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Editorials/Columns
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President Obama
President Obama Signs ‘Emmett Till Act’ To Reopen Unsolved Civil Rights Cases
ith just weeks left in
office, President Barack Obama signed the “Emmett Till Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016,” expanding the re- sponsibilities of the Depart- ment of Justice and the FBI to investigate and prosecute criminal civil rights viola- tions that occurred before 1980 and resulted in a death. The bill is an expansion of a previous bill of the same name that was passed by the House of Representatives in
2007.
According to a White
House summary, the bill calls on the DOJ and FBI to support the “full accounting of all victims whose deaths or disappearances were the re- sult of racially motivated
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
crimes” and “hold account- able under federal and state law individuals who were perpetrators of, or accom- plices in, unsolved civil rights murders and disap- pearances.”
The bill also requires the federal agencies to meet reg- ularly with civil rights organ-
EMMETT TILL
izations, institutions of higher education, and DOJ- designated entities to coordi- nate information sharing and discuss the status of DOJ’s Emmett Till Act work.
The agencies must also keep families regularly in- formed about the status of the investigations.
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Christmas For The Forgotten
ore than 2 million Americans spent Christmas be-
hind bars. Murderers, rapists, and extortionists de- serve nothing more, you may argue. But, what about the majority of the more than two million who were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, or who simply were victims of having made wrong decisions?
Though various corrections facilities and prisons have at least made motions toward celebrating Christmas by providing Christmas services or by putting up Christmas trees, the freedom spirit of Christmas – the love and joy that is the trademark of that holiday season – is hard to be found behind the confines of steel and barbed wire. And though certain inmates may have had visitors during the holiday season, many see few folks from home.
And then there are the more than half a million home- less . . . men, women, and children who celebrate Christ- mas in half-hearted overnight shelters, on side-streets or under overpasses. Certainly, they’ve overheard Christmas carols, have seen crowds of well-wishers, yet have not been able to celebrate the Yuletide with no roof over their heads or no hope in their hearts..
Then there are others who may also have been forgot- ten for Christmas . . . orphans, widows and widowers, persons who live alone and have no relatives, children in violent households, individuals who are mentally or phys- ically challenged who must face Christmas alone and un- cared for.
To all of them and others who met Christmas as a bleak season, we of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin send not only heart-felt greetings, but prayers for the New Year along with a promise from us that you will never be forgotten, not as long as our paper hits the press.
Besides, as Jesus, Santa Claus, and comedian George Wallace would say, “We love you, and there’s not a dog- gone thing you can do about it.”
President Obama 'Confident' He Could Have Won In 2016
resident Barack
Obama expressed con- fidence that his progressive vi- sion for the country still has broad appeal despite the stun- ning defeat of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the general election this No- vember in a candid sit- down for his former adviser David Axelrod's podcast "The Axe Files."
Although he compli- mented Clinton, saying she "performed wonderfully under really tough circum- stances," he also suggested that had he been able to cam- paign for a third term he could have rallied many Americans — even those who disagreed with him — behind his vision of a more tolerant and diverse nation.
"I am confident in this vi- sion because I'm confident thatifI—ifIhadrunagain and articulated it, I think I could've mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it," President Obama told Axelrod in an interview.
"If you think you're win- ning, then you have a ten- dency, just like in sports, maybe to play it safer. And the economy has been improv- ing," he added. "There is a sense, obviously, that some communities have been left
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
behind from the recovery and people feeling anxious about that. But if she was looking at the campaign and saying 'OK, I'm winning right now' — and her economic agenda was in fact very progressive."
President-elect Donald Trump won several districts in crucial Rust Belt states that the president had triumphed in previously, a fact Presi- dent Obama and Axelrod discussed during the show.
The numbers may back up the president's argument. For months now, President Obama has enjoyed approval ratings north of 50 percent, with even a decent portion of Trump voters still holding a favorable view of him.
In the November election, Clinton was not able to out- perform the presidentin key demographic groups (women,
minorities, young people) which have come to be known as "the Obama coalition," but that doesn't mean the presi- dent believes all is lost.
"In the wake of the elec- tion and Trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow, it really was a fan- tasy," Obama said of his his- toric 2008 White House run and eventual victory. "What I would argue is, is that the cul- ture actually did shift, that the majority does buy into the no- tion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse and open and full of energy and dy- namism."
In order for Democrats to avoid being permanently mar- ginalized, Obama made the case that the party must em- brace its roots as a party of av- erage Americans.
"We're not there on the ground communicating not only the dry policy aspects of this, but that we care about these communities, that we're bleeding for these communi- ties," he said. "It means caring about local races, state boards or school boards and city councils and state legislative races and not thinking that somehow, just a great set of progressive policies that we present to the New York Times editorial board will win the day."
The Downside Of Social Media
ave you ever waited an unusually long time while look-
ing for a job? Or, have you ever been waiting for a pro- motion on your job only to see someone else getting the job over you? There again, have your coworkers, friends, or relatives ever given you sidelong looks or avoided you at family and social gatherings?
Yes, these questions are all related because each sce- nario could be attributed to the impact of your use of so- cial media.
Indeed, job seekers should realize that everything you say or opinion you write or utter on social media is public information. Therefore, potential employers and their employees can use this information to assess your level of maturity, honesty, trustworthiness, dependability, stabil- ity and other character and personal attributes when making hiring decisions. Putting your personal business, badmouthing people or companies could hurt your job
hunting success.
If you already have a job and badmouth your current employer or its customers, an-
other employee or customer of the company can report your comments which could lead to your termination or failure to move up in the company. In addition poor spelling, lack of self-control, vulgar language, offensive comments disparaging ethnic, religious or abil- ity groups, or pictures of you drinking alcoholic beverages could present a poor image of you.
Forget about privacy. Whatever you write or say on social media becomes a permanent record available to hackers and friends of your friends. Therefore, we urge our readers to remember NOT to post information about your personal or professional life. You may end up choking on your own words.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
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