• Justices slap down federal prosecutor for 'deeply disappointing' race remark

    By Pete Williams, Justice Correspondent, NBC News

    A federal prosecutor came in for some biting criticism today from two Supreme Court justices for a racially charged remark made during a criminal trial.


    The comment by the justices came as the court declined to hear the appeal of a man who was convicted in a Texas federal court of being in on a drug conspiracy. 

    The issue for the defendant, Bongani Charles Calhoun, was whether he knew that the people he accompanied on a road trip were about to buy illegal drugs, or whether he was merely along for the ride.

    During cross-examination, Calhoun said he distanced himself from the others when one of them arrived at their hotel room with a bag of money. 

    The prosecutor, an assistant US attorney in the Western District of Texas, pressed him to explain why he didn't want to be there.  The prosecutor asked, "You've got African-Americans. You've got Hispanics, and you've got a bag full of money.  Does that tell you -- a light bulb doesn't go off in your head and say, 'This is a drug deal?'"

    After he was convicted, Calhoun -- who is African-American -- claimed the prosecutor's racially charged remark violated his constitutional rights by appealing to the jury's prejudice.  The court today declined to take up his appeal, because his lawyers failed to properly pursue the issue in the lower courts.

    But Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer said they couldn't let the case pass without writing to dispel any doubt of whether the Court's denial of the case "should be understood to signal our tolerance of a federal prosecutor's racially charged remark. It should not," they wrote.

    "By suggesting that race should play a role in establishing a defendant's criminal intent, the prosecutor here tapped into a deep and sorry vein of racial prejudice that has run through the history of criminal justice in our Nation.

    "It is deeply disappointing to see a representative of the United States resort to this base tactic more than a decade into the 21st century," they said.

    "We expect the government to seek justice, not to fan the flames of fear and prejudice."

    The justices also said it was troubling to see the Justice Department fail to immediately condemn what happened. Instead, they said, during the appeals in the lower courts, the government called the prosecutor's remark "impolitic" and said it did not affect the outcome of the trial "even assuming the question crossed the line."

    Only when the case reached the Supreme Court did the Justice Department concede that the remark was "unquestionably improper."

    "I hope never to see a case like this again," wrote Justice Sotomayor for herself and Justice Breyer.

  • LA officials: 3 held over attempt to drive African American family out of Compton

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    By Jason Kandel, NBCLosAngeles.com

    Two men and a teenage boy were arrested in connection with a series of race-based attacks on an African American family in an attempt to drive them out of Compton in Los Angeles, sheriff’s officials said.

    A group of Latino males who claimed to be in a local street gang used metal pipes and shouted racial epithets at a black man who had recently moved into the neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said.

    One of the suspects, identified as Efren Marquez, 21, allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and threatened to shoot him while he was being beaten with a metal pipe allegedly by a second suspect, identified as Jeffrey Aguilar, 19, officials said.

    After the attack, the group left in a black sport utility vehicle.

    Marquez and Aguilar returned 30 minutes later with a group of up to 20 gang members, who surrounded the front of the victims’ home shouting racial epithets and telling them that members of the African American race -- using the “n-word” -- were not allowed to live in the neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said.

    An unidentified member of the group threw a beer bottle through the front living room window.

    Sheriff’s officials said the suspects continued to drive by the home of the family -- which includes four children -- several times a day, shouting racial epithets while ordering the family to leave the neighborhood.

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    Aguilar, Marquez and a juvenile were arrested on Thursday, said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

    They face hate crime charges.

    Anyone with information is asked to contact Sheriff’s Operation Safe Streets Bureau gang investigators at (310) 603-3100 or the Compton Sheriff’s Station at (310) 605-6500.

  • Black pastor uses lynching photo to help get out the vote

    A roadside sign in Indianapolis shows the 1930 lynching of two black men. The Greater St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church is using the sign to encourage nearby residents to vote.

    By Andrew Mach, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A pastor in Indiana has put up a sign that uses a historical image of the 1930 lynching of two black teenagers in an effort to recharge the black vote.


    Rev. Joy Thornton, the senior pastor of Greater St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Indianapolis, said he’s concerned that African-Americans have grown complacent about voting, and he wants to urge people to exercise the right he says was hard won, the Associated Press reported.

    The sign, which has stood for nearly a week along the street in front of the church, shows, on one side, a white mob gathered around the teens to watch the lynching in Marion, Ind. Atop the photo is the word “VOTE!!!” Beneath it is the question: “Is this a reason to vote?” The other side of the sign shows an image of slaves in chains, with wording beneath it that reads, “Lest we forget.”

