Equal Justice Initiative plans memorial to lynching victims in Alabama
The Equal Justice Initiative has announced plans to open a national memorial to lynching victims next year in Montgomery, Ala. The Montgomery-based organization released a stunning report in 2015, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, that documents more than 4,000 lynchings of African Americans in the United States between 1877 and 1950. The memorial will honor each victim by engraving their name on floating concrete columns representing over 800 counties in the United States where racial terror lynchings took place. Counties across the country will be invited to retrieve duplicate columns with the names of each county’s lynching victims to be placed in every county. The six-acre site will also feature a museum, From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, that will be situated within 150 yards of one of the South’s most prominent slave auction sites and the Alabama River dock and rail station where tens of thousands of enslaved black people were trafficked. The museum will contain high-tech exhibits, artifacts, recordings, and films, as well as comprehensive data and information on lynching and racial segregation. It will also connect the history of racial inequality with contemporary issues of mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and police violence. Check out a video from EJI with more details on the memorial:
Robert Bentley announces new website to help Alabama veterans
Gov. Robert Bentley announced a new online tool Tuesday for Alabama’s veterans and their families. The Alabama Executive Veterans Network (AlaVetNet) is comprehensive website that will serve as a hub for resources, providing a mechanism for veterans to find the services they need in a much faster and more user-friendly manner. “Alabama is a proud pro-military state, and we appreciate the sacrifice of our brave servicemen and women, and we owe it to them to ensure they are receiving the help they need in a timely manner,” said Bentley. “Eight percent of Alabamians serve in the military and the new AlaVetNet website will provide a one-stop-shop to assist veterans and their families in locating the variety of services available.” Bentley established AlaVetNet through Executive Order 42 in December 2013, which brought nonprofits, state agencies and businesses together in a central forum to collaborate and develop cohesive policies that best serve Alabama veterans. The goal of AlaVetNet is to use the existing resources and explore opportunities to expand the services. The committee developed a long-range plan for a unified, statewide system for the delivery of services aimed at helping those who served in the military. The AlaVetNet website is organized into six service areas: education, employment, homelessness, family services, legal, and behavioral health. Each committee is led by a chair and two co-chairs representing state agencies or well-established nonprofits. “I am really proud of the AlaVetNet team, and I am excited about this website as it will help better fulfill our primary goal of connecting veterans to available resources and services throughout our great veteran-friendly state,” said Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Clyde Marsh. “The importance of this website is that it contains useful information that is easy to access from the comfort of a home, office or mobile device such as medical care facilities, locations to file veterans claims, and points of contact for those that are in the most distress and need to reach a suicide hotline.”
Luther Strange weighs in on Alabama lottery legislation
Various lottery bills are being considered by Alabama state lawmakers Tuesday, but Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange doesn’t support any of them. Strange released a statement Tuesday morning, calling the proposed state lottery a “Band-Aid” for the state’s ongoing budget shortfall. “I am personally opposed to any lottery to fund state government,” said Strange. “I believe the lottery is, at best, a Band-Aid on the state’s budgetary problems and will not provide the kind of longterm solution we need.” He also said he believes one of the lottery proposals could open loopholes that would lead to casino gambling. Strange continued, “As attorney general, I have been approached by the Legislature to offer a legal interpretation of the impact of the various lottery proposals upon the state. My office has reviewed the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment (SB3). If the amendment passes as proposed and is followed by responsible enabling legislation, my legal team believes it will create a limited lottery without the kinds of loopholes that will lead to casino gambling or protracted litigation. However, if Sen. McClendon’s proposed constitutional amendment (SB11) passes, my legal team believes it will not only allow for a lottery, but will lead to casino gambling and protracted litigation.” A special session of the state Legislature began Monday to consider a state lottery. There, Gov. Robert Bentley is asking state lawmakers to approve a referendum that would allow state voters to decide whether or not Alabama should have a lottery. Bentley said a lottery could raise an estimated $225 million per year.
