The Curry Report Nov. 17, 2015
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In This Issue

Don't be Fooled by 'Silent Clarence' Thomas.

Scalia's Racist View of Black Students Based on 'Myth'

California and Michigan: Don't Ban Affirmative Action

Most Scientists are not Products of Top Schools

Black Scientists Respond to Scalia's Suggestion that 'Less Advanced' Classes are more Suitable

The 'Benefits' of Black Physics Students

Thurgood Marshall and the Need for Affirmative Action

Diverse Movies are a Huge Business. Why Doesn't Hollywood Make More?

Fact-checking the Las Vegas GOP debate

Lee Circle no more: New Orleans to remove 4 Confederate statues.

Attorney James Belt of Dallas, Texas Succumbs to Pancreatic Cancer

Don't be Fooled by 'Silent Clarence' Thomas

By George E. Curry

George Curry Media Columnist

In arguably the most important civil rights case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this term - a case that could ban or limit the consideration of race in public employment, government contracting and higher education - Clarence Thomas, the lone Black justice, was silent. Of the justices hearing the case, only Thomas did not utter a single syllable last Wednesday during 1 hour and 35-minutes of oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin.

The University of Texas considers seven factors in its affirmative action program: demonstrated leadership qualities, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, essays,

work experience, community service and special circumstances such as applicant's socioeconomic status, family composition, special family responsibilities, socioeconomic status of applicant's high school and race.

Fisher sued over race, claiming that considering race, even with with other factors, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment.

She sued even though the university said she was unqualified and would not have been admitted even if there had been no affirmative action program. She sued even though the 14^th Amendment took effect in 1868 to protect newly-freed slaves, not unqualified Whites.

Her attorneys conveniently ignored that universities - except in percentage plan cases where students are admitted based solely on their class rankings - look at a variety of factors when admitting an incoming class.

In fact, one African American and four Hispanics with lower scores than Fisher were offered provisional admission under a UT summer program. So were 42 Whites. In addition, 168 African American and Hispanic applicants with scores identical to or higher than Fisher were denied admission to the summer program, according to a university brief.

Yet, one of Fisher's staunchest backers is "Silent Clarence" Thomas, who is quiet on the bench, but has been a wrecking ball against affirmative action.

In their book, Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas, Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher, two colleagues at the Washington Post, wrote: "Every Thomas employer, from [Former Missouri Sen. John] Danforth, who gave him his first job, to President George H.W. Bush, who nominated him to the Supreme Court, chose Thomas at least partly because he is black. Race is a central fact of his meteoric rise, and Thomas has alternately denied it and resented it - all the way to the top."

In every court case involving affirmative action, "Silent Clarence" has voted against it, including Texas v. Hopwood, Adarand v. Pena and Grutter v. Bollinger.

Although Scalia is being roundly criticized over his recent remarks about Blacks needing to attend "lesser" colleges, it was the same position espoused by Thomas in 2003 when the court upheld the University of Michigan Law School affirmative action program.

In his dissent, Thomas said, "...Nowhere in any of the filings in this Court is any evidence that the purported 'beneficiaries' of this racial discrimination prove themselves by performing at (or even near) the same level as those students who receive no preferences.

"....The Law School tantalizes unprepared students with the promise of a University of Michigan degree and all of the opportunities that it offers. These overmatched students take the bait, only to find that they cannot succeed in the cauldron of competition. And this mismatch crisis is not restricted to elite institutions."

Thomas wrote, "While these students may graduate with law degrees, there is no evidence that they have received a qualitatively better legal education (or become better lawyers) than if they had gone to a less 'elite' law school for which they were better prepared..."

That's quite a comment from someone who attended both Holy Cross College and Yale Law School under affirmative action.

In at least one respect, Thomas is worse than Scalia - he is the only justice who volunteered that Grutter should be overturned - even though Fisher isn't seeking that resolution in her petition.

When the Supreme Court first heard Fisher two years ago, Thomas wrote, "I write separately to explain that I would overrule Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306 (2003), and hold that a State's use of race in higher education admissions decisions is categorically prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause."

