Metro Atlanta activists react to Trump's repeal of segregated facilities ban in federal contracts
Civil rights activists said they plan to fight back after the Trump administration ended the segregated facilities ban in federal contracts.
The repeal means the federal government does not have to prohibit contractors from allowing segregated workspaces.
'Never thought I'd see a headline like that,' Georgia NAACP President, Gerald Griggs told Channel 2's Audrey Washington on Wednesday.
'It's a step towards allowing segregation,' said Georgia State Law professor Tanya Washington.
In the public memo, issued by the General Services Administration, there is a segregation clause.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The clause repeals President Lyndon B. Johnson's signed executive order that banned federal contractors from having segregated work areas, drinking fountains and bathrooms.
The memo credited President Donald Trump with the change, stating the ban's repeal was in step with Trump's order on DEI.
'It is the camel's nose under the tent. It is not an end it is a beginning,' Professor Washington said.
'We also may be looking at efforts to dismantle the 1964 civil rights act,' she added.
Washington said whether a business has a government contract or not, that business must still adhere to federal and state laws; she said simply put, segregated facilities are illegal.
TRENDING STORIES:
Brother of man convicted of killing Laken Riley sentenced to prison for fake green cards
Transgender woman says she's dropping out of Miss Georgia USA pageant
Extremely emaciated puppy abandoned near Cobb home in freezing weather
'I'm hopeful that this was an oversight by the administration as to what federal law actually says,' Griggs said.
'But I think there'll be litigation on this,' Griggs added.
'So, this doesn't mean we'll see for colored only and for whites only signs, right?' Washington asked.
'Well, if you read the guidance from the memo there's a possibility of that but if you read the law, no its not possible,' Griggs explained.
The memo also mentioned affirmative action and gender identity.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
15 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump White House opens door to historic military deployment on U.S. soil
President Donald Trump is prepared to send National Guard troops into more U.S. cities if protests against immigration raids expand beyond Los Angeles, administration officials said Wednesday, potentially opening the door to the most extensive use of military force on American soil in modern history. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in testimony to Congress that the Pentagon has the capability to surge National Guard troops to more cities 'if there are other riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened.' Press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned protesters beyond Los Angeles that more 'lawlessness' will only increase Trump's resolve. 'Let this be an unequivocal message to left-wing radicals in other parts of the country who are thinking about copycatting the violence in an effort to stop this administration's mass deportation efforts,' Leavitt said. 'You will not succeed.' The White House's message coincides with a rise in bellicose language from Trump, who in recent days has threatened the use of force not only against immigration activists but also against any protesters who attempt to disrupt the military parade scheduled in Washington Saturday to celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary. The parade, which Trump has wanted for years and will feature tanks, helicopters and Army parachutists, is shaping up to be a symbolic culmination of a dramatic week in which in which the president not only prepared for a historic deployment of armed forces against domestic adversaries but openly embraced shows of military force. In a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina Tuesday, the president reveled in the nation's military power as base leaders showcased several tactical demonstrations. 'Time and again, our enemies have learned that if you dare to threaten the American people, an American soldier will chase you down, crush you and cast you into oblivion,' Trump said. In threatening the use of force against protesters, Trump notably did not distinguish between those committing acts of violence and those peacefully protesting against his policies. Leavitt, at the White House briefing Wednesday, answered a question on the subject by saying that 'of course' the president supports the right to peacefully protest and declared the inquiry a 'stupid question.' The administration's escalating rhetoric has invited comparison to the language used by autocrats in foreign countries, where leaders more frequently deploy their military forces within their own borders. White House officials maintain that the president is showing strength and dominance — and standing up for 'law and order' as Democrats go soft on violent agitators. Trump and his advisers have highlighted footage of looting and cars being set ablaze to justify taking action over local officials' objections. 'President Trump is fulfilling the promise he made to the American people to deport illegal aliens and protect federal law enforcement from violent riots, said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. 