National News - Page 180

Richmond Removes Last Confederate Statue of Robert E. Lee

By Nicquel Terry Ellis and Chandelis Duster, A towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday, adding to a growing list of Confederate symbols that have been taken down across the country since George Floyd’s death sparked a nationwide reckoning with police brutality and racism. The removal of Lee — the last Confederate statue to be pulled from Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue — makes Black tennis legend Arthur Ashe the lone monument still standing on the street. Ashe was born in Richmond and shattered records in the sport and championed civil rights. A statue honoring him was added to

Biden to Unveil New COVID-19 Plan Amid Rising Child Cases

Analysis by Stephen Collinson, The thing Americans want most from Joe Biden is beyond his power to deliver: an end to the pandemic. But the President will make a new attempt on Thursday to chart a path out of a national nightmare that is beginning to feel like a dark, repeating, permanent reality — and to prove he is the leader that can reach that elusive destination. His speech will coincide with a frightening new dimension of the emergency, with children now representing about one in four new infections, with hundreds in hospitals, a surge that is terrifying parents and threatening in-person school. The raging resurgence of

Fauci Urges Masks, Vaccination as Schools Face Covid Surge

By Madeline Holcombe, Surging Covid-19 cases — and the increasing proportion reported in children — are causing many health experts to worry about the outlook as the school year gets underway across the entire country. But Dr. Anthony Fauci said there shouldn’t be a big uptick “if we do it right.” “We’ve gotta get the school system masked in addition to surrounding the children with vaccinated people,” the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. “That’s the solution.” In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 13 school employees have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the school district and local teacher

Tributes Pour In for Late Actor Michael K. Williams

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By Marianne Garvey, Following Michael K. Williams’ sudden passing, his friends, fellow actors and directors are paying tribute to the talented star. “The Wire” creator David Simon wrote in on Twitter that he was “gutted.” Williams played Omar on the classic HBO series. “Michael was a fine man and a rare talent and on our journey together he always deserved the best words. And today those words won’t come,” Simon wrote. Wendell Pierce, who starred with Williams in “The Wire” as Detective Bunk Moreland, wrote, “The depth of my love for this brother, can only be matched by the depth of

Democrats Push Plan for Free Community College Nationwide

By Katie Lobosco, Democrats, following the lead of President Joe Biden, are planning to include free community college in a massive spending plan that party leaders are hoping to pass by the end of the month — and such a major federal investment could provide a much-needed jolt to the nation’s two-year colleges after they saw a huge drop in enrollment due to the pandemic. Enrollment at community colleges fell nearly 10%, or by 476,000 fewer students, last spring compared to the year before. The Covid pandemic disproportionately affected typical community college students — parents, first-generation and lower-income students who hold jobs in addition to

Biden to Unveil Six-Part Plan to Fight Delta Variant

By Kaitlan Collins and Veronica Stracqualursi, President Joe Biden is set to deliver a major address on the next phase of his pandemic response this week, two sources familiar with the speech tell CNN. While officials were still finalizing specifics early this week, the speech will have multiple components related to schools, private companies and requirements for federal employees. It’s the most they have done to date, one person said. The speech was initially slated for Wednesday, but a White House official told CNN later Tuesday morning that the timing is still fluid and would instead come on Thursday. “On Thursday, the President will speak

West Point to Unveil First Buffalo Soldiers Monument

By Leah Asmelash, After years of fundraising, the US Military Academy at West Point will finally unveil a new monument dedicated to the Buffalo Soldiers, a group of Black soldiers who played a key role in the westward expansion of the United States. The monument — a 10-foot-tall bronze statue depicting a Buffalo Soldier on a horse — has already been installed at the military academy, but will not be officially unveiled until a ceremony on September 10. “These Soldiers embodied the West Point motto of Duty, Honor, Country and ideals of the Army Ethic,” said US Military Academy 60th Superintendent, Lt.

Texas Principal on Leave Amid Critical Race Theory Debate

By Nicole Chavez, A Texas high school principal who found himself in the middle of a controversy over critical race theory was placed on paid administrative leave this week. James Whitfield, principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was placed on leave Monday, a month after a community member at a school board meeting publicly accused him of having “extreme views on race” and called for him to be fired. The decision to place Whitfield on administrative leave was not a result of the complaints made by community members against him, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District said in

Richmond to Remove Historic Robert E. Lee Confederate Statue

By Deanna Hackney, Chandelis Duster and Veronica Stracqualursi, A 12-ton statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that sits on the historic Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, is set to be taken down Wednesday, state officials said Monday. Gov. Ralph Northam announced his intention to remove the Confederate statue, which is the largest remaining in the US, in June 2020, amid nationwide protests for racial justice, but was challenged in court. A group of Richmond residents sued, arguing that an 1890 deed and an 1889 General Assembly joint resolution prohibits the governor from directing the removal of a state monument from state property. Another lawsuit brought

Robert Carter III’s Historic Slave Emancipation Deed

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By Eliott C. McLaughlin, It was 230 years ago Sunday that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves. He titled it the “deed of gift.” It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before the Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later. On September 5, 1791, when Carter delivered his deed, slavery was an institution, a key engine of the new country’s economy. But many slaveholders — including founding fathers

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