While he wants to exclude consideration of race in almost all instances, he feels it is okay for universities to use alumni preference or legacy programs that favor privileged applicants whose parents have attended a certain university.

"The Equal Protection Clause does not, however, prohibit the use of the unseemly legacy preferences or many other kinds of arbitrary admissions procedures," Thomas wrote in Grutter. "What the Equal Protection Clause does prohibit are classifications made on the basis of race. So while legacy preferences can stand under the Constitution, racial discrimination cannot."

It's not surprising that Thomas is known as the court's cruelest justice.

The late U.S. Appeals Court Judge Leon Higginbotham observed, "I have often pondered how is it that Justice Thomas, an African-American, could be so insensitive to the plight of the powerless. Why is he no different, or probably worse, than many of the most conservative Supreme Court justices of the century? I can only think of one Supreme Court justice during the century who was worse than Justice Clarence Thomas: James McReynolds, a white supremacist who referred to blacks as 'niggers.'"

George E. Curry is President and CEO of George Curry Media, LLC. He is the former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA). He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. Curry can be reached through his Web site, georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at twitter.com/currygeorge, George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook, and Periscope. See previous columns at http://www.georgecurry.com/columns.

Scalia's Racist View of Black Students Based on 'Myth'

By George E. Curry

Editor-in-Chief

George Curry Media

NEWS ANALYSIS

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's view that students of color are better matched at "a less advanced ...slower track" schools than at the nation's top-tier universities is a myth that has been thoroughly debunked.

Scalia touched off a firestorm last Wednesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin, a case brought by a rejected White student challenging the university's affirmative action program.

The university selects 75 percent of its freshmen class (some years it has been as much as 92 percent) through a process that guarantees admission to the top 10 percent of each high school graduating class. The remaining students are chosen through an individualized affirmative action program that considers such factors as demonstrated leadership qualities, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, essays, work experience, community service, and special circumstances such as applicant's socioeconomic status, family composition, special family responsibilities, socioeconomic status of applicant's high school and race.

Even though to points are assigned to any category, Abigail Fisher decided to sue on the basis of race, saying the consideration of race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment. However, the university said she would not have been accepted even if no affirmative action program were in place.

Scalia said, "There are �� there are those who contend that it does not benefit African� Americans to ��-- to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less�-advanced school, a less --�� a slower�-track school where they do well. One of ��-- one of the briefs pointed out that ��-- that most of the --�� most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas. They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they're ��-- that they're being pushed ahead in --�� in classes that are too --�� too fast for them."

Scalia, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986 by Ronald Reagan, shifted from the "some people" straw argument to express his deeply personal view, which many public figures have since condemned as blatantly racist.

He said, "I'm just not impressed by the fact that --�� that the University of Texas may have fewer. Maybe it ought to have fewer. And maybe some -- �� you know, when you take more, the number of blacks, really competent blacks admitted to lesser schools, turns out to be less. And ��-- and I --�� I don't think it --�� it �� it stands to reason that it's a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible."

To his credit, Gregory G. Garre, one of the attorneys representing the University of Texas, immediately challenged the core of Scalia's argument.

He replied, "This Court heard and rejected that argument, with respect, Justice Scalia, in the Grutter case, a case that our opponents haven't asked this Court to overrule. If you look at the academic performance of holistic minority admits versus the top 10 percent admits, over time, they ��-- they fare better. And, frankly, I don't think the solution to the problems with student body diversity can be to set up a system in which not only are minorities going to separate schools, they're going to inferior schools. I think what experience shows, at Texas, California, and Michigan, is that now is not the time and this is not the case to roll back student body diversity in America."

Al Sharpton told supporters on the steps of the Supreme Court after the oral arguments, "Scalia says Blacks ought to go to schools that are not as hard as the University of Texas, that is not as fast for them. I didn't know if I was in the Supreme Court or at a Donald Trump rally."

