, said Monday thatSnowden was only passing through

Russia and had applied for asylum inEcuador, Iceland and possibly other

countries.

A high-ranking Ecuadorean ocialtold The Associated Press that Russiaand Ecuador were discussing whereSnowden could go, saying the processcould take days. He also said Ecuadorsambassador to Moscow had not seenor spoken to Snowden. The ocialspoke on condion of anonymitybecause he was not authorized todiscuss the case publicly.

Ecuadors foreign minister, RicardoPano, hailed Snowden on Mondayas a man aempng to bring lightand transparency to facts that aecteveryones fundamental liberes.

Were following all the appropriatelegal channels and working with variousother countries to make sure that therule of law is observed, PresidentBarack Obama told reporters.

The Kremlin has previously said Russiawould be ready to consider Snowdensrequest for asylum.

Snowden is a former CIA employeewho later was hired as a contractorfor the NSA. In that job, he gainedaccess to documents that he gave tonewspapers the Guardian and TheWashington Post to expose what hecontends are privacy violaons by an

authoritarian government.

Snowden also told the South ChinaMorning Post newspaper in Hong

Kong that the NSA does all kinds ofthings like hack Chinese cellphone

companies to steal all of your SMSdata. He is believed to have more than200 addional sensive documents inlaptops he is carrying.

Some observers said in addion to thesensive data, Snowdens revelaonshave provided the Kremlin withpropaganda arguments to counter theU.S. cricism of Russias crackdownon opposion and civil acvists underPun.

They would use Snowden todemonstrate that the U.S. governmentdoesnt sympathize with the idealsof freedom of informaon, concealskey informaon from the public

and stands ready to open criminalproceedings against those who opposeit, Konstann Remchukov, the editorof independent daily NezavisimayaGazeta, said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

Pun has accused the U.S. StateDepartment of insgang protests inMoscow against his re-elecon for athird term in March and has taken anan-American posture that plays wellwith his core support base of industrialworkers and state employees.

____

Huuhtanen reported from fromNaantali, Finland. Michael

Weissenstein and Gonzalo Solanocontributed to this story from Quito,Ecuador.

utin says no to U request to extradite nowden

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Comedian BillMaher is the

liberal thatpeople loveand hate at thesame me. Hehas an opinionon nearlyeverything andhas enoughmoney that hedoesnt have tocare what you

think.

Recently, Maher spoke about the racialcontroversy involving cooking queenPaula Deen. Unless youve been onvacaon to Mars, you probably heardthat Deen lost her show on the Food

Network aer adming to the use ofracial slurs in the past. Deen is a whitewoman born in Georgia in the 1940s,so we have to admit that her admingthat shes used the n-word fallsunder the no duh category. Nearlyeveryone in Georgia, at that me,referred to black people as n*ggers,we just have to accept that.

But Maher went a step further, notonly stang that Deen should possiblybe given a pass for being a woman

from the south born before the civilrights movement, but even asked if

rap records should be banned becausehip-hop arsts also use the n-word.

Im never really sure what to thinkabout Bill Maher. He comes o asthe white guy with a very narrowdenion of blackness that tendsto include a whole lot of thuggin,smoking, drinking, shoong, and otherignorant, stereotypical stu. Ill neverforget when Maher asked Dr. CornelWest if he was geng b*ooty callson Saturday nights, and said that therst black president is someone heexpected to shoot a BP execuve forspilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

As to his point about Paula Deen, I

tried to hear where Maher was comingfrom. My friend Roland Marn madea similar argument, stang that wecant get angry at Deen for using then-word, given that so many rappersuse it without consequence. I wouldalso be included, by some, to be partof the Paula Deen forgiveness campaer my recent comments about Paulato Anderson Cooper earlier this week.

To be honest, I dont consider PaulaDeen to be the poster child of American

racism. The most devastang racismin America is structural, and has lile

to do with white people who call me an*gger. The root of black oppressiondoesnt lie with people calling usdirty names, but instead lies withuniversies that wont admit blackstudents unless they can throw afootball, corporaons that dont hireblack managers, or prisons that havebecome blacker than most HBCUs.Paula Deen is the least of our concerns.

But while Paula Deen shouldnt becrucied enrely, the truth is thatshe represents a part of Americanhistory that cannot be tolerated. Mypercepon of Deen is that she couldactually be a decent human being,but the idea that she hasnt yet been

challenged to improve her racialsensivies and cultural competenceover me is enrely unacceptable.In some ways, she reminds me ofthe college students here at SyracuseUniversity (where I am on the faculty)who did a racist newscast a fewyears ago. Their racial ignorance wasallowed to fester because our countryputs lile eort into teaching peopleabout the value of racial respect andequality.

Now, back to Maher. Because Bill issuch a cool white guy, I suspect thatsome negro has given him an honoraryblack card at some point that he lovesto pull out of his behind whenever he

needs it. You know, this is the kind oflicense that allows him to speak onissues in the black community as ifhes one of the brothas (Bill Clintonhas one too). In fact, I dare say thatMaher probably thinks hes blackerthan me because I am a nerdy collegeprofessor and he dated video vixenKarrine Steans (who also dated LilWayne and prey much everyone elsein the hip-hop music industry).

Bill makes a good point that blackpeople regularly overlook thedisrespect shown to them by toxicand negave hip-hop music. Itsvery similar to the way we overlookviolence against black men if it comes

at the hands of another black male.Had Trayvon Marn been shot by a

black man, no one would be talkingabout his case right now. Hip-hop has

to be confronted, which is part of thereason I helped to push Mountain Dewto end its relaonship with Lil Waynea month ago. We can never acceptthe gloricaon of genocide, addiconand incarceraon.

