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Charleston Massacre Provokes Long Overdue National Debate Confronting Racist Ideology
Interview with Graylan Hagler, senior pastor, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, Washington, D.C., conducted by Scott Harris
The cold-blooded murder of eight black parishioners and their pastor by an avowed white supremacist at Charleston, South Carolina’s historic Emanuel AME Church on June 17 once again exposed the deep racial divisions in the U.S. While the massacre was greeted by calls for unity and healing, a debate quickly ensued about the Confederate flag flying in a place of honor at the State Capitol in Columbia. Before committing the murders, the accused killer, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, had posted photos of himself waving a Confederate flag on a website that also featured his racist manifesto titled the “Last Rhodesian.” Story continues
Current Legal Battle to Keep Texas Abortion Clinics Open Could Effect Change Across the U.S.
Interview with Gretchen Borchelt, vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Women’s Law Center, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Conservative legislatures and governors in many states across the U.S. have succeeded at whittling away at abortion rights over the past several years. This has occurred as the anti-choice movement has migrated from street protests – and from sometimes violent assaults on abortion clinics and staff – to pushing for suffocating state regulations. Story continues
Progressive Group Threatens “Free Trade Democrats” with Primary Challenges
Interview with Jim Dean, chairman of the progressive group Democracy for America, conducted by Scott Harris
After a June 12 vote derailing crucial fast track trade legislation in the House of Representatives, President Obama backed by a coalition of Republicans and a handful of Democrats, recovered momentum by winning a second House vote – and appear poised to win approval in the U.S. Senate. The passage of fast track, or Trade Promotion Authority, is a necessary pre-requisite for later ratification of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, or TPP that would set trade rules between the U.S. and 11 other nations. Story continues
This week’s summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon
- Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir evaded an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (or ICC) in mid-June, when he boarded a private plane in South Africa bound for Sudan, before a judge ordered him arrested. (“Sudan President Omar al-Bashir leaves South Africa as court considers arrest,” The Guardian, June 4, 2015; “Omar al-Bashir case suggests South African Foreign Policy is going rogue,” The Guardian, June 15, 2015; “Omar al-Bashir case show ICC’s limitations,”New York Times, June 15, 2015)
- Thousands of Haitian nationals living in neighboring Dominican Republic waited in long lines to register as permanent residents or face the threat of deportation. The status of Haitian migrants and those born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents has been in dispute even since a 2013 court decision that stripped citizen rights from the children of Haitian immigrants. For decades, poor Haitians have moved to the Dominican Republic seeking work cutting sugar cane and as domestic workers. (“Dominicans of Haitian descent fear mass deportation as deadline looms,” The Guardian, June 16, 2015; “Haitian workers facing deportation by Dominican neighbors,” New York Times, June 16, 2015)
- Anti-Keystone tar sands pipeline activist Bradley Stroot was placed on a U.S. government watchlist for domestic airline flights by the FBI, during the agency’s campaign targeting so-called “environmental extremists.” Stroot discovered he was on the watchlist called “Secondary Security Screening Selection” when he flew to Texas to visit a friend last December and was subjected to invasive airport security measures. (“Keystone protesters tracked at border after FBI spied on extremists,”The Guardian, June 8, 2015)