Scalia, the longest serving justice on the Supreme Court, was parroting a friend-of-the-court brief filed in support of Fisher by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation and another one filed by University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot and Cleveland attorney Peter Kirsanow, congressional appointees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Matthew Chingos, a scholar at the Urban Institute, noted"[Scalia's] remarks reference the so-called 'mismatch hypothesis,' which posits that minority students are harmed by policies that allow them to attend competitive colleges for which they lack adequate academic preparation.

"Mismatch is possible in theory, but it presents an empirical question as to whether selective colleges admit students who would be better off at less challenging institutions. Straightforward comparisons of students with similar academic credentials who attended different colleges consistently find that students are more likely to graduate from more selective institutions. This finding holds for all groups of students examined, including underrepresented minorities and students with weaker academic preparation."

A group of 11 experts in quantitative social science filed a brief urging to the court to ignore the mismatch theory because it "does not constitute credible evidence that affirmative action practices are harmful to minorities." They said study contained "major methodological flaws - misapplying basic principles of causal inference - that call into doubt his controversial conclusions about affirmative action."

In short, they said, the research "is not good social science."

A friend-of-the-court brief filed in support of the University of Texas on behalf of 39 undergraduate and graduate student organizations in California thoroughly discredited Scalia's position.

Their brief noted, "But various studies provide empirical evidence that the 'mismatch' theory is nothing more than a myth," they said in their court filing. "Indeed, underrepresented minority students graduate at higher rates when they attend selective institutions. See, e.g., Sigal Alon & Marta Tienda, Assessing the 'Mismatch' Hypothesis: Differences in College Graduation Rates by Institutional Selectivity, 78 SOC. EDUC. 294, 309 (2005) (rebutting the 'mismatch' hypothesis by finding that minorities' likelihood of graduation increased as selectivity of institution attended rose); Tatiana Melguizo, Quality Matters: Assessing the Impact of Attending More Selective Institutions on College Completion Rates of Minorities, 49 RES. HIGHER EDUC. 214, 217 (2008) (finding that minority students who were admitted to highly selective institutions under affirmative action policies were more likely to graduate).

"Notably, one study found that selectivity was an important factor with a statistically significant effect on African American graduation rates. Mario L. Small & Christopher Winship, Black Students' Graduation from Elite Colleges: Institutional Characteristics and Between-Institution Differences, 36 SOC. SCI. RES. 1257, 1272 (2007). Not only did it increase the probability of graduation for African American students, it also helped African American students more than their white counterparts."

Scalia ignored an abundance of evidence that proves African Americans have successfully competed at the nation's elite universities. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960 after completing his undergraduate study at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

W.E. B. DuBois, one of the nation's most distinguished scholars, earned his doctorate from Harvard University in 1895. That same year, William Monroe Trotter, the future crusading editor of the Boston Guardian, was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa key while earning his Bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Harvard. They were proving they didn't need to go to a "lesser" school more than a half-century before Scalia arrived in Cambridge, Mass. to enroll in law school.

More recently, both the president and the first lady, earned degrees from Harvard Law School after earning undergraduate degrees at Ivy League universities.

Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) described Scalia's comments as troubling.

"I was shocked and amazed by Justice Antonin Scalia's comments in the Fisher v. University of Texas case yesterday. His suggestion that African Americans would fare better at schools that are 'less advanced' or on a 'slow-track' remind me of the kind of prejudice that led to separate and unequal school systems - a policy the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional decades ago," Lewis said.

"Justice Scalia is supposed to be very well read, but he seems to have neglected study in African American history. Is he aware that the current head of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, the noted astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson, graduated from the University of Texas in 1983, before affirmative action was struck down?

"Does he know the story of Henry Sampson, the nuclear engineer, whose invention of the gamma-electric cell made the cell phone possible? He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1965 when affirmative action was likely in place. Dr. Charles Drew, the founder of the modern-day blood bank, attended Amherst on a football scholarship in the 1930s, and his medical innovations helped saved the lives of front line soldiers in World War II and are still saving lives today.