    “[The sign] is to let people know there’s been a price paid for the privilege of voting,” Thornton, a black pastor of what he describes as a multiracial congregation, told Indianapolis' WISH TV. “Oftentimes people get complacent and don’t realize that people made a sacrifice, matter of fact, the ultimate sacrifice for such a privilege.”

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    But not all like to be reminded of one of the most painful chapters in the state’s history.  

    Ronnie Judd, who was delivering medical supplies in the neighborhood when he saw the sign last week, said he found the sign embarrassing. Judd is white, and said he interpreted the photo to mean that if blacks don’t vote for President Obama in November, the days of lynching will return.

    “We have come too far to go back to those ways,” Judd told the AP.

    Mary Bishop, who works across the street from the church, said she doesn’t agree with the sign.

    “It’s not a good example for him to have it like that,” Bishop told WISH TV. “He meant well, but he went about it in the wrong way.”

    Thornton said the sign isn’t meant to sway voters to vote for any particular party, but rather to urge participation in November's presidential election. He said he believes some black voters have grown complacent because of President Obama's stance on same-sex marriage. 

    “Regardless of who you vote for, you need to exercise your privilege, which is voting,” Thornton said.

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    Joyce Hise, who also works across the street from the church, said she didn’t have a problem with the sign.

    “It was just kind of a little shocker,” Hise told WISH TV. “It made me stop to think. So many people don’t know, and they don’t realize this was part of our history, and it is a reason to vote.”

    Joe Slash, president of the Indianapolis Urban League, told WISH TV that he agrees with the need to urge people to vote, but he doesn’t agree with the photos used for the sign.

    Thornton, however, defended the shock value of the sign.

    “I don’t think it is as harsh as the fact that when we talk about African-Americans being murdered and killed at an alarming rate,” Thornton said. “It’s not as harsh as the fact we make up about 12 percent of the population and about 90 percent of the incarceration. It is not as harsh as the drugs that we are being exploited within our communities.”

    Thornton, who said he’s received two complaints about the sign since it was put up, has no plans to take it down “until the Lord says so.”

    Watch WISH-TV’s full report.

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  • Racist display prompts investigation at Los Angeles-area hospital

    NBC4 Los Angeles

    An investigation is underway after a doll with its face painted black was left hanging from a post at Kaiser Hospital in Riverside, Calif., where several African American employees work.

    By Yvonne Beltzer and Craig Fiegenrer, NBCLosAngeles.com

    Kaiser Hospital Riverside in Southern California is investigating what appears to be a racist display directed at several African-American employees who work in the hospital’s IT Department.

    The staffers said they work in an area that is restricted to employees only, so when Xavier Fields arrived for work, he was shocked to find a doll with a racial slur across its chest hanging from a post near his work station.

    This story originally appeared on NBCLosAngeles.com.

    "It’s somebody who works within. It’s a locked area. You don’t go back there," Fields said.


    The doll had its face painted black and was dangling from a rope around its neck.

    "You’re not sure what to think. I got a supervisor and I let them know what’s going on," said colleague Tyree Hale.

    The employees said they did not see signs that their complaint launched an immediate investigation.

    They gave the doll to a manager and said they were so stunned — even scared — that they didn’t file a police report, but left it to the hospital to handle.

    Kaiser issued a statement which read: “We are moving to investigate the matter and will take appropriate action. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination in our workplace and will take all appropriate measures to address the full scope of this situation.”

    Officials at a hospital in Riverside, Calif., maintain that they are investigating the display of racist effigy near a black employees desk, despite not filing a police report. KNBC's Craig Fiegener reports.

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    Still, the workers say they’re not wholly confident in the investigation.

    "I’m not for sure," said Hale. "I went to the boss and let them know what was going on."

    Hale said he believes the doll was aimed at him since he is the first of his co-workers to arrive at work in the morning.

    Asked why he didn’t file a police report, he said, "Sometimes we just shine it off because we’re just trying to stay working and pay our bills."

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  • White student lauded after returning college scholarship meant for blacks

    Warren family

    Jeffrey Warren found out on senior awards night that he was the winner of a scholarship meant for African-American students.

    By James Eng, NBC News

    No big deal.

    That's how 17-year-old Jeffrey Warren describes his decision to return a $1,000 college scholarship meant for black students.

    “I just thought it was the right thing to do,” says Warren, who is white.

    His decision is winning him praise for his character – and offers of alternate financial help.

    A hush, followed by some giggles, enveloped the Martin Luther King High School gym in Riverside, Calif., when it was announced on senior awards night that Warren was the winner of the scholarship awarded by the local Martin Luther King Senior Citizens Club.

