Confederate statues are gone, but few see progress since 2020
A vast majority of Americans say the increased focus on race and racial inequality after police killed George Floyd in 2020 didn't lead to changes that improved the lives of Black Americans, a new Pew Research Center survey finds.
The big picture: Over months of protests in Richmond that year, police tear-gassed protesters, streets burned and people sprayed graffiti on Confederate monuments that were eventually taken down.
The city's landscape is forever changed because of it.
Zoom in: Monument Avenue is a succession of grassy mounds filling in the plots where the vestiges of our Confederate past stood for over 100 years.
The peed-on Jefferson Davis statue that protesters took down now lies inside The Valentine.
And scraps of other monuments fill a statue graveyard by the city's wastewater treatment plant.
Yes, but: Five years later, the momentum appears all but gone.
The creation of the region's first Civilian Review Board began in 2020, but it's still in limbo.
City Council has yet to adopt the policies dictating how the board would review and investigate use-of-force incidents. Legislation to do so was withdrawn in April.
And the Marcus Alert System, a program meant to limit police involvement in mental health crises, has struggled with staffing.
By the numbers: Nationwide, 72% of Americans say the increased focus on racial inequality didn't lead to significant changes that helped Black people, per Pew.
More than half of U.S. adults (54%) say the relationship between Black people and police is about the same as before Floyd was killed.
82% of Black Americans say the nation hasn't gone far enough when it comes to Black people having equal rights with white people.
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CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Family of Gen. Richard Cavazos, Army's first Hispanic four-star general, saddened by Trump's plan to rename Fort Cavazos in Texas
The family of Gen. Richard Cavazos, the U.S. Army's first Hispanic four-star general, expressed sadness Wednesday over President Donald Trump's plan to restore the original names of several military installations, including renaming Fort Cavazos in Killeen back to Fort Hood. Base renamed in 2023 to remove Confederate ties Mr. Trump's announcement comes just two years after the Central Texas base was renamed during the Biden administration as part of a broader initiative to remove Confederate references from U.S. military sites. The base had previously been named after Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood. Gen. Richard E. Cavazos Military Hall of Honor, LLC In a statement, the Cavazos family said an Army representative confirmed the change during a phone call with them on Wednesday. Cavazos family told renaming honors a different Hood The Cavazos family said they were told the renaming may honor a different Hood, whom they described as the "courageous Colonel Hood of World War I" rather than, in their words, the "infamous Gen. John Bell Hood." "We do not and cannot share the same understanding as the president as to his reasoning for doing so," the family said in the statement. Cavazos praised as Hispanic trailblazer They noted that when Fort Hood was renamed Fort Cavazos, Gen. Colin Powell and others in the military remarked on Gen. Cavazos' impact on "Hispanic persons in the military." They quoted Maj. Gen. Alfred Valenzuela, as saying, "I told him what he meant to us poor Hispanic kids [...] his impact as a mentor is probably the greatest impact our Army had … we all looked up to him as an American soldier, a Hispanic soldier." Focus remains on service members Meanwhile, the family said its "greatest focus is and should always be on the everyday men and women who serve this country in the armed forces." "While the name of the base may change, the everlasting legacy of the incredible men and women who continue to serve there cannot," the statement said. Richard Cavazos was a decorated war veteran In addition to being the Army's first Hispanic four-star general, Gen. Cavazos, a Texas native, was a decorated veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. He also served as the commanding general of III Corps at Fort Hood from 1980 to 1982.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Cost of President Trump's tariffs hits home, as several consumer goods and services surge to record highs
President Donald Trump's trade war is affecting Americans from the grocery store to electric bills, with the cost of bananas, ground beef and electricity surging to all-time highs, according to the latest data from the Consumer Price Index. Major U.S. retailers have announced price hikes as a result of tariffs, and the cost of a handful of everyday goods and services has increased by 5% to 10% since Trump took office. But not all consumer products are trending up. Since December, the average nationwide cost of bread, milk and tomatoes has dropped, and the price of chicken and oranges has stayed much the same with the change of administrations. The Tribune is tracking 11 everyday costs for Americans — eggs, milk, bread, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, chicken, ground beef, gasoline, electricity and natural gas — and how they are changing, or not, during Trump's second term. This tracker is updated monthly using CPI data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor prices dropped for a second straight month in May, falling 57 cents from March's record high. According to the latest data, the average cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs is $4.55 nationwide — tumbling below the $5 mark for the first time since January. The decline in egg prices is likely due to a decrease in bird flu cases in commercial and