Latest news with #15thAmendment
.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘Rewrite history': Miami historians alarmed over review of Smithsonian exhibits
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., has at least 300 artifacts from Florida housed in the museum. There's the boxing head gear worn by Muhammad Ali at the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, where it is believed he made his transformation from Cassius Clay. There's also a jacket from the Florida A&M University marching band, known as the Marching 100, a Bahamas Junkanoo Revue costume, and countless photos of Black musicians who've performed in Miami. There's also a dress worn by Marie Monroe, who lived in Rosewood, Fla., during the 1923 massacre, a scathing reminder of a racially motivated attack that led to the destruction of a Black town in Levy County. There is a stereograph showing a Black man and boy with a mule and a cart outside the Putnam Hotel in Palatka, Fla., with an inscription on the back that reads: '15th Amendment, or the Darkey's Millennium, 40 Acres and a Mule,' mocking the never-fulfilled promise of the post-Civil War reparation of 40 acres and a mule for the formerly enslaved. Now as President Donald Trump is preparing an overhaul of the capital's Smithsonian museums, those two mementos of Florida's racist past might find themselves in storage. Trump took to social media to bemoan how the nation's museums present such a dark look at history and don't reflect a more cheerful view of the United States. 'The museums throughout Washington, but all over the country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of 'WOKE,'' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. The Smithsonian, he wrote, is 'out of control where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been – nothing about success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.' The Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016, is one of eight undergoing an internal review by the Trump Administration, as part of the America 250 campaign, a purported nonpartisan effort to commemorate the country's 250th anniversary. Within 120 days of the review, which was announced last week, museums are expected to 'begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials.' Trump officials sent a letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch detailing the timeline of the review. 'This review is a constructive and collaborative effort — one rooted in respect for the Smithsonian's vital mission and its extraordinary contributions,' read the letter. 'Our goal is not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of curators or staff, but rather to support a broader vision of excellence that highlights historically accurate, uplifting, and inclusive portrayals of America's heritage.' Congressman Carlos Gimenez (R-Miami) sits on the board of the Smithsonian, but did not respond to a request for comment about what the future of the museums could look like after the review, which is reportedly expected to be delivered in 2026. The museum's lower floors focus on Black history spanning the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the end of slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement, while upper floors focus on historic and cultural accomplishments from Black Americans, including exhibits dedicated to entertainment and sports. In his Truth Social post Trump said he has instructed his attorneys to go through the museums and 'start the exact same process that has been done with colleges and universities.' Colleges and universities have come under scrutiny by the Trump administration for what they considered-race based admissions, 'woke' curricula, the handling of student protests, and any programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. But removing materials that illustrate Black history come with risks, historians and preservationists have told Herald. 'The materials at the Smithsonian are invaluable because they tell the story of the building of our nation,' Dorothy Jenkins Fields, founder of the Black Archives in Miami, told the Miami Herald. 'It's important that the children see and understand the resilience and the value of what the people have brought and what we've maintained,' Fields said, adding it's beyond her imagination that they would remove artifacts that show the breadth of Black history. 'They are crucial to the soul of our nation.' Local preservationist Emmanuel George echoed those sentiments, saying for future generations finding truth will be even more subjective. 'It's come to the point where even if people have empirical evidence of a particular matter, that may not matter anymore in the future,' he said. George said he's worried about how data will be presented and the truth will be told, adding attempts to erase Black history ultimately affects American history and how it is portrayed. 'You're erasing a huge part of American history for the foreseeable future, and now everyone's history is going to be skewed, not just Black history, everyone's history because we're all part of this together,' he said. But George is hopeful museums can work in conjunction with each other and preserve any artifacts that may be removed. Historian and former Florida International University professor Marvin Dunn said he was aghast by Trump's comments and said this should 'fire up' Black people in America. 'It's an attempt to rewrite history in a way that denies our country in terms of the pain suffered by so many people, not just black people, in making this country great…What is so frightening about talking about pain, which is a part of this country's growth. We didn't grow without pain,' Dunn said. Dunn, who has spent the last two days at his property in Rosewood, said he'd considered donating artifacts from his Dunn Collection at Florida International University to the Smithsonian's Black history museum, but given Trump's comments and the recent orders, he's instead keeping them at the university. 'That's one impact we're going to start seeing. We're going to start holding our history,' he said. Dunn noted that Florida has been a litmus test for what we're seeing nationally, including how Black history is taught in public schools and colleges in the state. The state's Stop W.O.K.E. act, passed in 2022, prevents educators from teaching history in a way that could cause students to feel 'discomfort' over historic actions because of their race or gender. This is one of the reasons Dunn, 85, continues to teach Black history at his pop-up Black history learning tree at FIU. Dunn said refusing to address the nation's history could have ramifications for generations to come. 'If you can't look back and know what happened in reality, you can shape any kind of future,' he said.