"These are only three of a host of examples which prove African Americans can not only compete in the best schools in the nation, even in applied sciences, but they can excel and even surpass some of their classmates and colleagues, if given a fair opportunity."

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California and Michigan: Don't Ban Affirmative Action

By George E. Curry

Editor-in-Chief

George Curry Media

WASHINGTON - If you want to know what the University of Texas student body would look like if the Supreme Court invalidates the institution's affirmative action admissions program now under judicial review, look no farther than Michigan and California.

Both states filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin warning that if the university is prohibited from considering race among seven factors it now uses to evaluate a portion of its freshman class, race-neutral efforts will not compensate for the loss of students of color normally admitted under affirmative action.

Both California and Michigan passed amendments to their state constitutions banning the consideration of race in public employment, government contracting and higher education. Ward Connerly, a Black conservative whose company received $ 1 million in a set-aside contract from the state of California, was the public face for each ballot referendum.

There were 39 graduate and undergraduate California student organizations that filed jointly to warn of the dangers of eliminating the consideration of race and ethnicity in university admission.

Among the groups were the Black Law Students Association at UCLA, Asian American Law Students Association at the University of California-Berkeley, La Raza Law Students Association at UC Hastings College of Law, the Chinese American Law Association at UC Hastings College of Law and the Women's Law Society at UC-Irvine.

"California's experience under Proposition 209 is representative of the negative consequences of adopting an admissions policy in which some aspects of diversity, particularly race and ethnicity, are ignored," the groups said in their brief. "...Far from demonstrating that the time has come for the already limited consideration of race in the admissions process to be wholly abandoned, Proposition 209 has vindicated the reasoned position of Justice Powell in Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265, 315 (1978), affirmed by this Court in Grutter, that diversity remains an important component of the educational experience."

It continued, "Empirical evidence shows that since its enactment, Proposition 209 has continued to undermine UC's own constitutionally sound state interest in creating a truly diverse student body. Immediately after the Proposition's enactment, enrollment of underrepresented minority students at UC schools plummeted. Although some schools have recovered to pre-Proposition 209 levels for enrollment of certain underrepresented minorities, they still fall far short of the 'critical mass' that UT seeks to achieve in this case. Moreover, top schools like Berkeley and UCLA still have not recovered to pre-Proposition 209 levels of diversity - even as the State of California becomes increasingly diverse in its general population."

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 109, which prohibited the consideration of race, sex and ethnicity in public employment, public contracting and higher education. Although it discontinued any consideration of race, the University of California system aggressively undertook race-neutral efforts that cost more than $100 million but never was able to make up for the drop-off in admissions.

"Proposition 209 has had the most drastic effects on the two most selective of California's University campuses: UC Berkeley and UCLA," according to the brief. "After the Proposition's enactment, African American undergraduate enrollment dropped dramatically at Berkeley and UCLA among California residents, with freshman enrollment at UC Berkeley more than halving between 1997 and 1998.

"At UCLA, African American undergraduate enrollment dropped by more than 37%, from 5.6% to 3.5% of the freshman class during the same period. The proportion of African American freshman students enrolling at UCLA has still not returned to pre-Proposition 209 levels. At UC Berkeley, African American undergraduate enrollment has hovered between approximately 3% and 4% between 1998 and 2014, far below pre-Proposition 209 levels, which was approximately 6.5%."

The decrease in students of color has led to a greater sense of isolation. Across the university system from 2008 to 2010, only 62.2 percent of Blacks and 77.2 percent of Latinos reported feeling that students of their race or ethnicity are respected on campus. By comparison, 92.6 percent of Whites felt that way.

"The lack of adequate diversity in the UC system has diminished the educational experiences of UC students and created campuses that are less hospitable to those underrepresented minority students who do choose to enroll, while simultaneously greatly narrowing their paths to leadership roles." the brief stated. "Moreover, many highly qualified minority students who are admitted to UC's elite schools spurn these offers in favor of private universities with much more diverse student bodies. The resulting "brain drain" harms not just Amici and other UC students, but also the State as a

whole.

