Amy Alexander

Will US return to Jim Crow era of Southern justice?

July 19, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Race 0 Comments

Author and media critic Amy Alexander has written a dissection of the Zimmerman verdict and its provocative title strikes to the heart of what some African-Americans fear greatly about the current era: a return to the Jim Crow era of Southern justice in which black people can receive no fairness.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Alexander to discuss the verdict and what it means in terms of social intercourse and how black Americans exist in this country.

 

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A new report shows that black males still lag far behind their white male counterparts in high school graduation rates. Photo: ©RIA Novosti, Vladimir Fedorenko.

Black Males Need 50 Years to Reach Whites’ Grad Rates, Study Shows

October 2, 2012 Carmen Russell Culture 00:17:48 0 Comments

For the first time ever, in 2011, more than half of the nation’s ninth grade black males went on to finish high school with a regular diploma on time. Despite this achievement, a recent study says much more remains to be accomplished.

The Schott Foundation for Public Education published in late September a study that revealed that it would take nearly 50 years for black males to achieve the same graduation rates at white males.

“The Urgency of Now: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males” found that only 52 percent of black male and 58 percent of Latino male ninth-graders went on to graduate from high school four years later. Meanwhile, 78 percent of white male ninth-graders went on to graduate four years later.

Host Jamila Bey talked with author and columnist Amy Alexander about calls to get this topic before the Commission on Presidential Debates so that the topic can be address by President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney before Election Day.