06-08-2025
- Politics
Things to know about the Voting Rights Act and the cases that could unravel it
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was follow-up legislation to the Civil Rights Act passed a year earlier. In a break from tradition, then-President Lyndon Johnson went to Capitol Hill to sign the bill rather than hold a signing ceremony at the White House. His daughter Luci Baines Johnson told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that he did it to honor the courage of members who had supported the legislation even though it could cost them their seats in Congress. There were several elements to the law, but it primarily ended the discriminatory practices against Black voters that were prevalent in many states, including poll taxes and literacy tests that allowed those voters to be turned away. The law also established a process known as preclearance, which required that all or parts of 15 states with a history of discriminatory practices in voting get federal approval before making changes to the way they hold elections. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 and barred states from preventing people from voting on the basis of race, color or a previous condition of servitude. Despite the amendment, several Southern states were able to enact literacy tests on Black citizens that were not required of white citizens who had either voted or were descendants of voters from before the ratification of the 14th Amendment. That tactic was known as the grandfather clause and worked to exclude Black voters. Black citizens also were excluded in some states from participating in party primaries. Poll taxes, or fees for voting, were a barrier, and lynching and other forms of violence served to intimidate would-be Black voters. Civil rights activists were holding a series of marches and protests in Alabama in 1965 when a pastor was arrested in the town of Marion. Afraid he would be lynched, his supporters planned a night protest march to the jail from a nearby church. They were met by police. A church deacon, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was fatally shot in the ensuing melee. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and local leaders considered taking Jackson's body from Marion to Montgomery. Instead, he was buried near Marion and plans were made to stage a march from Selma, 30 miles (48 kilometers) away and a more logical staging area. In what became known as Bloody Sunday, on March 7, 1965, hundreds of marchers were met by state troopers, who attacked them on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Footage of the violence shocked the country and provided momentum for the landmark federal law. In 2013, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision known as Shelby v. Holder that removed the preclearance requirement in the law. Within hours, states began announcing changes to their laws that began restricting voting rights. That accelerated in Republican-controlled states after President Donald Trump began falsely claiming his loss for reelection in 2020 was due to widespread fraud. The Supreme Court is deciding whether to hear a case out of North Dakota in which the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that private individuals and entities cannot file voting rights challenges. This is how the vast majority of such cases have been brought. The court has said that only the U.S. attorney general can file those cases. Two other 8th Circuit panels have made similar rulings. Other circuits have ruled that there is a right of private action for such challenges. Separately, the Supreme Court is waiting to be briefed by attorneys in a Louisiana case that centers on whether a congressional district drawn to benefit Black voters is constitutional. At issue is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires political maps to include districts where minority populations' preferred candidates can win elections. There also are ongoing actions at the state level as well as an executive order by Trump and congressional legislation that would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Winnipeg Free Press
06-08-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Things to know about the Voting Rights Act and the cases that could unravel it
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was follow-up legislation to the Civil Rights Act passed a year earlier. In a break from tradition, then-President Lyndon Johnson went to Capitol Hill to sign the bill rather than hold a signing ceremony at the White House. His daughter Luci Baines Johnson told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that he did it to honor the courage of members who had supported the legislation even though it could cost them their seats in Congress. What did the Voting Rights Act do? There were several elements to the law, but it primarily ended the discriminatory practices against Black voters that were prevalent in many states, including poll taxes and literacy tests that allowed those voters to be turned away. The law also established a process known as preclearance, which required that all or parts of 15 states with a history of discriminatory practices in voting get federal approval before making changes to the way they hold elections. What did voter suppression look like before the law was enacted? The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 and barred states from preventing people from voting on the basis of race, color or a previous condition of servitude. Despite the amendment, several Southern states were able to enact literacy tests on Black citizens that were not required of white citizens who had either voted or were descendants of voters from before the ratification of the 14th Amendment. That tactic was known as the grandfather clause and worked to exclude Black voters. Black citizens also were excluded in some states from participating in party primaries. Poll taxes, or fees for voting, were a barrier, and lynching and other forms of violence served to intimidate would-be Black voters. What fueled the passage of the Voting Rights Act? Civil rights activists were holding a series of marches and protests in Alabama in 1965 when a pastor was arrested in the town of Marion. Afraid he would be lynched, his supporters planned a night protest march to the jail from a nearby church. They were met by police. A church deacon, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was fatally shot in the ensuing melee. