Racism

Revisiting The Central Park Five

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:56:19 +0000

Central Park was New York City’s place of refuge and openness until April 19, 1989 when a woman was brutally assaulted and left for dead. Author Sarah Burns turned her research about the event into a documentary film detailing the racially charged convictions of five black and Latino youth. They were exonerated over a decade later when another man confessed to committing the crime.

DOJ Follows Its 'Conscience' In Civil Rights Battles

Carrie Johnson — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:25:00 +0000

When community leaders wanted justice for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, they went knocking on the door of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Social Media Put Fla. Case In National Spotlight

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida has sparked heated reactions across the country, but there was a lag before mainstream media picked up on the story. Not so online, where a more immediate outcry grew into a petition drive this week to encourage a federal investigation.

Now the Justice Department is looking into Trayvon Martin's death at the hands of a neighborhood watch volunteer, and black media and social media were key in demanding closer scrutiny.

The 17-year-old was shot on Feb.

A pond by any other name...

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:18:37 +0000

A broader look at the controversy over Jew Pond, and our inherited landscape of bigotry.