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New York Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
How black Americans were on the rise before affirmative action, author Jason Riley explains in fascinating new book
Jason Riley makes his living by his pen — and wastes no ink or time in mincing words. 'There's a lot of intellectual cowardice going on in the country right now, and it's a product, I think, of the ascendance of progressivism,' he tells The Post in an interview about his new book, 'The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences to Succeed.' The book's title alone is sure to spur debate. Its author, a Wall Street Journal columnist and Manhattan Institute senior fellow, is somewhat bemused by his position as a provocateur. 'I find it annoying that I have to make what I consider commonsensical points that others deem controversial, to say, 'No, police are not a bigger problem than the criminals.' This is something that'll get your head handed to you today to say,' he declares. ' 'Black kids should spend more time studying and less time playing video games, and that will go a long way toward closing the achievement gap in schools' is a very controversial thing to say.' The historical record Riley, who grew up in Buffalo, set himself a huge task with his latest work: show how affirmative action slowed previous trends of black upward mobility. This could be the definitive book shattering the myth. The reaction to the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which found affirmative-action college-admission programs violate the 14th Amendment, prompted Riley to write it. 3 Jason Riley's forthcoming book, 'The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences to Succeed.' 'There was so much doomsaying up to the decision on how the black middle class would be impacted if the court banned racial preferences. And the argument seemed to be that racial preferences had created the black middle class, and so blacks would be devastated if these policies go away. And I wanted to say that is not what the historical record shows,' he says. 'This idea that black advancement in this country is contingent on special treatment, set-asides, quotas and what have you is just something not supported by the facts,' he adds. 'What really prompted the book is to respond to this sky-is-falling-argument I was hearing about the court case and what could happen if the justices rule the way they ultimately did.' 'Before DEI programs' Riley rattles off statistics: 'Between 1940 and 1960, the black poverty rate in this country fell from 87% to 47%. Nineteen-sixty is not only before any affirmative-action starting. It's during Jim Crow. It's before any major civil-rights acts of the '60s had passed,' he says, with some incredulity. 'It's before DEI programs.' It did continue to drop — 'but at a much slower rate.' That example echoes through all the data. 'Whether it's black educational attainment, poverty reduction, blacks entering middle-class professions, black crime rate and involvement with the criminal-justice system, all of these trends were moving in a positive direction at a faster rate in the decades prior to the implementation of affirmative-action policy,' he notes. 3 Miss Jean Leonard (left), Air Force Sergeant Harry Logan (center), and Mrs. Harry Logan (right), displaying bright smiles by Hotel Theresa in Harlem, New York. Bettmann Archive 'When the policy objective has been colorblindness or equal treatment, blacks have made much greater strides than when the policy objective has been reverse discrimination.' Another theme of the book, in Riley's succinct words: 'Culture does matter.' 'One of the problems with a lot of people on the left who write about these issues, and particularly among civil-rights advocates in that crowd, is not wanting to talk about cultural differences, behavioral differences and so forth and also not wanting to talk about a very real problem in poor black communities, which is that the behaviors and attitudes that are conducive to upward mobility are demeaned and derided as acting white.' 'So the black kid who is studious, who does spend a lot of time studying, who raises his hand in class gets mocked by fellow blacks who accuse him of acting white,' he says. 'There was a time in black America where that was unheard of, and I think it's one of the reasons that you saw those black gains in the first two-thirds of the 20th century — because there was an emphasis from the black leadership on down, Martin Luther King on down, that were obsessed with how black people carried themselves, how they comported themselves, schooling speech and so forth.' 'Staying out of trouble with the law, not giving white racists any excuses, that was part of the goal, but also that, just for its own sake, these behaviors were conducive to upward mobility. And that has been lost in the post-'60s era, and now you have a lot of black writers and thinkers and politicians and media folks who don't believe that black behavior should be any part of the discussion.' 'This celebration of antisocial behavior that you get from the hip-hop world and the rap world and so forth, don't talk to us about that until you get rid of white racism in this country, that's the problem, not this behavior.' 'The Affirmative Action Myth' is a damning indictment of liberal public policy — and of modern black leadership. 3 Scenes from a chaotic protest over the death of George Floyd in New York, NY on May 30, 2020. Christopher Sadowski 'What is their legacy?' 