"These negative effects have occurred despite a wide array of race-neutral efforts by UC administrators to maintain diversity - many of which mirror UT's failed approaches prior to the adoption of its current holistic review. UC's race neutral alternatives have not and cannot fully counteract the devastating effects of Proposition 209."

The University of Michigan reported similar results.

In its brief, it recounted, "In 2006 - the last admissions year before Proposal 2 took effect - underrepresented minorities made up 12.9% of undergraduates, 13.8% of the professional school population, and 13.14% of the University's total enrollment.

"The 2014 enrollment figures reflect a downward long-term trend: underrepresented minorities made up only 10.67% of undergraduates, 12.22% of professional students, and 11.52% of the University's total student body."

The figures are even worse for African Americans. "Black undergraduate enrollment was 7.03% in 2006; for the past five years it has ranged between 4.41% and 4.71%, a reduction of more than one-third. This decrease occurred even as the total percentage of college-aged blacks in Michigan increased from 16 to 19%."

Like California, the University of Michigan aggressively sought out race-neutral approaches to increase the number of students of color.

"Despite persistent and varied efforts to increase student-body racial and ethnic diversity by race-neutral means, admission and enrollment of underrepresented minority students

have fallen precipitously in many of U-M's schools and colleges since Proposal 2 was enacted, the university said in its brief. "U-M's experience underscores that the limited consideration of race is necessary to obtain the educational benefits of racial diversity."

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Most Scientists are not Products of Top Schools

Willie E. May, Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is a graduate of Knoxville College.

By George E. Curry

Editor-in-Chief

George Curry Media

WASHINGTON - In his controversial remarks on affirmative action, Justice Antonin Scalia got it only half right when he said most Black scientists attended so-called lesser schools than the University of Texas - more than 80 percent of all scientists attended top-rank research universities.

During the oral arguments last Wednesday in Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin, Scalia said, "...One of the briefs pointed out that - that most of the - most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas."

He added, "They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they're - that they're being pushed ahead in - in classes that are too - too fast for them."

In fact-checking Scalia's assertion, PolitiFact noted, "On the raw numbers, the claim is 'likely to be true, but not for the reasons Scalia thinks it is,' said Benjamin Backes, an affirmative action expert with the American Institutes for Research. Most black scientists likely did not go to schools like the University of Texas at Austin - that is to say, selective research universities.

"Why? Because the vast majority of students and science majors do not go to these elite institutions."

The fact-checking site explained, "For reference, the American Association of Universities represents 62 leading research universities, which together house just 20 percent of all undergraduate science, math and engineering majors in the United States and Canada.

"'Because the typical student, both black and non-black, does not attend a selective university, the typical scientist likely did not graduate from a selective institution,' [Backes] said."

In thinking typical of the pre-Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, Justice Scalia also said, "There are - there are those who contend that it does not benefit African Americans to - to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a less - a slower-track school where they do well."

In an article on NBCNews.com, Ivory A. Toldson, a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation senior research analyst, observed, "Based on the graduation rates, there is no support for Justice Scalia's claim that the nation's highest ranked institutions are 'too fast' for Black students. In fact, the opposite is true.

"Black students actually have the lowest graduation rates at noncompetitive community colleges and for-profit colleges and the highest graduation rates at more selective institutions, irrespective of affirmative action policies."

Toldson added, "According to The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) the three universities that have the highest graduation rates for Black students are Yale (98 percent), Harvard (97 percent) and Princeton (97 percent). Stanford University, a private university with an affirmative action policy, has a 91 percent graduation rate for Black students; yet the University of California - Berkeley, a state university that follows a statewide ban on affirmative action, has a 77 percent graduation for Black students."

It's easy to infer that Scalia was lumping Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) into this group of "lesser" institutions.

Again, he is off the mark.

According to the National Science Foundation, although HBCUs make up only 3 percent of the nation's colleges, "In 2011, 24% of black S&E [science and engineering] doctorate recipients received their bachelor's degree from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the second most common type of baccalaureate-origin institution next to research universities with very high research activity (29%) for these doctorate recipients."