backyard flocks since the start of the year. In the first two months of 2025, 12.6 to 23.2 million birds were affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In March, that number was 2.1 million, and as of April, the virus was detected in only 1 million U.S. birds. Though still significantly lower than the number reported in January and February, cases surged again in May, with 5.2 million birds affected — the vast majority concentrated in three commercial flocks in Arizona. This uptick in cases could indicate another small jump in prices during the summer months. Currently, the cost of eggs is about 9.6% higher than before Trump took office. It's not just poultry flocks and wild birds that have been affected by bird flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has been reported in dairy cows since March 2024, and just last month, there were 24 new confirmed cases at dairy farms in Idaho, Texas and Arizona. But while avian flu cases are ticking up again in poultry, they're declining in cattle, with the number of newly infected dairy cows just half of that reported in April. As a result, the cost of milk is down month-over-month, but a look at the year-over-year change is a bit different: Prices are up more than 4%. As of May, a gallon of fresh, fortified whole milk would set you back about $4.02. As of May, white bread cost $1.88 per pound. That price is slightly lower than it was when Trump started his second term and about 10 cents less than it was 12 months ago. Shoppers can expect to pay more for their next bunch of bananas. The staple fruit cost a record-breaking $0.66 per pound in May. The price jumped 2 cents compared with April — the single-biggest month-over-month increase going back to January 2021. This sudden spike is likely due to Trump's trade war, with tariffs levied against the country's top banana importers like Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico. Orange prices are up 5% from the previous month. This change, however, likely has little to do with the current administration. Like many citrus fruits, the cost of oranges is heavily tied to the harvesting season. As we exit orange season, supplies will decrease, coinciding with an increase in demand, thus triggering higher prices. This is standard for the fruit market, with oranges cheapest in the winter months, then increasing in cost throughout the late spring and summer and eventually peaking in September or October each year. Currently, the average price per pound for navel oranges is $1.56 nationwide. Though perhaps not the first thing you think of when you hear the term 'staple food,' tomatoes are an essential ingredient in all kinds of dishes, from pasta and pizza, to soups, salads and BLT sandwiches. In May, the average price of field-grown tomatoes was approximately $1.71 per pound. That cost is about 8 cents lower than it was in April and down roughly 17% since Trump took power. This decrease, however, is largely due to the growing season. Like oranges, tomato prices vary depending on the time of year, rising in the fall, peaking in the early winter months and then plummeting in the spring. Still, prices are down a little more than 8% from this time last year. Chicken is another consumer product that's seen a price spike as a result of bird flu — though not nearly as drastically as eggs. One reason? Significantly more egg-laying hens have been culled than chickens raised for meat. The national average crested above $2 per pound for fresh, whole chicken for the first time last year and hit a record high of $2.08 in November. Since then, the average price has been roughly the same. According to May CPI figures, chicken is $2.06 per pound. Ground beef prices continue to trend up, up and up. For the fourth-consecutive month, the cost of beef hit an all-time high, with the average price of 100% ground beef chuck now $6.02 per pound. The rising cost can be attributed to a number of factors. In addition to several ground beef recalls reported in recent months, the U.S. cattle inventory is at a 25-year low, and severe drought in parts of the country has further reduced the feed supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More recently, in trade talks with the U.S., the United Kingdom agreed to buy more American beef, a deal that the president says will lead to greater exports. But as China and the European Union's tariffs on beef and other U.S. farm exports remain, this may not be the last time we see record prices this year. Perhaps 2025 is the year to give vegetarianism a try? In May, the average price of electricity nationwide was 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. That average has held more or less the same since this time last year, with the typical month-over-month changes registering at less than a fraction of a cent. Even so, the current cost of electricity is the highest on record — going back more than 45 years. The price at the pump fell slightly month-over-month — dropping 2 cents from April to May. At $3.31 per gallon of regular unleaded, gasoline costs about 5% more than it did during the last month of the administration of President Joe Biden. Year-over-year, however, prices have declined by roughly 12%. In Chicago, gas is about 11 cents higher than the nationwide average, sitting at $3.42 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The cost of piped utility gas, or natural gas, saw no change month-over-month, averaging at $1.63 per therm. The price is holding at a two-year high and is up nearly 7% under the Trump administration.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Student Loan Update: Court Documents Reveal Details of Trump Admin Plans