'What did the Black Panthers accomplish? What is their legacy, and does it match that of Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King and Whitney Young and all of these leaders of blacks during the 1950s and '60s who got concrete results?' Riley says. He notes the black homicide rate 'fell by double digits' in the 1940s and again in the 1950s. 'This was just a crazy statistic because this was during a period of the great migration out of the South for blacks' — and 'from rural areas to urban areas. And typically, urban areas are much more violent in this country than rural areas, so you have blacks teeming into cities, and the violent crime rate among blacks falling in a period it was staying relatively level for whites.' The good news didn't last: 'This all would start to be reversed by the late '60s, and then it'll get worse in the '70s and the '80s and the '90s, where you're getting 2,300 homicides a year in New York City by the mid-'90s. It was just an incredible turnaround.' Riley doesn't blame racism — or 'systemic racism.' 'The black leadership shifted in its focus from equal treatment to special treatment, and that's the real trend you saw in the late 1960s beginning in the post-King era, the rise of the Black Power movement. There was also a focus among the black leadership, the NAACP types, National Urban League, to acquire more black political power. The thinking was: If we can get our own folks in office, our own people elected, the rest will take care of itself. It's all about getting the political power,' he explains. 'Black poor got poorer' And they got it: 'In the 1970s, you start getting black mayors of large cities in this country with large black populations, your Detroits, your Clevelands, New York in 1990, Los Angeles, Chicago and on and on. But that black political leadership, that black political power, did not translate into more economic gains for blacks. In fact, the black poor got poorer under Sharpe James in Newark or under Marion Barry in Washington, DC.' Riley shakes his head. 'They wanted to translate that political power into special preferences for blacks, and they continue down that road. And I think they took their eye off the ball in terms of developing that human capital.' The media, meanwhile, promote Black Lives Matter and spotlight thinkers like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ibram Kendi, who blame 'white racism' and 'don't want to hear about black behavior, no matter how self-defeating it is,' Riley complains. 'There's a racial-grievance industry in this country, and it is extremely lucrative. And Black Lives Matter is the latest example,' he says. 'The politicians like to use racial grievance to get people to the polls. The activists like to use it to raise money and stay relevant. And whether it's actually what the black underclass in particular needs is a secondary concern for them.' A call to arms Riley's book is not just a history then — it's a call to arms to America's African Americans. 'The Black Lives Matter movement has been quite dangerous in terms of the narratives it's promoting. A lot of the people participating in those demonstrations, riots or protests have been misled about what's going on in black America.' 'They've been led to believe that George Floyd was your typical black American. George Floyd was a career criminal who was high on drugs when he was killed by police while resisting arrest,' Riley concludes. 'Most black people are not drug addicts, not career criminals. We don't resist arrest.' As he writes optimistically in his new book, 'black history is also about what a race of people managed to accomplish against all odds in the face of . . . oppression, and this history reveals inconvenient truths for those who claim that ending 'systemic racism' is a prerequisite for black advancement.'
Fox News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump's executive order blitz: What he's signed and what's changed
President Donald Trump signed at least 137 executive orders in his 100 days in the Oval Office, trouncing his predecessors' respective records on signed EOs in the same time period, dating back to at least President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Trump signed 26 executive orders in his first day back in the Oval Office, and a total of 45 in his first 10 days. His 137 executive orders in his first 100 days is a benchmark that has not been met since at least Roosevelt, whose presidency began in 1933. Trump's executive order blitz has included rescinding dozens of policies implemented by the Biden administration, including cutting red tape surrounding the energy industry, striping diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the fabric of the U.S. government and promoting the proliferation of artificial intelligence. Trump kicked off his executive order blitz on Jan. 20, his inauguration day, by focusing on rescinding Biden-era policies, as well as other orders such as ending the "weaponization" of the federal government, "restoring" free speech and designating certain cartels as terrorist organizations. Trump's Jan. 20 order called Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions revoked dozens of Biden-era policies, including Biden's 2021 order titled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government; the 46th president's 2021 executive order called Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration; and Biden's 2022 executive order called Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals. "The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government," reads Trump's order rescinding Biden's presidential actions. "The injection of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy. Orders to open the borders have endangered the