SPRINGFIELD, Illinois: President Joe Biden is set to sign a proclamation Friday to designate a national monument at the Springfield, Illinois, site of the 1908 race riot, which later fueled the formation of the NAACP.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday that the ceremony will be held Friday in the Oval Office and will feature civil rights leaders and community leaders from Springfield, President Abraham Lincoln’s hometown.
The ceremony comes just 5 1/2 weeks after the shooting death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, by a white sheriff’s deputy in her Springfield home after she called 911 for help. Massey’s family members and supporters gathered Wednesday for a news conference in a continuing quest to see that justice is done in prosecuting the deputy, Sean Grayson, who is charged with first-degree murder in her death.
“People are starting to take notice because it is an untold story,” Teresa Haley, former president of the Springfield NAACP, said of the riot. “It’s a deep, dark, dirty secret that Springfield is scared of.”.
“It’s tragic. It’s unfortunate that it comes on the heels of Sonya Massey, but let’s say her name — Sonya Massey — and if it takes the president, the vice president and everyone else to recognize that and make this happen, it’s about time,” continued Haley, who founded of Visions 1908, a civil rights, social and economic justice and educational advocacy group
The designation by Biden doesn’t create a marker, although a memorial for the centennial stands in downtown’s Union Square Park. But Haley has been pushing a large, reflective, walk-through memorial on the site of the foundations of five of the original homes burned in the riots that were unearthed during railroad work in 2014. That project awaits funding.
In August 1908, mobs of white residents tore through Illinois’ capital city under the pretext of meting out judgment against two Black men — one jailed on a sexual assault charge involving a white woman, and the other jailed in the separate murder of a white man.
After authorities secretly moved the prisoners from the jail and sent them to another lockup miles away, the mob took out their anger on the city’s Black population. Over the next few days, two innocent Black men were hanged, dozens of homes and businesses in Springfield’s majority-Black neighborhoods were burned to the ground, and families were forced to flee.
The National Guard was called in to restore order. White rioters were charged, but later acquitted for their roles in the lynching and destruction.
At least eight white people were killed in the violence and more than 100 were injured, mostly by members of the state’s militia or each other, according to news articles from that period. It’s not known how many Black people were injured and killed.
Fed-up civil rights leaders met in New York and chose the centennial of Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, 1909, to form the NAACP, whose original board included scholar W.E.B. DuBois.
Sontae Massey, who was very close to his cousin Sonya Massey, said the family is descended from William Donegan, an 84-year-old cobbler, married to a white woman, who was lynched the first night of the riot. Now, the current generation is dealing with the tragic loss of another family member.
“It’s ironic that we are now at the very foundation of what this family has stood for for hundreds of years. We will continue to make change across America. This is just the beginning,” Massey said. “It’s appropriate. We have been the catalysts of change since 1908. We’re continuing the tradition.”
The Springfield attack came more than a decade before at least 25 documented attacks by white people against Black people during the summer of 1919, later called “Red Summer ” for the bloodshed.
Two years later, a white mob looted and burned Tulsa’s Greenwood district, killing as many as 300 Black residents. Biden traveled to Tulsa in 2021 to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacre.
Jean-Pierre called the Springfield riot a “horrific attack by a white mob on a Black community” and said that civil rights leaders have worked to highlight what occurred “to spark national action on civil rights.” She promised that the White House would provide further details ahead of the official announcement on Friday.
In 2020, the site of the riot near downtown Springfield was added to the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Network, a collection of places and programs that outline the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Federal grants are available for the sites.
“While the 1908 Springfield race riot demonstrates our nation’s deep history of racial violence, it also sparked the creation of the NAACP — reflecting the strength and resilience of Black Americans in the tireless fight for civil rights,” said US Rep. Nikki Budzinski, whose office said she urged Biden to designate the monument. “Today’s announcement is a critical step forward to honor those who were killed in the 1908 attack and acknowledge the impact this tragedy had.”
Biden to designate 1908 Springfield race riot site as national monument
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Biden to designate 1908 Springfield race riot site as national monument
- The designation by Biden doesn’t create a marker, although a memorial for the centennial stands in downtown’s Union Square Park
US broadcast regulator rejects Trump call to pull ABC licenses over presidential debate
- Jessica Rosenworcel said "the Commission does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage"
WASHINGTON: The chair of the Federal Communications Commission rejected former US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Walt Disney-owned ABC should lose its broadcast licenses over the network’s moderating Sept. 10 presidential debate.
