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LDF Files Brief in Housing Discrimination Case

The Editors — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:06:27 +0000

LDF filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in the United States Supreme Court in Magner v. Gallagher. In Magner, a group of private landlords of low-income housing challenged the City of St. Paul’s practice of selectively targeting them for heightened housing code enforcement. The plaintiffs alleged that this practice increased the costs [...]

The Downside of Bigger Down Payments: Locking Blacks Out of the Housing Market

The Editors — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:05:29 +0000

By Deborah Siegel
A new study warns that a Federal proposal to require a minimum 20 percent down payment of prospective of prospective homebuyers would substantially hurt the chances of many African Americans and Latinos to get such mortgages.

LDF Files Friend of the Court Brief in Supreme Court Healthcare Case

The Editors — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:12:21 +0000

On Friday, LDF filed a “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Department of Health & Human Services v. Florida. The brief urges the Court to uphold the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care legislation passed by Congress in 2010, which has been challenged on constitutional grounds.

The Black Tax: Alive and Still Powerful

The Editors — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:04:24 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
What Negro Americans faced then was a fierce discrimination that confined them literally and figuratively to a very small corner of American life. Entire categories of jobs, or levels of jobs were off-limits to blacks, and there was virtually no protection for the endemic on-the-job racism those who had jobs endured.

The Debt Hangover: After the Holidays Spending Spree many African Americans face Ballooning Debt

The Editors — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:47:47 +0000

By Tarice L.S. Gray
January’s usually the month when Americans are bombarded with tips for getting their bodies back in shape after feasting on December’s holiday fare.

January is also a time when people often wonder: are my finances in good shape?

11th Circuit Court of Appeals Reverses Course in “boy” case

The Editors — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:42:03 +0000

A panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed itself to reinstate a jury’s finding that John Hithon, an African-American worker at a Tyson Foods plant in Gadsden, Alabama, was discriminated against by his employer.

Alabama’s Immigration Crisis

The Editors — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:24:59 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
For the past few months the state of Alabama has been buffeted by an unusual force.

Call it the “day of absence” syndrome.

The Impact of Social Security Reform on People of Color

The Editors — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:51:02 +0000

By The Editors
Barring significant reforms of the nation’s Social Security program to avert a shortfall in funds in the coming decades, a substantial number of black Americans’ golden years may be filled with dross.

“There’s Something Wrong With This Picture.” Blacks/Latinos Hit Particularly Hard As Mortgage Crisis Lingers

The Editors — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:59:46 +0000

By Doug Miller
The study, Lost Ground, 2011, found that low- and moderate-income African Americans and Latino Americans have suffered a disproportionate share of losses.

Medicaid “A Vital Lifeline” for African Americans and Latino Americans

The Editors — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:19:16 +0000

By Kenneth J. Cooper
A new report for the first time determines how many African Americans and Latinos depend on Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor, to treat serious diseases or conditions.

Black firefighter hopefuls who sued 16 years ago turn out for physical testing

The Editors — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:00:55 +0000

By Ronnie Reese via the Chicago Tribune
Editor's Note -- Nearly two decades ago, nearly 6,000 black Chicagoans had sought the chance to serve their city as firefighters. Their quest dream was at first denied, and then long-delayed before being ultimately vindicated by the Supreme Court in the case of Lewis v. The City of Chicago. This week the first of those candidates were called to begin the first round of testing, as an article from the Chicago Tribune

Wealth Disparities Likely to Grow

The Editors — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:51:21 +0000

By George E. Curry
A widening gap between the mega-rich and the rest of society, documented in a recent congressional study, is likely to create even larger economic disparities between African-Americans and Whites.

The Burden of the Poor: Why the Fight for Survival Seems so Unfair

The Editors — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:47:39 +0000

By Tarice L.S. Gray
For a long time in this country the poor have felt like they were written off.

Alabama’s Cost-Benefit Lesson on Immigration

The Editors — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:28:53 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
Alabama, whose Republican–dominated legislature in June enacted the nation’s most restrictive law targeting undocumented immigrants -- in order, they said, to preserve those and other low-wage jobs for American citizens – is discovering: you can’t.

Housing and Race: The Continuing Crisis

The Editors — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:39:26 +0000

By John Payton
Editor’s Note: These remarks were delivered by John Payton, President and Director Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Monday to conference of the National Housing Law Project in Washington.

Jacqueline Berrien on leading the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The Editors — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:16:16 +0000

By Tom Fox via The Washington Post
Jacqueline A. Berrien has been the chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) since April 2010. A Harvard Law School graduate, Berrien practiced civil rights law for many years, assisted underrepresented groups as a program officer for the Ford Foundation, and came to the EEOC from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where she served as associate director-counsel.

The Disparity in Teacher Pay: A Civil Rights Issue

The Editors — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:28:52 +0000

By Kenneth J. Cooper
New federal research shows that African American and Hispanic students are being shortchanged, literally, when it comes to school budgets, in most districts with diverse enrollments.

The Jobs’ Crisis Collateral Damage: The Coming Mental Health Epidemic

The Editors — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:12:38 +0000

By The Editors
The U.S. is facing “a silent mental health epidemic” as joblessness lengthens and deepens for millions of once-gainfully employed Americans, a new study is warning.

Poverty’s Growing Reach

The Editors — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:47:29 +0000

By The Editors
The Census Bureau’s annual report on the status of Americans’ income, the number of Americans living in poverty, and the number of Americans without health insurance that was released last week did double duty.

“Place Matters for Health”

The Editors — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:45:47 +0000

By Kenneth J. Cooper
“Place matters for health.” That opening declaration in one of two new reports distills established wisdom that residential segregation is a big contributor to minority health disparities – because segregated neighborhoods tend to have less access to health care and fresh produce, fewer recreational facilities and more environmental hazards.

Same Old Tradition; New Faces

The Editors — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:16:56 +0000

By The Editors
For the last decade or so, we’ve been treated to a concentrated dose of one of the grand traditions of American history: the assertion that U.S.-born black Americans are last on the pecking order of American ethnic groups who “contribute” to American society.

Black America: What Will “Catastrophe” Look Like?

The Editors — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:43:30 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
The debt-ceiling crisis that threatened America’s economic foundation has abated for now.
But the jobs crisis and the foreclosure crisis which continue to threaten the present and future of millions of ordinary Americans have not.

Prime-time Fine for Subprime Loans

The Editors — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:33:04 +0000

By Doug Miller
In the largest civil penalty it has ever issued, the Federal Reserve fined Wells Fargo & Co. $85 million to settle allegations that the San Francisco-based bank maneuvered borrowers into taking out costlier subprime home loans and falsified information on mortgage applications.

The June Jobs Report: “No Redeeming Features Whatsoever”

The Editors — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:58:41 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered an employment report for June that seemed to stun everyone -- a report one analyst told the Washington Post had “no redeeming features whatsoever.”

Civil Rights Organizations Settle Hurricane Katrina Housing Discrimination Case against HUD and Louisiana

The Editors — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:43:13 +0000

Today, African-American homeowners and two civil rights organizations announced a settlement in a post-Hurricane Katrina housing discrimination lawsuit brought against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the State of Louisiana regarding the “Road Home” program.