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Civil Rights and Race Relations in America and Their Impact on the Lives of African Americans

  • Legislative Black Caucus challenges Louisiana House redistricting plan

    5/14/11
    Source: 
    nola.com

    The Legislative Black Caucus and three civil rights organizations Friday called on the U.S. Justice Department to reject the House redistricting plan drawn at a recent special session of the Louisiana Legislature.

    Joining the caucus in signing a letter opposing the plan were the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Urban League and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

    The proposal increases the number of House minority districts from 27 to 29, but most caucus members say a 30th district -- and possibly more -- could have been created.

  • Chicago Ordered to Hire 111 Black Firefighters

    5/13/11
    Source: 
    The New York Times

    CHICAGO — The City of Chicago must hire 111 black firefighter applicants who were passed over for jobs years ago and pay tens of millions of dollars in damages to about 6,000 other black candidates under a ruling issued on Friday by a federal appeals court.

  • City must hire 111 bypassed black firefighter candidates, court rules

    5/13/11
    Source: 
    Chicago Sun-Times

    The Chicago Fire Department must hire 111 bypassed black firefighter candidates — and distribute “tens of millions of dollars” in damages to 6,000 others who will never get that chance — a federal appeals court ruled Friday, upholding a landmark ruling.

    Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 9-to-0 decision, that, contrary to the city’s contention, African-American candidates hadn’t waited too long before filing a lawsuit that accused the city of discriminating against them for the way it handled a 1995 firefighter’s entrance exam.

  • Broad Coalition Urges Justice Department to Reject Discriminatory Louisiana Redistricting Plan

    5/13/11
    Related Case or Issue: 
    Redistricting

    Today, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”), the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, the National Urban League, and the NAACP State Conference of Louisiana issued a joint letter urging the Attorney General to reject a proposed redistricting plan for the Louisiana State House of Representatives.  The organizations argue that Louisiana has failed to meet its burden of showing that the redistricting plan was not adopted with a discriminatory purpose as required under the Section 5 preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act.

  • Court of Appeals Victory in Chicago Firefighter Discrimination Case

    5/13/11
    Related Case or Issue: 
    Lewis v. City of Chicago: "The Chicago Firefighters Case"

    (New York, New York) – This morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of a class of over 6,000 qualified African-American firefighter applicants who were unfairly denied the opportunity to work for the Chicago Fire Department.  Last Spring, after over a decade of litigation, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.