Lottery bills get first test in Alabama Legislature
Lottery bills are getting their first test with Alabama lawmakers. The Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee is meeting Tuesday morning for public hearings on five different lottery bills. The committee could vote as soon as Tuesday afternoon. The proposals up for debate include Gov. Robert Bentley‘s plan to set up a lottery to fund Medicaid. However, lawmakers have introduced several rival proposals. One would also allow electronic lottery terminals, which can resemble slot machines, at four state dog tracks, and seek a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Another bill would limit a lottery to multistate games, such as Powerball, to save administration costs. Alabama is one of six states without a lottery. However, lawmakers say the bills face an uncertain outlook in the special session. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
When it comes to school bullying, Alabama fails the test
In the next seven minutes, a child in the U.S. will be bullied. Meanwhile, only 11 percent of the child’s peers will stop and intervene. Worse, only four in 100 adults might do the same. Most do nothing. According to the National Education Association, more than 160,000 children miss school every day out of fear of being bullied, which is why — as back-to-school season is upon us — personal finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s States with the Biggest Bullying Problems. Turns out, Alabama is among the Top 10 states with the worst bullying problems, having the eighth-worst bullying ranking in America. Bullying prevalence and prevention in Alabama (1=Biggest, 23=Avg.): 7th: percentage of high school students involved in physical fight at school 10th: percentage of high school students who missed school out of fear of being bullied 5th: percentage of high school students who attempted suicide 24th: Cost of truancy for schools due to bullying 22nd: Student-to-counselor ratio 10th: State anti-bullying laws and policies 2nd: State anti-cyberbullying laws requiring school policy In order to identify the states with the biggest bullying problems, WalletHub’s analysts compared 45 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) bullying prevalence, 2) bullying impact and treatment and 3) anti-bullying laws, across 17 key metrics, ranging from “bullying-incident rate” to “truancy costs for schools” to “percentage of high school students bullied online.” Here’s a look at how the rest of the country compares to Alabama: Source: WalletHub
Donald Trump reveals few details on extreme vetting of immigrants
Donald Trump is calling for “extreme” vetting of immigrants seeking admission to the United States, but he’s offering few specifics about how that might work, how long it might last or how taxpayers would foot the bill. Trump, who had previously called for an unprecedented temporary ban on immigration by Muslims, vowed Monday to overhaul the country’s screening process and block those who sympathize with extremist groups or don’t embrace American values. “Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into our country,” Trump said in a foreign policy address in Youngstown, Ohio. “Only those who we expect to flourish in our country – and to embrace a tolerant American society – should be issued visas.” The GOP presidential nominee has made stricter immigration measures a central part of his proposals for defeating the Islamic State – a battle he said Monday is akin to the struggle against communism during the Cold War. He called for parents, teachers and others to promote “American culture” and encouraged “assimilation.” But he didn’t say which countries or regions would be subject to the “extreme” vetting, and his announcement that government agencies would create the list suggested that would not happen before the election in November. The candidate’s aides said federal agencies would use questionnaires, social media, interviews with family and friends or other means to vet applicants’ stances on issues including religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. Trump did not clarify how U.S. officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much manpower it would require to complete such arduous vetting. He did say that implementing the policy overhaul would require a temporary halt in immigration from “the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.” “We will stop processing visas from those areas until such time as it is deemed safe to resume based on new circumstances or new procedures,” Trump said. The address comes during a trying stretch for Trump’s presidential campaign. He’s struggled to stay on message and build a consistent case against Democrat Hillary Clinton, repeatedly roiling the White House race with provocative comments that have deeply frustrated many in his own party. Clinton has seized on Republican concerns about Trump, highlighting the steady stream of GOP national security experts who’ve said their party’s nominee is unfit to serve as commander in chief. She kept up that argument Monday as she campaigned alongside Vice President Joe Biden in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a working class area where both have family ties. Biden called Trump’s views “dangerous” and “un-American.” He warned that Trump’s false assertions last week about President Barack Obama founding the Islamic State extremist group could be used by extremists to target American service members in Iraq. “The threat to their life has gone up a couple clicks,” Biden said. Trump has since said he was being sarcastic in accusing Obama of founding the Islamic State. Still, he directly blamed the president and Clinton, who served as Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, for backing policies that “unleashed” the group, including withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in late 2011. He also challenged Clinton’s fitness to be president, declaring she lacks the “mental and physical stamina” to take on the extremists. Trump was vague about what he would do differently to decimate the Islamic State in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria. He vowed to partner with any country that shares his goal of defeating the extremist group, regardless of other strategic disagreements, and named Russia as a nation he would like to improve relations with. Russia and the U.S. have been discussing greater coordination in Syria, where the Islamic State is part of a volatile mix of groups fighting for power. But they have been unable to reach an agreement on which militant groups could be targeted. Trump also vowed to end “our current strategy of nation-building and regime change” – a criticism that extends to policies of both parties. He panned the long, expensive Iraq War started under Republican President George W. Bush, as well as Obama’s calls for new leadership in some Middle East countries during the pro-democracy Arab Spring uprisings. Obama has held up Bush’s years-long commitment to setting up and securing a new government in Iraq after the initial invasion as a reason to avoid U.S. military intervention in countries like Syria. Trump’s most specific anti-Islamic State proposals centered on keeping those seeking to carry out attacks in the West from entering the United States. He said attacks involving “immigrants or the children of immigrants” underscore the need to implement “extreme vetting.” Trump first announced his call for banning Muslims last year during the GOP primary. He introduced a new standard following the June massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, vowing to “suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we fully understand how to end these threats.” That proposal raised numerous questions that the campaign never clarified, including whether it would apply to citizens of countries like France, Israel, or Ireland, which have suffered recent and past attacks. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