American people and dissolved Federal, State, and local resources that should be used to benefit the American people. Climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation." Trump's second presidency has made education a top priority amid the flurry of executive orders across his first few months. Trump signed an executive order in March to dismantle the Department of Education and return oversight power of school systems to state leaders after years of the U.S. dragging behind other nations such as Finland and Japan in overall student performance. "Everybody knows it's right, and we have to get our children educated," Trump said while signing the order. "We're not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven't for a long time." Trump also signed an executive order in January that removes federal funding from K-12 schools that teach critical race theory and DEI curriculum. "In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics," reads the order called Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling. "In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed. These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity." Trump signed an executive order in February that prohibits schools and colleges that receive federal funds and are subject to Title IX from allowing men on women's sports teams and in women's locker rooms, and another in January expanding school choice. The Trump presidency established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January through an executive order that renamed the Obama-era United States Digital Service to the United States DOGE Service. DOGE has been a thorn in the side of Democrats since Musk, the office's public leader, and his teams began working through various federal agencies in the search of government overspending, mismanagement and corruption. DOGE has since saved an estimated $160 billion through cancellations of government contracts, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, asset sales and other cuts, according to the DOGE website. "He's an incredible … brilliant guy," Trump said of Musk this month. "He was a tremendous help both in the campaign and in what he's done with DOGE." Energy has also been a top priority for the Trump administration, with the president vowing to "unleash U.S. energy" that he said would lower prices for American consumers while bolstering the U.S. job market. Trump signed an executive order this month called Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241 that will work to cut through red tape in the coal industry, including directing the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a "mineral," end a current pause to coal leasing on federal lands, promote coal and coal technology exports and encourage the use of coal to power artificial intelligence initiatives. The order also instructs the Department of Justice to identify every "unconstitutional" state or local regulation that is "putting our coal miners out of business," according to Trump. "The value of untapped coal in our country is 100 times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox, and we're going to unleash it and make America rich and powerful again under this order," Trump said Tuesday ahead of signing the order. "Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure and powerful form of energy," Trump said. "It's cheap, incredibly efficient, high density, and it's almost indestructible. You could drop a bomb on it, and it's going to be there for you to use the next day, which you can't say with any other form of energy." He also made energy a top issue on his first day back in office, signing an executive order addressing Alaska's abundant natural resources, such as oil and timber. The order expanded and expedited the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in the Last Frontier State. "The State of Alaska holds an abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources including, among others, energy, mineral, timber, and seafood," the Jan. 20 order reads. "Unlocking this bounty of natural wealth will raise the prosperity of our citizens while helping to enhance our Nation's economic and national security for generations to come. By developing these resources to the fullest extent possible, we can help deliver price relief for Americans, create high-quality jobs for our citizens, ameliorate our trade imbalances, augment the Nation's exercise of global energy dominance, and guard against foreign powers weaponizing energy supplies in theaters of geopolitical conflict." Following a spiraling immigration crisis under the Biden administration, Trump signed a handful of executive orders to lock down the border and end the crisis. In his first days in office, Trump signed a handful of immigration-focused executive orders, including directing the federal government to resume construction of the border wall; reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as the Remain in Mexico policy; deploying U.S. troops to the border under U.S. Northern Command; designating international cartels and organizations, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations. Trump said ahead of taking office that he would move at "historic speed and strength" in just the first few days of his administration. "Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office," Trump said in the lead-up to his inauguration. Trump will hold a rally in Michigan – the battleground state in which the Republican president has ended each of his three presidential campaigns – to celebrate his first 100 days in the Oval Office. The rally will be held in Macomb County on Tuesday evening.