'This kind of thing doesn't happen in democracies, and it's becoming a routine part of our politics,' said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University, who has long warned that Trump poses a threat to American democracy. (Federal campaign finance records show that a person named Steven Levitsky who works at Harvard has made small campaign donations to Democratic candidates.) Trump has given himself more flexibility this term to escalate the military intervention and to upend democratic norms with fewer constraints. In his first term, military leaders prevented Trump from deploying troops within the United States. This time, he has surrounded himself with loyalists — though he still could face obstacles in the courts. California has sued to block the administration from deploying troops within its borders. Protests over the administration's immigration policies are expanding to more cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. More are scheduled this weekend as part of an event called 'No Kings Day,' which activists are holding in opposition to Trump's attempts to test his executive power and, protesters say, defy the courts. Amid protests in Chicago, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip, said it would be 'a serious decision' for Trump to deploy troops across the country. Durbin said he has not spoken with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker about the possibility of Trump doing so in their state. Durbin said Trump is treating the deployment of the National Guard 'as this routine decision.' 'It is not routine, using our military force to enforce criminal laws in our country,' he said. Earlier in the week, Trump warned that any protests against immigration raids in other cities will be 'met with equal or greater force' than used in Los Angeles. He said those troops would remain in the city 'until there's no danger,' providing only a subjective timeline for the length of their deployment. Trump and California leaders have sparred over whether the troops were ever a necessary response to the protests, which have been confined to several blocks and have included sporadic episodes of violence. He said he 'would certainly' invoke the Insurrection Act, which can be used by presidents to expand the role of the military in responding to domestic incidents, if he viewed it as necessary. The fact that he is even considering it is an ominous sign, several scholars said. 'In a democratic society, citizens don't have to think twice or think three times about peaceful expressions of opposition — that's what life is like in a free society,' Levitsky said. 'In an authoritarian regime, citizens have to think twice about speaking out because there is risk of government retribution. Maybe you'll be arrested, maybe you'll be investigated, maybe you'll have an IRS audit, maybe you'll have a lawsuit.' The showdown over the military intervention has intensified since Saturday, when Trump deployed the National Guard to California without the permission of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who believed sending troops would escalate the protests. Newsom warned in a speech Tuesday that the deployment marked the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to threaten democracy. 'California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,' Newsom said. 'Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.' Also Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was deploying his state's National Guard ahead of planned protests. An Abbott adviser said the decision did not result from Trump's rhetoric. The governor has previously deployed Guardsmen ahead of protests, such as during George Floyd demonstrations in 2020. 'This is not a frivolous thing. This is not a political thing,' said Dave Carney, a longtime political adviser to Abbott. 'If this was happening four years ago or eight years ago, he would have done the exact same thing. This is instinctively protecting people.' Carney said he suspects Republican governors will call up the National Guard only if they have 'good intelligence of what's being planned.' In other Republican-run states with recent clashes with ICE — either through protests or Democratic-leaning cities pushing back on enforcement — governors have resisted announcing any proactive deployments, despite GOP officials vowing to punish violent agitators. In Atlanta, where authorities used tear gas and made arrests Tuesday as anti-ICE protesters threw fireworks at police, state officials believe local and state law enforcement have been able to manage the demonstrations, according to a person with knowledge of the situation there who was granted anonymity to speak freely about plans. Likewise in Nashville, where Department of Homeland Security officials have clashed with the mayor of the heavily Democratic city, large protests have not materialized, and the Republican governor has not announced any deployment of military personnel. Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.
CBS News
17 minutes ago
- CBS News
RFK Jr. taps allies and COVID vaccine critics among picks for CDC advisory panel. Here's who's on the list.
Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday he's naming eight new advisers to serve on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine recommendations committee, after firing the committee's entire previous roster of 17 advisers. "All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense. They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations," Kennedy said Wednesday in a post on X. Kennedy's picks circumvented the usual CDC process for selecting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In previous administrations, career agency officials — not political leaders — vetted potential experts before forwarding them to the department for the secretary's approval. The panel's influential recommendations are closely watched because they are directly tied to federal policies, like which vaccines insurers are required to cover. The picks announced by Kennedy include some close allies of the secretary and his inner circle. One of them, Dr. Robert Malone, worked on early research related to mRNA vaccine technology but was accused during the COVID-19 pandemic of spreading misinformation about the mRNA vaccines. He was with Kennedy and President Trump at the Trump election night celebration in Florida. "On the basis of data from all over the world, approximately three years ago it was my impression that the risk/benefit ratio of these products did not merit continued use in any cohort," Malone posted last month on his Substack about the mRNA COVID vaccines. Like Kennedy, Malone has questioned the benefits of measles vaccines during the recent record outbreak in Texas, which killed two children, and he has promoted unproven treatments for the virus. Another member picked by Kennedy is Dr. Martin Kulldorff, an epidemiologist who co-authored the pandemic-era Great Barrington Declaration criticizing COVID-19 restrictions, along with now-NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya has described Kulldorff as a close friend. Kulldorff previously worked with the CDC's outside vaccine advisers, before authoring an opinion piece in 2021 criticizing the agency's decision to pause use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine over safety concerns. He claimed he was fired from working with the committee over the opinion piece. Kulldorff later claimed he was fired from Harvard University for criticizing COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Dr. Cody Meissner, a pediatrics professor who previously served as a member of the Food and Drug Administration's own vaccines panel — the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee – was also named to the committee. Meissner opposed COVID-19 vaccine requirements for children. He also co-authored an opinion piece with now-FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary speaking out against masking of children during the pandemic. Another former member of the FDA vaccines panel who was picked by Kennedy is Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director of the National Association of Catholic Nurses. Pebsworth spoke at a 2020 meeting of the FDA vaccines committee, where she identified herself as the research director for the National Vaccine Information Center and "mother of a child injured by his 15-month well-baby shots in 1998." She said the center's position was that any "coercion and sanctions to persuade adults to take an experimental vaccine, or give it to their children, is unethical and unlawful." Kennedy also praised another pick, MIT professor Retsef Levi, saying: "Dr. Levi has collaborated with public health agencies to evaluate vaccine safety, including co-authoring studies on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and their association with cardiovascular risks." Levi previously called for more detailed data from the COVID-19 vaccine trials, suggesting that changes to how Pfizer's shot was produced may have caused side effects. But Levi faced criticism for a paper co-authored with Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, which was cited in the state's move to recommend that young men not get mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Experts condemned the paper for misleading methods that could inflate the risk. The views on vaccines of several of Kennedy's other picks are less clear. Kennedy said Dr. Michael A. Ross "contributed to national strategies for cancer prevention and early detection, including those involving HPV immunization," working with the CDC's breast and cervical cancer committee. Ross is described by Kennedy as an obstetrics and gynecology professor at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, though his name does not appear on directories for either university. Spokespeople for the two institutions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dr. James Pagano, described by Kennedy as a "strong advocate for evidence-based medicine," appears to have published little about vaccines or medicine. Records from the Medical Board of California list Pagano as being retired. Another Kennedy pick, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, retired from the National Institutes of Health in 2020. His research portfolio previously covered nutritional intake of fatty acids like omega-3. Kennedy described him as bringing "expertise in immune-related outcomes, psychiatric conditions, and evidence-based public health strategies."
New York Times
26 minutes ago
- New York Times
In Trump's Washington, ‘You Don't Leave Home Without Your Lawyer'
For the roughly 80,000 lawyers in Washington and its environs, this is the worst of times and the best of times. Worst because President Trump's threats have prompted some of the nation's biggest firms to capitulate and pledge a collective $1 billion in free legal work for the White House. But it is best, at least in the volume of work, for the firms handling some of the astounding number of lawsuits — more than 400, according to a New York Times tracker — that have been filed against Trump's administration since the start of his second term. Some of those cases are in other states, but most are being fought in the nation's capital. 'This is a good time to be a lawyer in Washington,' said Gregory B. Craig, who was a White House counsel to former President Barack Obama. 'Good lawyers, like other humans, want to be wanted. And these days in Trump's world, whether you're an immigration lawyer or a university president or the head of an independent agency, you don't leave home without your lawyer.' Craig, who worked for more than four decades for two big-name firms, Williams & Connolly and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, retired in 2019 after his acquittal on a charge of lying to the Justice Department. He came out of retirement last week to work in the Washington office of Foley Hoag, a firm based in Boston. Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson who was solicitor general under Obama, agreed that this was an extraordinary moment to be a Washington lawyer, but he sounded less chipper about it. Verrilli was the author of a brief supporting Perkins Coie, the first law firm targeted by Trump. Ultimately, 500 firms, mostly boutique and medium-sized, signed the brief, but only eight of them were among the nation's top 100 firms. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