In fact, 21 of the top 50 institutions that produce graduates who go on to earn their doctorates in science and engineering are HBCUs. The top 10 are all HBCUs: 1) Howard 2) Spelman 3) Florida A&M 4) Hampton 5) Xavier 6) Morehouse 7) Morgan State 8) North Carolina A&T 9) Southern and 10) Tuskegee.

Each produced more Black doctorates than Harvard (#15) or Yale (#21).

Other HBCUs in the top 50 are Jackson State, Tennessee State, Alabama A&M, Clark Atlanta, Prairie View A&M, Tougaloo, Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, Grambling, Dillard and Fisk.

Typically, they follow the path similar to Willie E. May, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which has 3,000 employees and an annual budget of $864 million. May earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Knoxville College, an HBCU in Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Maryland, one of the nation's top research institutions.

Toldson wrote, "Among the HBCUs, none have a Carnegie classification of 'Very High Research Activity' and only two have a classification of 'High.' In total, among the top 50 institutions, HBCUs collectively produced 1,819 Black graduates who earned a doctorate in S&E, PWIs [Predominantly White Institutions] produced 1,600, and foreign institutions produced 798."

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Black Scientists Respond to Scalia's Suggestion that 'Less Advanced' Classes are more Suitable

Neil deGrasse Tyson_ astrophysicist

By Dexter Thomas

Los Angeles Times

When Chanda Prescod-Weinstein left her home in Los Angeles and headed off to Harvard for her freshman year, the undercurrents were both predictable and fierce.

"You only got in because you're black," classmates told her. If not for affirmative action, they said, you'd never be a student on a campus like this.

They were wrong.

Prescod-Weinstein went on to write her doctoral dissertation, "Cosmic Acceleration as Quantum Gravity Phenomenology," at the University of Waterloo in Canada and is now a research fellow studying theoretical cosmology at MIT.

Along with other black students, scholars and scientists across the country, Prescod-Weinstein stands in glaring contradiction to the legal reasoning of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who in oral arguments in a Texas affirmative action case this week suggested that a school such as the University of Texas at Austin might be too taxing for black students.

The 'Benefits' of Black Physics Students

By Jediadah C. Isler

New York Times

LAST week during oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case about the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions policies, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. posed two questions: "What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?" Followed by: "I'm just wondering what the benefits of diversity are in that situation?"

Then Justice Antonin Scalia deepened an already painful wound when he questioned the abilities of black students to succeed at fast-paced institutions, an idea rooted in the widely discredited "mismatch theory." Their questions left many black scientists, myself included, reeling from the psychological blow.

As a black woman and astrophysicist, I immediately became defensive of my own worthiness, and that of the black students I mentor and support every day. I wanted to scream my credentials from the rooftops: I have physics degrees from two historically black universities and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from an Ivy League institution.

Thurgood Marshall and the Need for Affirmative Action

By Lincoln Caplan

New Yorker

The Supreme Court has gradually narrowed the acceptable grounds for affirmative action since 1978, when it found, in the Bakke case, that racial quotas could not be used in university admissions. That pattern makes the case known as Fisher II, which was argued today, feel momentous: it gives the conservative majority a second chance to decide that the University of Texas at Austin used race in an unconstitutional way when it chose the freshman class in 2008 and rejected the white applicant Abigail Fisher, and to rule that it's unconstitutional for public universities and colleges to take race into account in admissions.

Diverse Movies are a Huge Business. Why Doesn't Hollywood Make More?

By Drew Harwell

Washington Post

Four of the year's 25 top-grossing movies star a minority in a leading role. All but two had white directors. And the number of minority actors forecasters expect to get Oscar nominations can be counted on one hand.

In the year since the Sony Pictures hack exposed racially insensitive emails and cast a spotlight on Hollywood's diversity problem, movie studios have shown little progress in hiring more people of color for their casts and crews.