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and local leaders considered taking Jackson's body from Marion to Montgomery. Instead, he was buried near Marion and plans were made to stage a march from Selma, 30 miles (48 kilometers) away and a more logical staging area. In what became known as Bloody Sunday, on March 7, 1965, hundreds of marchers were met by state troopers, who attacked them on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Footage of the violence shocked the country and provided momentum for the landmark federal law. When did the voting rights protections begin to erode? In 2013, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision known as Shelby v. Holder that removed the preclearance requirement in the law. Within hours, states began announcing changes to their laws that began restricting voting rights. That accelerated in Republican-controlled states after President Donald Trump began falsely claiming his loss for reelection in 2020 was due to widespread fraud. Where are we now? The Supreme Court is deciding whether to hear a case out of North Dakota in which the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that private individuals and entities cannot file voting rights challenges. This is how the vast majority of such cases have been brought. The court has said that only the U.S. attorney general can file those cases. Two other 8th Circuit panels have made similar rulings. Other circuits have ruled that there is a right of private action for such challenges. Separately, the Supreme Court is waiting to be briefed by attorneys in a Louisiana case that centers on whether a congressional district drawn to benefit Black voters is constitutional. At issue is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires political maps to include districts where minority populations' preferred candidates can win elections. There also are ongoing actions at the state level as well as an executive order by Trump and congressional legislation that would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of voting rights at
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
On This Day, April 3: Apple releases first iPad
April 3 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1860, the Pony Express postal service began, with riders leaving St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento at the same time. In 1865, as the Civil War drew to a close, Richmond, Va., and nearby Petersburg surrendered to Union forces. In 1882, outlaw Jesse James was shot to death by Robert Ford, a former gang member who hoped to collect the reward on James' head. In 1936, Richard Bruno Hauptmann was executed for killing the 20-month-old son of Charles A. Lindbergh. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established Isle Royale National Park, a cluster of islands in Lake Superior situated between Michigan and Canada. In 1944, in a case out of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that barring Black Americans from voting violated the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the Marshall Plan, aimed to help European countries recover from World War II. In 1989, Richard M. Daley was elected mayor of Chicago, the post his father, Richard J. Daley, had occupied for 21 years (1955-76). The new Mayor Daley was re-elected five times. In 1991, the U.N. Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution to end the Persian Gulf War. In 1995, owners and players of Major League Baseball approved an agreement ending a 232-day strike that forced the cancellation of hundreds of games and the 1994 World Series. In 1996, the FBI raided a Montana cabin and arrested Theodore Kaczynski, a former college professor, accusing him of being the "Unabomber" whose mail bombs had killed three people and injured 23 since the 1970s. Kaczynski was sentenced to life in prison. In 1996, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and 32 other Americans died when their plane crashed into a mountain in Croatia. In 2000, the Department of Justice ruled that Microsoft had become a monopoly and in the process, had violated U.S. antitrust law. Four months later the court ordered the breakup of the technology company. In 2010, Apple released the first generation of its iPad and within a month had sold more than 1 million devices. In 2016, the so-called Panama Papers, an unprecedented leak of millions of documents, revealed that politicians, prominent world leaders, and celebrities hid millions in secret offshore tax shelters to skirt tax laws. In 2017, an explosion in Russia went off on the subway in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing 11 people and injuring several others. In 2019, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected after a record-setting 63 seconds into a loss against the Denver Nuggets. In 2024, nine people died and nearly 1,000 were injured in a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan.
Boston Globe
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Today in History: March 30, Reagan shot in assassination attempt
In 1867, US Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal ridiculed by critics as 'Seward's Folly.' Advertisement In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibited denying citizens the right to vote and hold office on the basis of race, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish. In 1923, the Cunard liner RMS Laconia became the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrived back in New York after a 130-day voyage. In 1939, Detective Comics issue #27 was released, featuring the first appearance of the superhero character Batman. In 1975, as the Vietnam War neared its end, Communist forces occupied the city of Da Nang. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington, D.C., hotel. Also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and a District of Columbia police officer, Thomas Delahanty. (Hinckley would be found not guilty by reason of insanity and held at a psychiatric hospital until his supervised release in 2016. James Brady died in 2014 as a result of his injuries.) In 2023, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter, the first ever criminal case against a former US president.