    The $1,000 scholarship, one of two awarded annually by the seniors club, is meant for African-American students. Club members didn’t know Warren is white until he rose to receive the award.

    “We just couldn’t believe it at the outset. It was really something. There was a mixed feeling in the crowd,” recalled Etta Brown, chairwoman of the club’s scholarship committee, of the May 22 ceremony.

    “People were surprised. Laughter started to come up from crowd,” Warren said. “They still shook my hand, they still said ‘thank you.’”

    After some contemplation, Warren and his parents decided to return the scholarship. They sent an email the next day informing the MLK senior citizens club of the decision.

    Warren Family / Warren family

    Jeffrey Warren and his mom Frances Warren on graduation night.

    “They said they would accept it back. They were very nice about it. They thanked me for being generous and for being a great kid,” Warren told msnbc.com on Tuesday.

    “Jeffrey and I wanted them to be happy,” Rod Warren, who teaches language arts at the high school, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise, which first reported on the episode. “The ladies were trying to do something really nice.”

    The scholarship application itself stated only that African-Americans were “encouraged” to apply. Warren applied online and apparently never saw a separate letter sent to school counselors specifying that it was for black students.

    Some club members felt Jeffrey should be allowed to keep the scholarship, Brown told msnbc.com. “It was a very thoughtful decision between his family and himself that they would not accept it,” she said.

    “I think it says a lot for his character and it says a lot of the character for the family,” said King High School Principal Darel Hansen.

    “This was not something the school or school district asked him to do. He in our opinion won the award in good faith though there was a mix-up.”

    Jeffrey’s scholarship was later awarded to a runner-up -- a female African-American student.

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    Organizations using private money, like the MLK seniors club, are allowed to set their own eligibility criteria for scholarships they grant.

    Brown said the club’s scholarship committee will meet to revise the language on the application to clarify it's for African-American students so there’s no misunderstanding in the future.

    Warren won’t be totally lacking in financial help for college. Rod Warren told the Press-Enterprise his son applied for 27 scholarships and also won three others, two for $2,000 each and another $500 scholarship.

    Hansen told msnbc.com that since the story made local headlines, several people have contacted the school “asking where they could send a check to make a donation to Jeffrey.”

    Several teachers also showed up at his graduation party at his home on Saturday and presented him with an envelope with $351 in cash donations collected from school staff.

    Warren said he plans to attend San Diego State University in the fall where he will major in English or business, or both. He says he wants to teach, like his dad.

    Brown thinks he has a bright future ahead.

    “He’s a really neat student,” Brown said. “He deserved it (the scholarship). Martin Luther King would say he did everything right.”

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  • Uncertain future for Atlanta's historic Auburn Ave, birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.

    David Goldman / AP

    The residential portion of the Sweet Auburn Historic District, including the home where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born at right. Today Auburn Avenue is a shell of its former self, the bustling mix of banks, night clubs, churches, meat markets and funeral homes long gone, replaced with crumbling facades and cracked sidewalks. Hundreds of thousands of people still flock to Auburn Avenue to see King's birth home, the church where he preached and the crypt where he and his wife, Coretta, are buried. But tourists have little reason to linger. While King's legacy has been preserved, Auburn Avenue's business community has never recovered from the exodus of the black community that supported it. This week, the area was placed on the National Register of Historic Places' 11 Most Endangered list for the second time since 1992 in hopes of spurring preservation-oriented development.

    David Goldman / AP

    Tourists visit the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta.

    David Goldman / AP

    A visitor stands before the crypt of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta, along Auburn Avenue.

    David Goldman / AP

    A man walks under the Interstate 75/85 overpass whose construction cut the Auburn neighborhood in half.

    David Goldman / AP

    National Park Rangers stand outside the original Atlanta Life Insurance Company building on Auburn Avenue, dating back to 1905.

    David Goldman / AP

    A man walks down the street after asking club goers for spare change in the Auburn Avenue district.

    David Goldman / AP

    A man pushes a stroller across Auburn Avenue.

    AP reports that the neighborhood is caught between preservation and development:

    "If we lose any more historic fabric, Auburn Avenue will probably lose its historic designation. You can't just have a few buildings left," said Mtaminika Youngblood, chairwoman of the Historic District Development Corporation, which has shepherded the restoration of the area for more than two decades.

    Generations ago, much of Auburn Avenue's prosperity was born out of necessity, a product of segregation. The downtown thoroughfare anchored a community of homes and businesses that depended on each other.

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