The industry is ignoring a gold mine. Every year for the past half-decade, the average white American has bought a ticket to fewer films than the average black, Hispanic or Asian moviegoer, industry data shows. Though 37 percent of the U.S. population, minorities bought 46 percent of the $1.2 billion in tickets sold in the United States last year.

PolitiFact

The Republican presidential candidates tangled over their approaches to defeating terrorism at home and abroad during the Las Vegas debate, their first matchup since the San Bernardino mass shooting.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pushed back against frontrunner Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban, and Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul went back and forth over their views on immigration and government surveillance of Americans' phone records. But several statements missed the mark on accuracy.

Lee Circle will lose the statue of its namesake after the New Orleans City Council voted 6-1 Thursday (Dec. 17) to remove four monuments related to the Confederacy from their prominent perches around the city.

Besides Gen. Robert E. Lee, statues of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at the entrance of City Park and Confederate president Jefferson Davis in Mid-City and the obelisk dedicated to the Battle of Liberty Place at the foot of Iberville Street will all come down.

Attorney James Belt of Dallas, Texas Succumbs to Pancreatic Cancer

By The Dallas Examiner

DALLAS -- The Dallas Examiner and the Law Office of James C. Belt Jr. mourns the loss of Attorney James C. Belt Jr.

For close to 40 years, he has served the community as a civil and criminal lawyer. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Pan American University, Edinburg, in 1968. And went on to earn a Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston in 1977. He opened his private practice in the heart of South Dallas, where he served those who needed him most.

Belt, who was also a Dallas Examiner co-publisher, sat on the board of the National Newspaper Publisher Association, the official Black Press of America and the NNPA Foundation Board. He served as more of a silent partner and advisor, but it was his support that has helped The Dallas Examiner continue to serve the community for almost 30 years.

He was the founder of the Dallas Black Criminal Bar Association - an organization of Black lawyers in the private practice of law in Dallas County. He was a member of the National Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, J.L. Turner Legal Association and the Inns of Court.

In September, he received the Living Legends award from J.L. Turner Legal Association.

As a well-respected leader in the community and activist, he also served the community by offering his words of wisdom and years of knowledge and experience. During the early 2000s, he co-hosted Dallas Examiner Live on KNON Radio. He previously sat on the Texas Southern University Board of Regents in Houston, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board and the Texas Rural Foundation Board.

He was also a lifetime member of the NAACP.

Belt held strong spiritual beliefs and was dedicated to serving the Lord. For close to 40 years, he was a dedicated member of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church, where he was an active member of the Good News Sunday School Class. Each year, the class would offer scholarships to college students and automobiles for those in need of transportation. He was a founder and tri-chairman of the St. Luke Community Leadership Luncheon. He also served as a trustee board chairman at St. Luke.

At the end of a long battle with pancreatic cancer, Belt was admitted to Baylor Medical Center, where he died Sunday at 5 p.m. due to complications. He was 71 years old.

He was a dedicated family man. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mollie F. Belt; his children, James C. Belt III, Melanie Belt, MD and Carlos Cavazos; 10 grandchildren, Brittany Cavazos, Jerry Cavazos, C.J. Cavazos, Joshua Cavazos, Michael Cavazos, Lejond Cavazos, Chloe Cavazos, Bryce Belt, Dylan Belt and Melania McDaniel; two daughter-in-laws, Melba Cavazos and Cherrese Belt; and one son-in-law, Demetrius McDaniel, Esq.

The wake will be held on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Black and Clark Funeral Home, located at 2517 E. Illinois Ave.

The funeral will be held on Friday at 11 p.m. at St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church, located at 5710 E R L Thornton Freeway, 75223.

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Books by George E. Curry

The Best of Emerge Magazine

Edited by

George E. Curry

"This whopper of an anthology perfectly captures black life and culture...This retrospective volume is journalism at its best: probing, controversial and serious...Although Emerge was devoted unequivocally to African-Americans, Curry's vision and editorship of this book will instruct, provoke and sometimes entertain or inspire any reader."
- Publishers Weekly

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The Affirmative Action Debate
Edited by George E. Curry

"... Collects the leading voices on all sides of this crucial dialogue...the one book you need to understand and discuss the nation's sharpest political divide."

