Dr. Wilmer J. Leon: A Social Agenda for all Americans
[Dr. Wilmer Leon is the producer/host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program "On With Leon," and a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, DC. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com.]
Early on the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama said, "This country is ready for a transformative politics of the sort that John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt represented." Socially, President Obama is beginning to move in such a positive transformative direction.
After 12 years of languishing in Congress, on Wednesday, October 28, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard / James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill. By signing this bill, the president expands the federal definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. It also allows federal authorities to pursue hate-crimes cases when local authorities are either unable or unwilling to do so. This law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay man murdered in Wyoming in 1998, and James Byrd, the African-American man dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas that same year.
In spite of challenges by some conservative Christian groups, this law will not define sermons that speak out against homosexuality as "hate speech" and criminalize preaching the Gospel. The First Amendment is alive and well. America becomes a better country when, as President Obama stated, "we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are ."
According to the Department of Justice, more than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007, or "nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade," Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee in June of 2009. Crimes against African-Americans remain the prototypical hate crime. In 2007 alone, of the 7,624 hate-crime incidents reported in 2007, 34 percent (2,659) were perpetrated against African-Americans. African-Americans still find themselves victims of lynchings, cross burnings, church vandalism, and chaining James Byrd to a truck and dragging him down a road for three miles to his death...
... There are those in the African-American community who express similar sentiments. It's is important to remember the Matthew Shepard / James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill languished in Congress for 12 years. The disparities in crack cocaine and powder cocaine sentencing have been law since 1988. President Obama was able to bring about "a transformative politics" on these issues within the first 100 days of his administration.
These are just a few clear examples of the progress that is being made by the Obama administration on a social agenda that is being overlooked as the public's focus is on the war in Afghanistan, health care insurance reform and the economy. This is not "lip service" being paid to liberal constituencies. This is tangible and effective legislation that is being supported and implemented as part of a social policy agenda that helps to ensure that all Americans receive equal treatment under the law. Perfect, no; positive, yes. It's up to all Americans to make sure the Obama administration continues to move in a positive direction. That's how democracy works.
Read entire article at Truthout
Early on the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama said, "This country is ready for a transformative politics of the sort that John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt represented." Socially, President Obama is beginning to move in such a positive transformative direction.
After 12 years of languishing in Congress, on Wednesday, October 28, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard / James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill. By signing this bill, the president expands the federal definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. It also allows federal authorities to pursue hate-crimes cases when local authorities are either unable or unwilling to do so. This law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay man murdered in Wyoming in 1998, and James Byrd, the African-American man dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas that same year.
In spite of challenges by some conservative Christian groups, this law will not define sermons that speak out against homosexuality as "hate speech" and criminalize preaching the Gospel. The First Amendment is alive and well. America becomes a better country when, as President Obama stated, "we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are ."
According to the Department of Justice, more than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007, or "nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade," Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee in June of 2009. Crimes against African-Americans remain the prototypical hate crime. In 2007 alone, of the 7,624 hate-crime incidents reported in 2007, 34 percent (2,659) were perpetrated against African-Americans. African-Americans still find themselves victims of lynchings, cross burnings, church vandalism, and chaining James Byrd to a truck and dragging him down a road for three miles to his death...
... There are those in the African-American community who express similar sentiments. It's is important to remember the Matthew Shepard / James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill languished in Congress for 12 years. The disparities in crack cocaine and powder cocaine sentencing have been law since 1988. President Obama was able to bring about "a transformative politics" on these issues within the first 100 days of his administration.
These are just a few clear examples of the progress that is being made by the Obama administration on a social agenda that is being overlooked as the public's focus is on the war in Afghanistan, health care insurance reform and the economy. This is not "lip service" being paid to liberal constituencies. This is tangible and effective legislation that is being supported and implemented as part of a social policy agenda that helps to ensure that all Americans receive equal treatment under the law. Perfect, no; positive, yes. It's up to all Americans to make sure the Obama administration continues to move in a positive direction. That's how democracy works.