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Today, 33 civil and human rights groups issued the following statement in response to President-elect Trump's intent to nominate Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education:
"Equal access to education is a cornerstone of the civil rights movement. The Secretary of Education's role as the enforcer of education and civil rights laws is central to advancing our shared vision of an inclusive and diverse system of high-quality public education that enables every student to live up to their potential.
Today, 33 civil and human rights groups issued the following statement in response to President-elect Trump's intent to nominate Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education:
"Equal access to education is a cornerstone of the civil rights movement. The Secretary of Education's role as the enforcer of education and civil rights laws is central to advancing our shared vision of an inclusive and diverse system of high-quality public education that enables every student to live up to their potential.
We are deeply concerned that the President-elect seeks to nominate as a Secretary of Education a candidate whose experience--and lack of experience--calls into question core principles of fairness, equality and a commitment to education. DeVos' very public support for voucher schemes which siphon away all-too-limited public education funds and fail to provide protection from discrimination and segregation, and her opposition to appropriate oversight of charter schools, run contrary to the department's mission to 'promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.'
DeVos' connections to anti-LGBTQ organizations including those that promote dangerous and discredited 'conversion therapy,' groups that seek tolimit a woman's right to health care and civil rights protections for survivors of violence, and her opposition to affirmative action policies demonstrate a lack of respect and appreciation for the diversity of our nation's classrooms and fail to recognize a long and pernicious history of discrimination against groups of students. While we have heard little of DeVos' record with regard to the rights and interests of English learners, immigrant students, students with disabilities and religious minorities, we are deeply troubled by the unacceptable rhetoric of the President-elect during his campaign and the absence of a record of DeVos' support for these students.
The Department of Education is responsible for implementing and enforcing laws protecting students from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex and disability and those laws that provide for educational opportunity from early childhood through graduate school. The person responsible for leading that department must absolutely be committed to respecting, valuing and protecting every single student in this country - without regard to LGBTQ status, family income, race, home language, gender, religion, disability or immigration status. Our nation's laws, economy, future and children deserve no less.
We will continue to review the record of the intended nominee and expect any Secretary of Education confirmed by the Senate to clearly and unambiguously commit to enforce the nation's laws and respect the dignity and value of every student."
Signed,
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights |
American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity |
American Association of University Women (AAUW) |
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee |
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees |
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO |
Americans United for Separation of Church and State |
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) |
Augustus F. Hawkins Foundation |
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) |
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund |
Education Law Center - PA |
GLSEN |
Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law |
Laotian American National Alliance |
League of United Latin American Citizens |
NAACP |
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. |
National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) |
National Center for Transgender Equality |
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) |
National Council of Jewish Women |
National Council of La Raza |
National Education Association |
National Women's Law Center |
New York Appleseed |
OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates |
PolicyLink |
Poverty & Race Research Action Council |
Public Advocates |
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center |
Southern Poverty Law Center |
Stand for Children |
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals.
(202) 466-3311"After all, the airways belong to the people."
Newton N. Minow, who as Federal Communications Commission chair in the early 1960s famously proclaimed that network television was a “vast wasteland,” died at home in Chicago Saturday. He was 97.
Minow was appointed as FCC chair by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
Minow received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
In his first public address as FCC chairman, on May 9, 1961, at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Washington he said:
“When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better,” he said. “But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. ... I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland."
“You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom.”
Minow called for “a wider range of choices, more diversity, more alternatives” and said, “There is nothing permanent or sacred about a broadcast license”
“My faith is in the belief that this country needs and can support many voices of television — and that the more voices we hear, the better, the richer, the freer we shall be. After all, the airways belong to the people.”
“In 1961, I worried that my children would not benefit much from television. But in 1991 I worry that my grandchildren will actually be harmed by it,” he said in a 1991 Associated Press interview.
Television is one of our century’s most important advances “and yet, as a nation, we pay no attention to it,” Minow said.
\u201cNewton Minow, who as President John F. Kennedy\u2019s new FCC chairman in 1961 sent shock waves through the country by calling American television \u201ca vast wasteland,\u201d died on Saturday. He was 97. https://t.co/cVFLWue78N\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1683404105
Open Mind: Vast Common GoodPBS and FCC Chairman Emeritus Newton Minow recounts the history of public television's origins and charts our path from a ...
'We're now living in a dystopian nightmare'
Thousands of King Charles III's subjects protested against the monarchy Saturday in London — and heavy-handed police detained many of them for "suspicion of breaching the peace."
Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police tweeted that they would have an “extremely low tolerance” of those seeking to “undermine” King Charles III's coronation day.
“A significant police operation is underway in central London,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement Saturday. “The individuals have been held on suspicion of breaching the peace.”
At around 7 a.m. police stopped six of the anti-monarchy group Republic’s organizers and told them they were detaining and searching them, Republic director Harry Stratton told CNN at the protest. The group had been walking behind a rental van containing hundreds of placards. “They didn’t say why they were arresting them. They didn’t tell them or us where they were taking them. It really is like something out of a police state,” Stratton said.