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Jake Gaither: America's Most Famous Black Coach

By George E. Curry

"Curry has some telling points to make on the unlooked for effects of court-ordered desegregation."
- The New York Times

"... an excellent example of sports writing."
- Library Journal

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Featured Article

Speaking Testimonials

for George E. Curry

"Having the chance to hear you speak was absolutely extraordinary! ... The students will never forget either your example, or the wisdom you gave them."

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

"Your remarks - profound and poignant - served to challenge the audience, both individually and collectively...Your understanding of the platform on which Martin Luther King, Jr. stood is inspiring and compelling, but, more importantly, your willingness to carry his voice forward into the 21st century is truly heroic. I was moved by your sincerity and passion and know that your message resonated powerfully with all who attended our evening event."

Steven G. Jennings,

President

University of Evansville

"I wanted to take this opportunity to share a heartfelt thank you for serving as the keynote speaker for our Founders' Convocation. The students who attended the Convocation and those you met with during lunch and dinner ...were totally mesmerized by your message. It was direct, but motivational. We could not have chosen a better speaker for the occasion nor a better mentor for our students."

Lester C. Newman,

President

Jarvis Christian College

"I wanted to take this opportunity to extend my personal thanks to you for the phenomenal job that you did in speaking to the MTSU community ... Your presentation was extremely thought-provoking and engaging."

Dr. Tonjanita L. Johnson

Associate Vice President

Middle Tennessee State University

"From the direct comments I have received from the attendees and the meeting evaluations, your session was not only instructive, but also very motivating. Your support of the CUBE program is highly regarded, and it is my hope that we will again have the opportunity to work together in the near future."

Katrina A. Kelley

Director

National School Boards Association

Council of Urban Boards of Education

"I salute the content of your address, your enthusiasm as a public speaker, your successful use of self-deprecating humor, and your uncanny ability to be direct and challenging without giving offense. You are an effective teacher!"

David A. Bower

Director of University Development

   University of Southern Indiana

"I am writing to express my sincere appreciation to you for your exciting, inspiring and informative luncheon address. Your powerful presentation encouraged and challenged us to examine the state of our villages and make a difference in the lives of children and families in the child welfare system of care."

Sondra M. Jackson

   Executive Director

Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc.

"I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincerest gratitude for your participation as the moderator for the issue forum, 'Fifty Years of Injustice: The Case of Emmett Till'...Your facilitation of the events surrounding Emmett's murder was thought-provoking and powerful."

Congressman Bobby L. Rush

"Your discussion, wisdom and advice contributed to a scintillating forum that truly allowed The Interfaith Alliance Foundation to fulfill its goal - educating the public about the proper role religion should play in public life."

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President

The Interfaith Alliance

"It was indeed a pleasure to have you join us in Los Cabos, Mexico....Your participation made this year's meeting more memorable and you certainly gave everyone something to think about."

Valerie Daniels-Carter, President

Minority Franchise Association

    Burger King

"You did what we had hoped you would - provided much food for thought and incentives for action."

   Leslie Watson Malachi

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

"On behalf of all the attendees at the Worldwide Public Affairs Symposium, I gladly thank you for your support to this year's event. Your knowledge greatly benefited our audience of Public Affairs professionals...I expect that understanding to go a long way to more effective communication in the future."



Vincent K. Brooks

Brigadier General,

U.S. Army

Chief of Public Affairs

"I really saw on stage at the banquet why you do what you do. We could never pay you the amount of your worth that those students expressed. Life changing is a big word. You are that."

                                                            Russell LaCour

Copy Editor

Tulsa World

     Regional Director, National Association

of Black Journalists

Fact-checking the Las Vegas GOP debate

PolitiFact

Lee Circle no more: New Orleans to remove 4 Confederate statues

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