Epoch Times
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
DOGE Says US National Science Foundation Canceling Over $325 Million in DEI Research
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) grants under the Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said in an April 26 'Great work by @NSF canceling 701 wasteful DEI grants ($203M in savings), including 'Building Racial Equity in Marine Science.' This brings the total to over $325M saved in the past 2 weeks.' NSF terminated a $20,000 'management development' contract for training course materials related to 'understanding bias to unleash potential,' said another DOGE The NSF is an independent federal agency supporting science and engineering that issues grants for research purposes. The foundation's investments account for roughly 25 percent of the federal support received by U.S. colleges and universities for basic research. The agency The foundation clarified its priorities in an April 18 Related Stories 4/25/2025 4/25/2025 NSF's Broader Impacts In its statement, which was updated on April 25, NSF said that activities undertaken to fulfill the Broader Impacts criteria should aim to create opportunities for 'all Americans everywhere.' 'These efforts should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups,' it said. Research projects that are 'limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.' 'Awards that are not aligned with NSF's priorities have been terminated, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.' The DEI Purge The NSF's decision to ditch DEI aligns with President Donald Trump's presidential order 'Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,' signed on his In the action statement, Trump ordered the termination of 'all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the federal government, under whatever name they appear.' Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) criticized NSF for terminating grants related to DEI and 'misinformation/disinformation,' according to an April 18 'The American people deserve a scientific enterprise free from political interference, where expert scientists and engineers participate in a merit-based review process to recommend the most innovative and promising research proposals,' she said. 'The American people do not want a system where politicians, be they in the Senate or in the White House, decide which scientific projects to fund or defund based on their biases.' NSF's grant terminations come as its director Sethuraman Panchanathan The agency is also currently undergoing an internal overhaul, including laying off staff members and imposing travel restrictions. Republicans have accused NSF of leftist bias. In February, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a database of over 3,400 grants issued by the foundation during the Biden administration totaling over $2.05 billion in federal funding, according to a Feb. 11 The funding was used for 'questionable projects' that promoted DEI or pushed 'neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda,' said the statement. Among the grants included a 2022 award of $401,744 to San Jose State University to train teachers and students as 'climate justice action researchers and change agents,' a grant of $99,791 to the Georgia Institute of Technology for a project to address 'racialized privilege in the STEM classroom,' and over a $1 million to Northwestern University in 2023 to reimagine STEM education through the framework of 'racial equity.' 'DEI initiatives have poisoned research efforts, eroded confidence in the scientific community, and fueled division among Americans,' Cruz said at the time.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
Prayer vigil to be held for missing Vestal man
VESTAL, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – A local church is calling for the safe return of a missing Vestal man as it joins the community in prayer. Our Lady of Sorrows is holding a prayer vigil on February 23 for 69-year-old Adib 'Eddie' Rouhana. The vigil will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the church, located at 801 Main Street in Vestal. Rouhana was last seen at around noon on January 11 at Cars R Us on Upper Front Street in the Town of Chenango. BCSO provides update on missing Vestal man During a news conference on January 29, Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar said police have obtained cell phone records that indicate Rouhana's phone was last updated at 6 p.m. on January 11 near his used car lot. It was turned off shortly after and has not been used since. Akshar also said the Sheriff's Office is confident that someone has information regarding Rouhana's disappearance. The Rouhana family is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone with information that leads directly to his whereabouts. Please report any tips, video footage, sightings, or information regarding the location of Rouhana to the Broome County Sheriff's Office Tip Line at (607)778-1196. Local Eagle Scout honoring domestic violence victims with project 2 people shot in Philadelphia near Eagles Super Bowl parade: report Racial Justice and Equity Fund applications now open The Cher Show coming to the Forum Prayer vigil to be held for missing Vestal man Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
27-01-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Department of Veterans Affairs places 60 DEI employees on leave with salaries totaling more than $8M
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has placed nearly 60 employees on leave who focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and had a combined salary of more than $8 million. The VA said in a press release Monday that it completed its implementation of President Donald Trump's executive order to end DEI in the federal government. Part of the VA's abolishment of DEI within the agency meant placing on paid administrative leave about 60 employees who were solely focused on DEI activities. The VA said the combined salary of the employees – including base pay, locality pay and additional earnings – exceeds $8 million, with the average pay being about $136,000 per year, per employee. One of the employees had a salary of over $220,000 per year, according to the VA. In addition to putting the employees on leave, the VA said it identified multiple contracts for DEI-related training, materials and other consulting services that are currently being looked at for cancellation. The combined value of the contracts, the VA said, is more than $6.1 million. Over the coming weeks and months, the VA said it plans to work on reallocating resources to better support the veterans, families, caregivers and survivors who the agency exists to serve. The VA is also taking down DEI-related materials from its digital assets. "Under President Trump, VA is laser-focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors," said Morgan Ackley, the VA's director of media affairs. "We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA's core mission. We look forward to reallocating the millions of dollars the department was spending on DEI programs and personnel to better serve the men and women who have bravely served our nation." The VA joins many other federal agencies that are executing Trump's plan to end DEI initiatives. Trump's newly created Department of Government Efficiency temporary organization, headed up by tech billionaire Elon Musk, wrote in a social media post on X that about $420 million in current and impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had been canceled. On the day of his inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, Trump signed the executive order, and the federal Office of Personnel Management notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated. Trump's order rescinded President Joe Biden's executive order on promoting diversity initiatives, "Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government," which he signed on his first day in office.