Among those arrested ahead of a protest in London’s Trafalgar Square was Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic.
“This morning, Graham Smith and five members of our team were arrested. Hundreds of placards were seized,” Republic tweeted. “Is this democracy?”
Protesters say police warned them not to chant ‘anything that may be deemed offensive.’
The Metropolitan Police said those arrested were being “held on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance.”
Just Stop Oil reported that around 20 of its climate demonstrators had been arrested, with photos showing a man wearing a T-shirt with the group’s name being detained in Whitehall. “He was arrested along with 20 others,” Just Stop Oil tweeted. “Free speech is a core British value – and we have just lost it. No supporters of Just Stop Oil arrested in the crowd had glue, paint or any plans to disrupt the coronation. We are living in a dystopian nightmare.”
\u201cNo supporters of Just Stop Oil arrested in the crowd had glue, paint or any plans to disrupt the Coronation.\n\nNew policing laws mean we're now living in a dystopian nightmare \u2013 this disgraceful overreach is what you'd expect in Pyongyang, North Korea, not Westminster.\u201d— Just Stop Oil (@Just Stop Oil) 1683364744
Human Rights Watch's UK director Yasmine Ahmed said in a statement: "The reports of people being arrested for peacefully protesting the coronation are incredibly alarming. This is something you would expect to see in Moscow not London.
"Peaceful protests allow individuals to hold those in power to account, something the UK government seems increasingly averse to.”
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: “We need to see what details emerge around these incidents but merely being in possession of a megaphone or carrying placards should never be grounds for a police arrest.
“Peaceful protest is clearly protected under international human rights law and it’s been worrying to see the police this week making numerous statements about their ‘low tolerance’ for disruption at the coronation. The coronation shouldn’t become yet another excuse for undermining people’s basic human rights in this country and we’re awaiting more details over these concerning reports of arrests.”
“We’ve recently had the introduction of extremely draconian legislation outlawing ‘disruptive’ or ‘noisy’ protests, which has given the police excessive – and highly subjective – powers and seriously damaged people’s right of free speech and public assembly.
“The coronation shouldn’t become yet another excuse for undermining people’s basic human rights in this country.”
\u201cAbolish the monarchy, not the right to protest\n\nAs we speak the whole core team of Republic is still being detained. We are not given a reason. They will probably be released when the whole monarchy pr-show is over.\n\n#NotMyKing #AbolishTheMonarchy\u201d— Republic (@Republic) 1683377655
\u201cOutrageous scenes of cops arresting anti-monarchy protestors and stealing their placards\n\nSo we are not allowed to show public opposition to a bloke being crowned head of state for having been born into unimaginable wealth while ppl line up at food banks and schools fall apart\u201d— Shelly Asquith (@Shelly Asquith) 1683355250
\u201cRemember the rules folks\n\nShutting down the whole of central London to celebrate a man "chosen by God" to wear a fancy hat - your patriotic duty\n\nHolding up a sign expressing your dissent - ARREST THEM ALL\u201d— Extinction Rebellion UK \ud83c\udf0d (@Extinction Rebellion UK \ud83c\udf0d) 1683358784
\u201cChants of \u201cshove the coronation up your arse\u201d and \u201cnot my King\u201d as thousands of Scottish independence supporters march through Glasgow city centre. @SkyNews\u201d— Connor Gillies (@Connor Gillies) 1683372888
\u201cFirst, "Lizzie's in a Box" now "Shove Your Coronation Up Your Arse." Irish and Scottish football supporters are so based.\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1683379052
\u201cHow many men in glittery dresses will it take before @GBNEWS calls the coronation a drag show and campaigns for it to be banned?\u201d— Ed MB (@Ed MB) 1683373489
"The global response to Covid-19 failed the world's most vulnerable, prioritizing windfall profits ahead of public health," said one expert, calling on world leaders to "make structural changes in global health."
The World Health Organization's declaration Friday that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency elicited fresh calls for learning from the pandemic and dramatically expanding access to prevention and treatment for diseases in the future.
"Covid-19 may no longer be classified as the highest level of international emergency, but the virus has not gone away," said Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, policy co-lead of the People's Vaccine Alliance, a global coalition working toward equitable access to medical technologies that help to prevent and respond to Covid-19 and future pandemics.
"There are billions of people in developing countries who still cannot access affordable Covid-19 tests and treatments," Kamal-Yanni stressed. "They need action from governments to remove the intellectual property barriers that prevent the widespread production of generic medicines."
"Rich countries behaved shamefully in this pandemic, upholding pharmaceutical monopolies and grabbing vaccines, tests, and medicines for their people, pushing developing countries to the back in the line."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday that while the agency has documented almost 7 million deaths from the virus, "we know the toll is several times higher—at least 20 million." A study published last year in Nature and cited by the People's Vaccine Alliance estimates that 1.3 million fewer people would have died by the end of 2021 if Covid-19 vaccines were equitably distributed.