“The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The Commission does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage,” FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said on Thursday.
The FCC, an independent federal agency, does not license broadcast networks, but issues them to individual broadcast stations that are renewed on a staggered basis for eight-year periods.
Trump has repeatedly complained about how ABC moderators handled the September 10 presidential debate, calling them "dishonest" and partial to his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
He said Linsey Davis and David Muir fact-checked him three times for every instance that they corrected Harris.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" the morning after the debate, Trump repeated his accusations against the two debate moderators and demanded that ABC be punished.
"They ought to take away their license for the way they did that," he said.
Turkiye in new bid to revive Somalia-Ethiopia talks
ISTANBUL: Turkiye will hold separate talks with Horn of Africa rivals Somalia and Ethiopia to ease tensions before a new round of Ankara-hosted talks, the foreign minister said on Thursday.
Relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa have soured dramatically since Ethiopia struck a controversial maritime deal in January with the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland.
The memorandum of understanding gives Ethiopia — one of the world’s biggest landlocked countries — access to the sea, but Somalia has condemned it as an assault on its sovereignty.
Turkiye, which has been conducting shuttle diplomacy between Ethiopian and Somalian foreign ministers since the summer, mediated two rounds of talks in July and August.
The third round, which was supposed to take place on Tuesday, was canceled as Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara would rather meet them separately before another round of talks.
“Because there are some lessons we learned from the previous two rounds of talks,” Fidan told the Anadolu news agency.
Fidan said he would directly talk to the two parties to “bring their positions closer” and help them reach a deal.
Under the Jan. 1 deal with Addis Ababa, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 km of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port.
Somaliland has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition in return, although Addis Ababa has never confirmed this.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate of 4.5 million people, unilaterally declared independence in 1991, but the international community has never recognized the move. Addis Ababa had access to a port in Eritrea until the two countries went to war between 1998 and 2000. Since then, Ethiopia has sent most of its sea trade through Djibouti.
Fidan said he was hopeful about a deal between the two rivals.
“I believe we have brought the parties closer to a certain degree. Hopefully, we will continue this ... I am hopeful,” he said.
Russia attacks Ukraine geriatric center and power grid
- Moscow says it is advancing in eastern Ukraine
- Ukraine faces winter power shortfall, IEA says
KYIV: Russian forces hit a geriatric center in the Ukrainian city of Sumy and targeted its energy sector in a new wave of airstrikes on Thursday, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said.
A UN monitoring body said attacks on the power grid probably violated humanitarian law while the International Energy Agency said in a report that Ukraine’s electricity supply shortfall in the critical winter months could reach about a third of expected peak demand.
During a daytime strike on the northern city of Sumy, a Russian guided bomb hit a five-story building, regional and military officials said.
One person was killed and 12 wounded, the interior ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said rescue teams were checking to see whether people were trapped under rubble.
Images from the site shared alongside the ministry’s post showed elderly patients evacuated from the damaged building lying on the ground on carpets and blankets.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky said that Russia had launched 90 guided bomb attacks in the past 24 hours
He also said that Ukraine’s forces had “managed to diminish the occupiers’ assault potential in Donetsk region,” though the situation remained difficult in areas subjected to the heaviest attacks, near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Heorhiivka, east of Kurakhove.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military, in an afternoon report, referred to the village as one of several engulfed by fighting. Popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said the village was in Russian hands.
Overnight, Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles launched since Russia invaded Ukraine more than 2-1/2 years ago.
Russian forces have pummelled the energy system in the Sumy region in multiple strikes this week, reducing power in some areas and forcing authorities to use back-up power systems.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said power cuts had been in force in 10 regions due to airstrikes and technological reasons.
In a sign of its concern, the European Union said a fuel power plant was being dismantled in Lithuania to be rebuilt in Ukraine, and that electricity exports would also be increased.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Russia’s attacks violated international humanitarian law by jeopardizing essential services, including water and heating, while also threatening public health, education and the economy, according to the report.
Kyiv says targeting energy system is a war crime, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for four Russian officials and military officers for the bombing of civilian power infrastructure.
Moscow says power infrastructure is a legitimate military target and dismisses the charges as irrelevant.