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Court documents have revealed new details about the Trump administration's attempts to transfer the management of the country's $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio away from the Department of Education. The documents, submitted to a federal court, showed that the Department of Education had been negotiating a deal with the Treasury to oversee federal student loans, a role historically managed by the department's Federal Student Aid office. The plan was put on hold after a federal judge blocked the administration's broader efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. Newsweek reached out to the Treasury Department for comment. Why It Matters The potential transfer of the federal student loan portfolio, which affects more than 42 million Americans, has significant implications for borrowers, government oversight and loan servicing standards. With student loan delinquency on the rise and millions of Americans seeing their credit scores hit record lows, the debate over who manages repayment, collections, and borrower protections has reached a new urgency. Court intervention has preserved the Department of Education's central role for now, but ongoing legal and policy battles could reshape loan management for years. President Donald Trump speaks at a roundtable event at the White House on June 9, 2025. President Donald Trump speaks at a roundtable event at the White House on June 9, To Know Under the Trump administration, the Department of Education had been negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the Treasury Department to review student loan management and collections operations, Rachel Oglesby, chief of staff at the agency, confirmed in a late Tuesday court filing. Nine Education Department employees were set to move from the Federal Student Aid Default Collections Unit to the Treasury to "discuss collections activities," the Education Department confirmed to Newsweek. Those plans were halted after U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston ruled last month, ordering the rehiring of more than 1,300 Education Department employees affected by mass layoffs in March and blocking the transfer of loan management to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The court's intervention kept existing federal student loan programs under the purview of the Department of Education, restricting the administration from shifting responsibilities to other agencies without congressional approval. Some experts have said that while the Treasury Department is more experienced than the SBA in managing collections and public funds, shifting federal student loan management would demand legislative action. The Higher Education Act of 1965 stipulates that loan responsibilities are assigned to the Federal Student Aid within the Department of Education. The Treasury's 2014-2015 pilot program for collecting defaulted student loans reportedly yielded lower returns than private collection agencies. Proposals to integrate student loan repayments with wage withholding systems have also faced complications due to income-reporting and privacy limitations. As policy debates continue, the end of the pandemic-era federal loan payment pause contributed to a surge in late payments and defaults. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that nearly six million borrowers were 90 or more days delinquent or in default between January and March 2025, with many experiencing steep drops in credit scores. These credit impacts may hinder access to mortgages, car loans and other financial products. What People Are Saying Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Department of Education, told Newsweek: "The Department of Education signed an Interagency Agreement with the Department of Labor on May 21 regarding administration of certain career, technical, and adult education grants. The Workforce Development Partnership will allow ED and DOL to better coordinate and deliver on workforce development programs and strengthen federal support for our nation's workforce, a top priority of the Trump Administration. "This is one of many existing agreements ED has with other agencies to collaborate on services for the American people. As acknowledged in the status report, ED has paused implementing this IAA while we seek relief from the district judge's preliminary injunction." Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: "The Trump administration is largely restricted from making sweeping changes here. Dismantling a federal agency like the Department of Education requires an act of Congress. So while they've made noise about shutting it down, the real impact has been around restarting payments and rolling back deferment and forgiveness programs." Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: "The proposal for the Treasury to take over the federal administrative responsibilities for student loans is no surprise, as this was a change largely discussed when the administration started ramping up its planning to shutter parts of the Department of Education. For student loan borrowers, if the plan was ever to take effect, it would more than likely not mark a substantial change to their current payment plans." What Happens Next The status of federal student loan management—and who ultimately oversees the $1.6 trillion portfolio—remains unresolved pending further court action and any potential congressional intervention. "It would just be the shift from one department overseeing the debt to another. At the same time, this proposal becoming a reality is something that may increasingly not occur," Beene said. "Disbanding and relocating aspects of the Department of Education would require congressional involvement, and there's already signs of hesitation to supporting such." Borrowers are advised to continue routine payments as legal and policy outcomes develop.