"Rich countries behaved shamefully in this pandemic, upholding pharmaceutical monopolies and grabbing vaccines, tests, and medicines for their people, pushing developing countries to the back in the line," said Kamal-Yanni. "And pharmaceutical companies are the biggest winners, achieving the biggest profit from a single medical product in history, while people died without access."
Ahead of the WHO announcement but in the wake of the annual general meetings of Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, and Pfizer, Amnesty International health adviser Tamaryn Nelson on Thursday lamented that the pharmaceutical giants declined to "right their wrongs" by passing resolutions to facilitate the universal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
"For the past three years, those at the helm of Big Pharma companies have seen earnings soar, while people in low- and lower-middle-income countries are still struggling to access lifesaving medicines," Nelson noted. "While their efforts to speedily develop Covid-19 vaccines should be recognized, it's clear pharmaceutical companies have failed in their human rights responsibilities when it comes to ensuring equal access—and continue to do so. Why aren't investors holding them to account?"
"With reports that Pfizer and Moderna are considering quadrupling the price of each Covid-19 vaccine in some countries, only 25% of people in low-income countries are now fully vaccinated and millions are still waiting for the first dose," she continued, calling the allocation of the shots "one of the worst examples of global inequality to date."
According to Nelson, "It's time for investors to ensure these companies are making structural changes with immediate effect to ensure the world can withstand future pandemics collectively, without leaving anyone behind."
\u201cWHO has declared the global health emergency over, but Covid hasn't gone away. Precautions are still necessary for many, and we must fix what the pandemic has broken and exposed in our health system and society.\u201d— Dr. Tom Frieden (@Dr. Tom Frieden) 1683301986
Kamal-Yanni argued that tackling future crises will require more actively involving people from lower-income nations.
"The institutions set up to support developing countries, like COVAX and ACT-A, failed to involve developing countries in their creation or decision-making, and failed to deliver an equitable response," she said. "For future pandemics, preparation and response must be led by the Global South, instead of creating more global platforms dominated by donors."
"People in developing countries should never again wait for the 'good will' of rich countries, nor charitable actions of pharmaceutical companies," she asserted. "The world needs transformative commitments in the Pandemic Treaty and International Health Regulations to ensure knowledge and technology are shared, remove intellectual property barriers, and to support medical research and manufacturing in developing countries."
Negotiators aim to finalize a draft of the Pandemic Treaty for consideration by the 77th World Health Assembly in 2024.
"Just as with HIV, the global response to Covid-19 failed the world's most vulnerable, prioritizing windfall profits ahead of public health," said Kamal-Yanni. "World leaders must now learn from the last three years, and make structural changes in global health. Or else, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of this pandemic in the next."
Dr. Uché Blackstock, a former emergency medicine professor who works to end bias and racism in healthcare, tweeted Friday that "it's truly unfortunate that both domestically and globally, other than vaccines—which I'm truly grateful to science for—there have been no significant improvement/investments in our public health infrastructure to keep people and their communities safe."
\u201c-indoor air quality h/t @amydiehl\u201d— uch\u00e9 blackstock, md (@uch\u00e9 blackstock, md) 1683294129
The Covid-19 crisis could have led to massive investments in health workers, workplace protections, and paid leave, Blackstock said in response to the WHO announcement. The United States could have shifted to universal healthcare and joined other nations of the Global North in promoting vaccine equity.
"It felt like THIS was our opportunity to do better!!" she added, also circulating a graphic shared by Dr. Madhu Pai showing that the 2.3 billion people who remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 are largely concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.
Pai also pointed to an "important" piece published Thursday in Science titled "Cascading Failures in Covid-19 Vaccine Equity."
\u201cEven as WHO declared the end of Covid emergency today, read this important @ScienceMagazine article by Lavery et al @EmoryRollins\n\n"The stark gap between the pervasive rhetoric about equity and the dismal reality of the global vaccine distribution demands a collective reckoning"\u2026\u201d— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@Madhu Pai, MD, PhD) 1683302884
Noting that "the proliferation of equity rhetoric does not appear to be matched by corresponding rates of progress in reducing global disparities," a trio of U.S.-based experts wrote for Science that "the stark gap between the pervasive rhetoric about equity and the dismal reality of the global vaccine distribution" the past three years "demands a collective reckoning."
"Expansive rhetoric and empty promises have surprising staying power," they added. "If we wish equity to have anything more than allegorical value, we must take the concept more seriously, beginning with a disciplined and deliberate examination of the equity-deficit cascade."
As Common Dreamsreported throughout the Covid-19 crisis, experts have warned that preventing future pandemics requires not only improvements in healthcare systems but also global land use reforms—from conservation efforts to changes in agricultural practices—to stop the spillover of diseases from animals to humans.