Sumy a frequent target
Moscow has repeatedly attacked the Sumy region, which borders Russia’s Kursk region, the site of a major Ukrainian incursion in which Kyiv says it seized over 100 settlements. Russian shelling killed three people near Krasnopillia in the Sumy region on Wednesday evening, local prosecutors said. More shelling on Thursday wounded two people and damaged a medical institution, they added.
Russia has taken back two more villages in Kursk, a senior commander said on Thursday, adding that Russian forces were also advancing in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky, however, said the incursion into Kursk region had succeeded in diverting nearly 40,000 Russian troops to the area.
Mission specialist for Titan sub owner tells Coast Guard goal was to ‘make dreams come true’
- Five people were killed last year when Titan submersible imploded last year enroute to Titanic wreck
- The deadly accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration
A mission specialist for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year told the US Coast Guard on Thursday that the firm was staffed by competent people who wanted to “make dreams come true.”
Renata Rojas was the latest person to testify who was connected to Titan owner OceanGate. An investigatory panel had previously listened to two days of testimony that raised questions about the company’s operations before the doomed mission. OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among five people who died when the submersible imploded en route to the site of the Titanic wreck in June 2023.
Rojas’ testimony struck a different tone than some of the earlier witnesses, who described the company as troubled from the top down and focused more on profit than science or safety.
“I was learning a lot and working with amazing people,” Rojas said. “Some of those people are very hardworking individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true.”
Rojas also said she felt the company was sufficiently transparent during the run-up to the Titanic dive. Her testimony was emotional at times, with the Coast Guard panel proposing a brief break at one point so she could collect herself.
Rojas is a member of the Explorers Club, which lost members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet in the Titan implosion. The club described Rush as “a friend of The Explorers Club” after the implosion.
“I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation,” Rojas said in testimony Thursday.
Earlier this month, the Coast Guard opened a public hearing that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began on Sept. 16 and some of the testimony has focused on problems the company had prior to the fatal 2023 dive.
During the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”
Also expected to testify on Thursday is former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross. The hearing is expected to run through Friday with more witnesses still to come and resume next week.
Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a company led by people who were impatient to get the unconventionally designed craft into the water. The deadly accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.
During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual recreation presented earlier in the hearing.
When the submersible was reported missing, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Four days later, wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.
No one on board survived. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were the other two people killed in the implosion.
OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began. The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.
UK urged to scrap ‘racist’ visa route
- Long and expensive visa route for immigrants has been labeled ‘racist’ after analysis showed most applicants who feel forced to go through it are people of color
- Analysis of Home Office data showed that all but one country in the top 10 nationalities who felt forced to use the route were those with predominantly non-white populations
LONDON: The UK has been urged to scrap a 10-year visa route and cap all routes to settlement in the country at five years.
The long and expensive visa route for immigrants has been labeled “racist” after analysis showed most applicants who feel forced to go through it are people of color, according to a report in The Guardian.
The 10-year route to a visa is used by hundreds of thousands of people who are not eligible for other immigration schemes because of a lack of income or professional qualifications. Many work in low-paid jobs, such as cleaning or care work. Other common routes to settlement in the UK take five years.
According to freedom of information data obtained by the charity Ramfel, there are 218,110 people on the 10-year route.
Analysis of Home Office data showed that all but one country in the top 10 nationalities who felt forced to use the route were those with predominantly non-white populations. The top five were Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Ghana and Bangladesh. Overall, 86 percent of people using the route were from Asian or African countries, while 6 percent were from Europe.
People seeking to gain a visa via the 10-year route must renew their leave to remain with the Home Office every 30 months, meaning four renewals. The fee for each renewal is £3,850 ($5,095). The Home Office can grant a fee waiver but many requests are refused.
According to a 2023 report on the 10-year route by the legal advice and support service Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, the think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research and the charity Praxis, the most common way of covering the fees was to borrow money, with many people remaining in debt afterward and struggling to pay for basic living costs.
A GMIAU spokesperson said: “These numbers confirm what people on the 10-year route already know: It is a racist policy. People are being driven into debt, forced to choose between paying thousands of pounds in visa fees to keep their legal status and keeping their families fed and warm.
“Ten years is far too long for anyone to wait to settle. The route must be scrapped. A good place to start would be to cap all routes to settlement at five years.”
Nick Beales, of Ramfel, said: “The 10-year route is an enduring legacy of the hostile environment. Like many other Conservative policies from this period, the racist intent is clear, with African and South Asian nationals far more likely to be placed on this arduous and often brutal route toward securing permanent immigration status.”