But one thing that must be admiedis that there is a very big dierencebetween a rapper using the n-word andan old white woman from the southsaying the same thing. The meaning ofwords oen change due to the contextand character of the commentator.Thats why the Chinese word ma hasa whole host of meanings, dependingon who says it, when they say it, whatpart of the country they are from and

the inexion in their voice. In thisregard, there is merit to those whoargue that the word n*gga has adierent meaning from the wordn*gger, or that the phrase wussupmy n*gga? used by a black man inNew York can have a dierent meaningfrom the very same phrase beingstated between a Crip and a Blood inSouth Central Los Angeles.

But these nuances are also stated withthe understanding that were beero not using the phrase or any variantof it in the rst place. However, wecan also say that Paula Deens use ofthe word DOES INDEED have a verydierent meaning from the rapper

Young Jeezy. You might hate havingto admit this, but you cant argue thatPaula and Jeezys use of the n-wordmeans the same when they say it. Atthe same me, this subtle variaon istoo dicult to explain to white people,which is why we probably need to stopusing any form of the word in anycontext.

Another point about Paula Deen thatwe have to understand is that Paula wasnot taken o the air by black people.It wasnt the outrage in the blackcommunity that led to the loss of hershow. Actually, it was the discomfortof (mostly white) execuves at theFood Network, who didnt want their

brand to be associated with a personwith such a complex and tarnished

Theviewsexpressedonouropinionpagesarethoseoftheauthoranddonotnecessarilyrepresentthe

positionorviewpointofMinorityReporter.OPINION/EDITORIAL

Bill Maher Defends aula Deen and ays hes o Worse than a Rapper

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TriceEdneyWire.com) - Im thesole survivingmember ofmy immediatefamily. Ive askedmyself over andover again why. Inow know why.Cicely Tyson,2013 Tony Award,Best Actress in aPlay

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in the Sun. Viola Davis won in 2010for her role as the wife of Troy Maxsonas played by Denzel Washington in theBroadway revival of August WilsonsFences.

In a career that has spanned morethan half a century, this was CicelyTysons rst Tony Award. It came aera 30-year absence from the Broadwaystage. In accepng her award sheexpressed her gratude for being ableto fulll a burning desire to do onemore great role. Her award not onlycaps a career that includes award-winning performances on the stage,screen and television, it conrms the

fact that Black is Back on Broadway.On Tony night, Cicely Tyson sharedthe spotlight with three other AfricanAmerican actors who took home TonyAwards: Billy Porter, Best Actor in aMusical -- Kinky Boots; Pana Miller,Best Actress in a Musical - Pippin;and Courtney B. Vance, Best Actor in afeatured role -- Lucky Guy.

In addion to cheering theachievements of Ms. Tyson and theother African-American Tony winners,we should also celebrate the fact thatAfrican-American actors connue tomake great strides on Broadway. Infact, over the years the Great WhiteWay has featured and recognizedmany more Black performers thanHollywood. In 1950, Juanita Hallbecame the rst Black entertainer towin a Tony Award for her portrayal ofBloody Mary in South Pacic. Sincethen, 49 Tony Awards have beenawarded to Black actors and actresses,compared to only 14 Academy Awardsfor Black actors and actresses since

1939.Broadways racial maturity has notcome easy. From 1890 to 1910, mostof the Blacks on Broadway werefeatured in African American minstrelshows, playing to all-white audiences.It was not unl the 1935 producon ofGeorge Gershwins Porgy and Bessthat African Americans really hit it

big on Broadway. The momentum hasconnued to build. The late AugustWilson has a theater named aerhim. Audre McDonald has won veTony Awards, tying her with AngelaLansbury and Julie Harris for the mostin a career. And like Cicely Tyson, moreBlack actors and actresses are beingcast in roles originally wrien for whiteperformers.

It should also be noted that Ron Simonswas the h African-American to wina Tony this year as Producer of Vanyaand Sonia and Masha and Spike,which won the Tony for Best Play. Wecongratulate all of this years African

American Tony winners. We hopetheir success will bring more Blacks toBroadway both in the audience andon the stage.

African-American Actors Take Center tage at 2013 Tony Awards

MARC MORIAL

public image. So, Maher cant blameblack people for Deens removal orsomehow make the argument thatgeng rid of Paula Deen should meanthat all rappers should be censored.The censorship of an arst is verydierent from telling a cook to geta show on another network. Werecomparing apples and oranges.

In fact, I dare say that black peoplehave almost no say in any of this. TheFood Network didnt remove Deenbecause we were oended. Theyremoved Deen because some whitepeople got oended. We also have

no say on what happens at UniversalRecords or any other hip-hop musiclabel when it comes to the arstswhose music oods the brains of ourchildren. In fact, nearly all of theprogramming decisions at Radio One,BET, Clear Channel, etc are being madeby white people. This, my friends, isthe root of American racism. It isthe creaon of a world where blackpeople have no say in the shape of theenvironment around them because,for 400 years, white people have

hoarded all of the wealth, power andinuence. Thats why Bill Maher hasa show on HBO, and I probably neverwill (unless I morph myself into KevinHart or something).

The boom line is that this incidentcan be used as a teaching and learningopportunity for everyone involved.Paula doesnt have to be crucied,but she cant be let o the hook. TheFood Network should be challengedto consider adding a more diverseset of decision-makers to their stato produce shows that are morereecve of the American melng

pot. Paulas fans should be given theopportunity to love their favorite cook,but to also be encouraged to grow intheir racial understanding. But asfar as considering the Paula Deencontroversy to be a meaningful forumon race in America, we havent evenscratched the surface.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the author of thelecture series called CommercializedHip-Hop, the Gospel of Self-Destrucon.

Bill Maher Defends aula Deen andays hes o Worse than a RapperFrom Previous PaGe

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